Page 7 of Chosen Path
He considered this. “How do you like it—living somewhere so remote?”
“I don’t.” Her answer was instantaneous and frank, but devoid of regret or bitterness.
“So why do it?”
“They need a doctor,” she replied simply.
“Sure. But does it have to be you?”
She frowned. “I don’t know. There wasn’t exactly a stampede of candidates when Rolf Larson posted the position.”
“Your uncle says you signed on to work with Doctor Larson, but he died suddenly before you moved up to Scandia Bluff.”
“That’s right. He was in his nineties and was planning to train a replacement so he could retire. I guess he thought he had more time than he did. Why?”
“I reviewed the files you sent during my flight, and it occurred to me that the death cluster might predate your arrival.”
“You saw something that connects the deaths?” She didn’t try to hide her excitement.
He shook his head. “I’m afraid not. I don’t usually spot a pattern quite that quickly.”
She slumped, instantly defeated.
He went on. “But I thought we might go back through your predecessor’s records, at least for the handful of months before you moved to town. Just to see if anything jumps out at us.”
Molly blew out a forceful breath that ruffled her bangs. “To be honest, I had that same thought just this morning. Something a patient said made me wonder. But it’s not going to be easy to comb through the records.”
“What did they say, this patient?”
She took her time responding. Bodhi waited, patient and curious.
“Mrs. Wolf has a bad cough. I wanted to get a throat culture to rule out a virus or other contagion that might be going around town and possibly causing the deaths.”
“That’s a sound approach.”
“Yeah, well, Corrine Wolf sure didn’t think so. She refused to consent to the culture and said something about the cycle of birth and death being natural. She told me that I needed to stop worrying about the deaths because Doctor Larson never did.”
Bodhi straightened in his seat. “She said that?”
“She did. I asked her if there were usually so many deaths in a year, and she got very animated. She denied suggesting such a thing and stomped out of the office. I’ve never seen her so angry.”
“Interesting.”
“It was a bit unnerving, actually.”
They fell silent as Molly focused on navigating the heavy traffic. The road was becoming congested as they drew closer to downtown Montreal.
Bodhi took out his notebook and reviewed the notes he’d jotted down while on the plane. The seven deceased people ranged in age from sixty-four and eleven months to ninety. There were three women and four men. In all seven cases, the individuals had died in their homes. None of them had sought medical care in the days or weeks leading up to their sudden deaths.
Bodhi raised his head and glanced through the windshield. The traffic seemed to have opened up after they passed the city.
“Can I ask you questions or do you need to concentrate on the road?”
She glanced toward him. “It’s pretty much clear sailing from here on out. So, shoot.”
“None of the deceased came to see you close in time to their deaths.”
“That’s right.”
