Read Online The Donaldson Case by Diana Xarissa - Free Book Online Page B

for
“information.”
    “Good
morning,” Janet said to the elderly woman behind the information desk.   “We’re here to visit Owen Carter.”
    The woman
shrugged and then slid her finger down the list she had in front of her.   “He’s on the surgical ward,” she said
after a moment.
    Janet and Joan
exchanged glances.   “Perhaps you
could give us directions?” Joan asked politely.
    The woman
sighed deeply and then opened a desk drawer.   She pulled out a map of the hospital building.   “You just have to go down this corridor,
take the lift to three, walk down to the end of the hall, turn left, go through
the double doors, turn left again and then turn right and then left again.”
    While she
talked, she traced the route on the printed map.   As soon as she was finished speaking,
she slid the map back into her desk drawer and gave the sisters a huge fake
smile.   “Okay?” she asked.
    “Thank you so
much,” Janet said gushingly.   “You’ve been ever so helpful.   I can’t tell you how much we appreciate your kindness.”
    As the pair
walked away, Joan chuckled.   “You
can’t tell her how much, because we didn’t appreciate it at all,” she
whispered.
    Janet shook
her head.   “The sign said she’s a
volunteer.   I’m not sure why she
bothers as she so clearly hates the job.”
    “Maybe she
enjoys being difficult,” Joan suggested.
    “I’m sure she
does,” Janet agreed.   Between them,
the sisters were just able to remember the directions they’d been so hastily
given.
    “She gave us
the right directions, anyway,” Janet said as they walked into the surgical
ward.
    “Let’s just
hope Owen is really here,” Joan replied.
    The aide at
the nurses’ station smiled brightly at them.   “Oh, Owen doesn’t get many visitors,” she
said.   “He’ll be thrilled to see
you.   I’m sure he’s in the lounge,
watching a bit of telly .   He’s just about ready to be sent home,
you see, so he’s able to enjoy himself a bit.”
    “What are we
going to say to him?” Joan hissed as the sisters walked towards the lounge.
    “I have no
idea,” Janet replied, trying to sound unconcerned.   With every step, she was frantically
trying to think of a good excuse for their unexpected visit.
    Owen was alone
in the lounge, listlessly flipping through the channels on a small television.   Janet knew he was in his late forties.   He had a full head of brown hair, and
his eyes, behind thick glasses, were also brown.   He stood up and Janet remembered that he
was quite tall.   She had forgotten
how he towered over them when they were in the shop.
    “Ah, the
Markham sisters,” he said as they walked into the room.   “Michael told me you might drop by.   He’s ever so worried about the missing
stock from the shop.   I think he’s
concerned that I might be equally bothered.”
    “And you
aren’t?” Janet asked.
    “Not really,”
Owen shrugged.   “I know I haven’t
done anything wrong, you see.”   He
smiled at them.   “And I know Michael
hasn’t done anything wrong, either.   But it used to be his shop.   I think he still feels responsible for it, even though it’s nothing to
do with him.”
    “So who do you
think has been stealing drugs from the shop?” Janet blurted out.
    Joan looked
shocked at the blunt question, but Owen just shrugged.
    “I’ve had a
lot of time to sit here and think,” he replied.   “And I don’t think I’m any closer to
figuring that out.   Obviously, it
wasn’t me.   And there’s no way
you’ll ever convince me it was Michael, either.   If he wanted to get up to no good, he
had plenty of years to do so while he owned the shop.”
    “So that
leaves Ethan Bailey and George Hawkins,” Janet said.   “Does either of them strike you as
likely culprits?”
    “I’ve known
both men for many years,” Owen told her.   “I simply can’t see either of them stealing.   And it isn’t just that.   All chemists have a healthy