035 Bad Medicine (10 page)

N
ANCY COUNTED
her heartbeats and waited for Clemmons to yank the sheet back.

“What are you doing, Dr. Clemmons?” a female voice asked.

The nurse! Nancy realized with relief. That’s who Clemmons was addressing, thinking she was Nancy!

“I—I—” Clemmons sputtered, confused.

The gurney lurched into motion again. Nancy felt herself being wheeled away from David’s room. She had to hold back her laughter as she heard Clemmons’s embarrassed apology.

“Hey!” Ned called, his footsteps falling into step beside the orderly’s.

“Get lost, buddy,” the orderly growled impatiently. “Go make a nuisance of yourself somewhere else.”

Nancy was thinking fast. When she felt the wheels turn the corner, she threw off the sheet. The orderly, a young man with red hair, shrieked.

“Miraculous recovery,” Ned said with a grin, grabbing Nancy’s arm.

They dashed down the hall to the stairway and took the stairs at a run. Halfway to the first floor Nancy collapsed in a fit of laughter. “Did you see the orderly’s face?”

“Yeah.” Ned grinned. “But you should have seen Clemmons’s face when that nurse walked out of David’s room! He turned bright red. Did you get a chance to talk to David?”

“No, but he was mumbling in his sleep. He brought up Saint Louis again. The key to the mystery’s got to be what happened to Anna Treadway.”

Ned thought for a moment. “Do you suppose David moved Dr. Shaw’s body to cover up the fact that he’d killed him? He could have stolen Sam’s keys and removed the body.”

“That means he killed Shaw for revenge, but it
doesn’t explain where the body is now. And it doesn’t explain who was driving the ambulance that ran David down.”

“Who else do you think could be involved in this Saint Louis business?” Ned asked.

Nancy reflected for a moment. “Well, maybe Dr. Rayburn. David did say something to him about Saint Louis outside his office, and April said Rayburn worked at the same hospital. He might have a grudge against David, too.”

“It’d have to be a pretty serious grudge to give him a motive for killing them,” Ned reasoned.

Ned was probably right. “What about someone connected with Anna Treadway?” Nancy suggested, looking for an alternative, “I mean, she was killed. Maybe one of her relatives blamed David and Dr. Shaw for her death. April told me Treadway’s husband threatened to file a malpractice suit.”

“Well, whoever’s behind all these incidents is in pretty tight with this hospital. Could one of Anna Treadway’s relatives be employed here?” he asked.

“I’ll check it out.” Nancy frowned; she felt very frustrated. “But why would one of her relatives want to frame Trevor? It keeps coming back to that. And why involve the hospital at all? If someone wanted to get rid of David or Dr. Shaw, there are a lot easier ways to do it than at
the hospital.” Ned opened the door to the first floor as Nancy continued. “I need more information about what happened to Anna Treadway. I’m going to call Detective Ryan to see if he can help me.”

Nancy was heading for a pay phone when Trevor walked into the first floor lobby. He seemed a little embarrassed at seeing them. “Seminar’s over, right?” he said to Ned, not knowing what else to say. “So how did you like it?”

“Okay, I guess. Although I’m glad it’s you in the anatomy lab, not me.”

“Detective Ryan’s not in this evening,” a female voice told Nancy. “Can someone help you?”

But Nancy wasn’t listening. Her thoughts were buzzing. Anatomy lab! she thought excitedly. Dr. Shaw’s body wasn’t in the morgue, but it had to be hidden in a cold place! “Uh, thanks, no,” she managed to say into the phone before hanging up.

“Nancy, I need to talk to you,” Trevor said, sighing. ‘I’ve been such a jerk. I shouldn’t have kissed Suzanne,” Trevor went on. “You were right. I was just mad. I mean, how could April think I killed her father! I’m a doctor, for crying out loud. I would never do anything like that.”

“April’s just upset,” Ned said.

Realizing they were both looking at her, Nancy surfaced. “Do you think April could have performed a mercy killing herself?” Nancy asked Trevor.

He looked incredulous. “No way!”

“Suzanne thought she might be capable of it.”

