Read Online The 3rd Victim by Sydney Bauer - Free Book Online

Frank, taking the next step.
    ‘Yeah.’
    ‘I don't recall it being soaked, Chief.’
    ‘For the moment, that's in Walker's favour.’
    Frank returned the nod, perhaps understanding this was the only piece of evidence that did not point toward Sienna Walker as the perp. ‘I'm sorry, Chief. I don't like this any more than you do.’
    Joe nodded. ‘We haven't had a chance to talk to the woman yet, Frank. Things aren't always as they seem.’
    ‘True, but more often than not, Chief, if it walks like a duck and talks like a duck …’
    ‘We'll see, Frank. We'll see.’
    *
    Fifteen minutes later, having parked their car illegally outside the front of the hospital and grabbed their radios in case they needed to call for backup, Joe and Frank ran across the road toward the hospital's busy front entrance. It was raining, so they wiped their feet as they waited for the automatic glass doors to open before walking straight ahead and then turning right, following the signs to the ER.
    ‘I hate these places,’ said Joe, Frank a mere step behind him.
    ‘My mom used to say that hospitals were the world's greatest equalisers,’ said Frank. ‘Junkies, CEOs, old, young, black, white – there's nothing like a medical emergency to level the playing field.’
    ‘Let's just hope this game isn't over before we arrive,’ said Joe as they rounded the corridor toward the ER.
    ‘I'm sorry, Joe,’ said a familiar voice. They looked up to see Lisa Cavanaugh, who was moving quickly toward them, her long dark hair caught up in a messy ponytail. ‘I heard from the registrar that Frank had called,’ she nodded at Frank, ‘and I gathered you'd be pissed.’ Lisa had never been one to mince words, and for that, at least in this instance, Joe was grateful.
    ‘How did this happen, Lisa?’ asked Joe.
    ‘Your cop on the door took a leak and Mrs Walker's friends moved in. Her doctor had a conversation with the registrar who subsequently agreed to release Mrs Walker into his care.’ Lisa's bright green eyes met Joe's brown ones. ‘She's going home, Joe. We have no reason to hold her.’
    Joe shook his head. ‘Do you know if a man named Daniel Hunt was the second of the two friends that spoke to the registrar?’
    ‘Yes. He's been in and out for the past two days. He told me he knew you – and David,’ she said as she gestured for them to follow her down the equipment cluttered corridor.
    ‘And the doc's name is Davenport?’ asked Joe.
    ‘Yes,’ she answered. ‘The thing is, the woman isn't sick, Joe, at least not in the conventional sense, and given our situation here …’ she gestured at the row of metal beds now lining the narrow corridor, ‘… we need all the beds we can get.’
    ‘Your registrar should have called us,’ said Joe as Lisa stopped in front of a pair of blue painted doors.
    ‘Maybe, but strictly speaking consulting with a patient's physician is standard procedure – and the woman isn't under arrest.’
    Unfortunately Lisa was right, which, while frustrating, was no surprise to Joe. She and her fellow ER staffers were well schooled on the legalities of their responsibilities in regards to the law, considering the emergency room often acted as a limbo for criminals about to face the consequences of their actions.
    ‘You want me to come in with you?’ asked Lisa as she went to use her ID to swipe them through the next set of doors.
    ‘No,’ said Joe. ‘You've been a help already, Lisa.’
    She nodded, and Joe saw in her eyes that they were ‘cool’.
    ‘This is a short cut to Mrs Walker's ward,’ she said as the blue doors opened inward to reveal a new corridor painted pink. ‘Her room is number 13. Last time I checked, her two friends were in there with her.’
    Joe nodded. ‘Thanks.’
    ‘Not a problem,’ she told him. ‘And I apologise if we've caused you any –’ Lisa began, only to be interrupted by a new voice echoing behind them.
    ‘You wait right there, Mannix,’ called the man.
    Joe's