Page 47 of Watching You
Connie hung her head for a few seconds. ‘Brodie, what do we know about his early years?’
‘Taken from an abusive home aged nine, although the parents didn’t contest his removal in the family court. After that he went into the care system, both children’s homes and foster placements, until he was sixteen when he ran away.’
‘So either one of his parents did that to him, or someone he was placed with to keep him safe from his parents did it.’ Connie shook her head. ‘I’m not sure which of those two options is worse. You poor thing.’ She stroked the side of Vic’s face. ‘Nate, what can you tell me about the needle entry wound?’
‘You can see it best from here, in fact.’ He turned Vic’s head so it was facing right. ‘I made a small incision to the side of it during the postmortem. It must have been a very fine needle. There was almost nothing left of the entry, and no visible bruising at the entry point. I can tell you, though, that the needle went from the entry point forward slightly towards his chest.’
Connie ran her fingers over the incision that marked the spot.
‘Someone approached him from behind,’ she said. ‘How much air does it take to cause a lethal embolism in the heart?’
‘As little as one to two millilitres, but the more that’s injected, the faster it works and the more certain you can be of causing death. In this case, I’d say it was substantially more. His assailant wasn’t leaving anything to chance.’
‘Not in terms of timing or outcome,’ Baarda noted.
‘And there are no signs of a struggle, a fight, no self-defence?’ Connie asked.
‘Nothing,’ Carlisle said. ‘But he was lucky to have survived the overdose and his system would still have been weak. If someone wanted to kill him, they picked the best possible time.’
‘Oh, Vic.’ She folded her arms as she considered it. ‘Who wanted you dead so badly that they’d do that inside a hospital? You can’t have seen anyone you recognised or you wouldn’t have turned your back on them. That’s gang training 101.’
‘He was found in a lift,’ Baarda said. ‘So he must’ve been injected from behind when entering. No one would have risked dragging him along the corridor. Footfall is too heavy for that.’
‘Okay. So you’ve been discharged, having nearly died. You’ve been looked after, you’ve healed, you’re back on your feet. Those moments can be life-changing. There’s no way of experiencing that and not lying in your hospital bed thinking about who you are and what you nearly lost. Can you turn him back over, please?’
Carlisle did as she asked, while Connie read the hospital file.
‘The notes say he was given new clothing as his had to be destroyed. Do we have it?’ Connie asked.
‘Yes, it’s in the bag on the counter waiting to be picked up for forensic testing. Please don’t touch it, even with your gloved hands, Connie, given that you’ve been handling the body.’
‘I’ll do it,’ Baarda said, stripping off his original pair of gloves and taking a fresh set before opening the bag and peering inside. ‘They gave him a work uniform. Do you remember who at the hospital wears grey scrubs?’
‘Porters,’ Carlisle said. ‘Amazing people.’
Connie’s eyes flew back onto Vic’s face. ‘Well, that’s much more interesting. Perhaps this had nothing to do with your gang life at all. Who decides to kill a hospital porter? There would have to be some very sick individual wandering around to just randomly take the opportunity to kill.’
‘And who’s taken the time to learn how to do it quickly and effectively,’ Baarda added. ‘Connie, could it be?’
She was silent and back to staring intently into Vic’s face. ‘Give me a minute with him, would you?’
‘Sure,’ Baarda said, immediately making his way to the door.
Carlisle hung there a few seconds more. ‘You won’t touch him? More than you already have, I mean. At least not with anything other than gloved hands?’
Connie smiled slowly. ‘Dr Carlisle, I recognise that my behaviour strikes some people as odd, eccentric even, and that I take a bit of getting used to, but what exactly are you worried about me touching this body with if not my hands?’
Carlisle put his hands on his hips and shook his head. ‘Honestly, Dr Woolwine, I have no idea. I’ve never met anyone like you.’
‘Fair enough. I promise not to contaminate the body in any way, nor to behave in an unseemly manner.’
He looked towards the door but still didn’t move his feet.
‘Would it help if I pinky promised?’
‘Hmm. Can you maybe just explain what exactly you intend to do that you can’t do with me in the room?’
‘I need to have a conversation, just like I did with Divya Singh,’ she said. ‘But this time it’s private.’