Trevor’s eyes sparked with fury. “I’m beginning to see Suzanne would do anything to hurt April. What an idiot I’ve been!”

“You’re sure April’s innocent?” Nancy asked.

“Absolutely.” Trevor’s face was serious. “April loved her father. She hated to see him suffer, but she would never have ended his life. She cared for him too much.”

Trevor’s words rang with sincerity. Nancy smiled. “I believe you,” she admitted. “I never really took Suzanne’s accusations seriously, but I wanted to hear how you felt. What about Suzanne? Could she have murdered Dr. Shaw? As a way of putting the blame on you?”

“That’s reaching even farther. Suzanne would never jeopardize her career that way. Her work is too important to her. A lot more important than
I
ever was,” Trevor added.

“So who did it?” Ned asked.

“I’m not sure,” Nancy said slowly, “but I think I know where to find Dr. Shaw’s body.”

“I can almost hear the gears turning in your
head,” Ned said, grinning. “Out with it, Ms. Drew.”

“You’re the one who keeps talking about the anatomy lab.” Nancy laughed. “Isn’t there a dissecting lab in the classroom building? And doesn’t the medical school use cadavers in anatomy class?”

“Well, yes,” Trevor answered. “But we only work on authorized bodies.”

“But an unauthorized body could be hidden among the cadavers, couldn’t it? Isn’t there some kind of cold storage place where cadavers are kept?”

“Well, sure, there’s a freezer, but—”

“That’s right!” Ned snapped his fingers. “A huge walk-in freezer. The classroom building used to be the old hospital. The freezer there is right next to the dissecting lab!”

“There are cadavers in the freezer,” Trevor admitted. “But I’m sure it’s been searched.”

“The search has really only taken place at the hospital,” Nancy reminded him. “And it would be a simple matter to change the name on a body. No one would be the wiser.”

Trevor nodded, blinking rapidly. “That’s true,” he said with dawning amazement. “Nancy, you’re right! Listen, I’m still on duty, and I’ve got to check on one more patient before I take a
break. Give me a few minutes and I’ll meet you at the freezer.”

“Ned and I’ll wait for you there,” said Nancy. “We’ll need you to identify Dr. Shaw’s body.”

Trevor nodded. “Okay. I’ll be there in about twenty minutes, maybe a little longer if I run into a snag or two. I can’t afford to mess up on my duties right now, or I’ll be suspended.” He turned, then hesitated, glancing back. “Want me to call security?”

“Let’s wait to see if my theory pans out,” Nancy suggested.

“Right.” Trevor tried to smile.

Nancy and Ned hurried to the nearest exit. Ned guided her across the campus to the classroom building, which housed the anatomy lab. It was in the oldest section of the school, an ivy-clad brick building with poor lighting. Just thinking about the task in front of them had Nancy looking over her shoulder.

“Think we’re being followed?” Ned asked, glancing around suspiciously.

“I don’t know. This building’s a little creepy. Didn’t you say something about tunnels under it?”

“Yeah, they run from here to the hospital. It’s a great way to move bodies without upsetting visitors.”

“That’s how our body snatcher did it, then,”
Nancy declared. “He must have moved the body through a tunnel from the hospital to the anatomy lab. Which floor is the lab on?”

“Third. I checked after April quizzed me the other day.”

They hurried upstairs. Nancy caught the smell of formaldehyde as soon as they pushed open the door to the third floor.

“It’s right down here,” said Ned, indicating a door with Anatomy written across its pebbled glass window.

“It’s locked,” Nancy said, trying the handle.

“Should we just wait outside?”

Nancy nodded, and they stood quietly outside the door. Nancy’s thoughts were on David Baines. “David could have moved the body,” she muttered. “Maybe he murdered Dr. Shaw and was afraid the autopsy would prove it.”

A slight noise from inside the anatomy lab interrupted Nancy’s thoughts.

“What was that?” Ned asked softly.

“Someone’s in there!” Nancy whispered. She quickly pulled her lock-picking kit from her purse and quietly worked the lock with a slim metal tool. The tiny clicks she made sounded to her like pistol shots in the dead quiet of the hall.

