Page 11 of The Truth Will Out
Doreen cringed. “I hope I haven’t opened up a can of worms.”
“You probably have, but I’m glad you were open with me. This kind of information rarely comes out at the start of an investigation.”
Doreen offered a weak smile. “I’m glad I could help out, without realising I had. What will happen next?”
“Once I’ve changed out of my civvies, I’ll head for the station. I’m tempted to visit the surgery on the way back, but I think I’d rather leave that until tomorrow when my head is fully back in the game.”
“You do what you have to do and leave Tilly with me. I hope you manage to solve the case soon, Sam. As much as I detested the man at times, he still didn’t deserve to die, not the way he did.”
“No one deserved that, no matter how appalling he was to his patients. Thanks for confiding in me. You should have spoken up sooner, though.”
“I know. But I’m the type to just get on with life, you know that, Sam.”
“I know, but over the past year I’ve seen a noticeable change in your health.”
Tears brimmed Doreen’s grey eyes. “And there I was thinking that I had hidden it well.”
Sam leaned in and hugged Doreen tightly. “We’re here for you, Doreen. Please, please always remember that.” She released her and took a step back. Tilly jumped onto Doreen’s lap and started licking her face. “Tilly, no. Give Doreen some peace.”
“She’s fine. She’s such a friendly little girl. Go on, leave us to it. We’ll see you later. Does this mean you’ll be late home this evening?”
“I hope not. I’ll give you a call if that changes. Thanks again for looking after Tilly and for confiding in me about Morgan.”
Doreen raised a finger. “Now then, Sam, I know that look. Just because he was a bad man, it doesn’t mean that you can deal with the case differently now. Was he married? I have it at the back of my mind that he was.”
“Yes. Bob and I visited his wife to break the news earlier.”
“Then do it for her.”
“I will. I promise. See you later.” Sam made a swift exit before Tilly realised what was going on and closed the door behind her.
Poor Doreen. How dare Morgan treat her and other patients badly? What was wrong with him? And a doctor, to boot. That’s his job: to care for his patients, and over the years he’s apparently failed in his duties. Damn, that means we could be dealing with a long list of suspects here.
2
Sam arrived back at the station thirty minutes later. The new desk sergeant was on duty and welcomed her.
“Hi, Jason, how’s it going?”
“Pretty good, thanks, ma’am. Sorry you got called in.”
Jason Collins had been at the station for years. He’d jumped at the chance to fill Nick Travis’s shoes. Nick had joined Sam’s team after the death of Alex, another team member. There had been a lot of sadness for Sam to contend with in the past eighteen months or so, not forgetting the loss of two dogs, Sonny and Benji. But that’s what life throws at you at times. The good news was that she and Rhys had a wedding to look forward to in a few weeks. Her sister, Crystal, who ran a bridal boutique in Workington, had everything covered on that front. She’d told Sam to leave all the preparations to her to sort out. Sam had made it clear they were on a limited budget, and Crystal had agreed to bear that in mind. Whether that would be the case, she wasn’t sure.
Sam entered the code into the keypad and stepped into the inner sanctum of the station, where the public was forbidden access.
Bob made her a coffee as soon as she entered the incident roomand brought her up to date. “I think we should visit the surgery ASAP, if only to see what kind of doctor he was.”
Sam took a sip from her coffee, then confessed to the team, “Ah, I already know.”
Bob retook his seat and frowned. “What? You’ve already been there?”
“Nope, I think we should go tomorrow. I was chatting to Doreen, my neighbour, when I dropped Tilly off, and she told me that Morgan had been her family doctor for years.”
“Wow, that’s a pretty big coincidence, considering the number of doctors we have registered in the area.”
Intrigued, Sam asked, “How many?”
“Twenty-odd. Saying that, the numbers have dwindled drastically over the last few years.”