Seconds later the knob turned noiselessly in her hand. Pressing a finger to her lips, she squeezed inside the room. Row upon row of
tables filled the enormous classroom. A thin light glowed beneath a far door.

Ned’s hand clamped down on her shoulder. “Stay here,” he mouthed to her. Nancy vehemently shook her head, but Ned ignored her. His running shoes made no noise as he crept across the linoleum floor. Nancy had little choice but to watch him steal toward the far door. Someone needed to stand guard.

At the end of the room, Ned touched a finger to the door. It swung in, unlatched. He gave Nancy the thumbs-up sign, then disappeared inside.

Nancy chewed on her lower lip. Minutes dragged by. She stole a glance at her watch every thirty seconds. Where was Trevor? Why hadn’t Ned returned?

At the end of fifteen minutes Nancy couldn’t stand it any longer. She left her post and tiptoed hurriedly to the door Ned had pushed open. Another classroom lay beyond, lit by a row of ceiling lights. Nancy’s heartbeat quickened as she moved forward.

She cautiously glanced around that classroom’s door frame. A giant metal door stood at the end of a short hallway. The freezer! Nancy moved toward it and pulled back the latch. It clicked loudly and the door creaked open.

With a glance inside Nancy knew she had found the place where the cadavers were kept.
Thick translucent plastic sacks hung from hooks. But Nancy barely noticed. Because directly in her line of vision lay Ned, sprawled on the cold wooden floor. And a pair of hands covered by surgical gloves were pushing his limp body inside a huge plastic sack!

N
ED
!” N
ANCY SCREAMED
, racing forward.

The hands jerked back. Then Nancy heard a clatter and running footsteps. She reached Ned as a man dressed in surgical greens slipped behind a tall stack of boxes.

Nancy checked Ned for a pulse and realized he was breathing steadily. Then, quick as a cat, she leapt to her feet and began to chase the assailant. The huge freezer was filled with stacks of hospital supplies. Nancy spotted her quarry at the end of a long row of boxes. “Stop!” she yelled.

The intruder half turned toward her. Nancy charged forward. Now there were barely ten feet
between them. In a flash, Nancy grabbed his sleeve before he could slip away. She held his right arm, trying to see his face. His mouth and nose were covered by a surgical mask and he wouldn’t turn her way.

“Nancy!” Trevor’s voice called from the other end of the freezer.

“Over here!” she yelled. At that moment, the man jammed his left elbow into her stomach, knocking the wind from her. He threw her down and zigzagged through the rows of boxes back toward Trevor!

“Trevor,” Nancy called weakly, trying to warn him.

Racing footsteps echoed through the refrigerator. Boxes crashed to the floor.

“What the—” Trevor said, but his words were cut off. Nancy heard a groan; then the footsteps receded through the classrooms. She heard the click of a latch.

The door! Nancy thought with fear, staggering to her feet. All three of them were locked inside the freezer!

She hurried toward Trevor, cold air flooding into her lungs. When Nancy found him, Trevor lay in a heap. Luckily there was a latch on the inside of the door. It turned easily in Nancy’s hand, and she breathed a sigh of relief as the door opened. Far ahead Nancy heard the intruder’s
footsteps disappearing. She propped open the door with a box.

“Trevor, are you all right?” Nancy asked anxiously, gently slapping his face.

Trevor shook his head and sat up, looking around dazedly. “Did you see him? He slammed into me before I got a chance to do anything.”

“I didn’t see his face. Come on, we’ve got to help Ned.”

Trevor followed after Nancy. Ned still lay unconscious on the floor. Trevor bent over him. “His eyelids are fluttering. That’s a good sign. Quick, help me carry him out of here. We’ve got to warm him up. Be careful with his neck. I’ll take his shoulders; you take his feet.”

Nancy was glad Trevor was there. He immediately got down to business. By the time they carried Ned to the warm classroom, he had begun to come around. “Nancy,” he mumbled.

“Shhh,” she said.

“Lay him down here,” Trevor said, settling Ned on the floor. He yanked a penlight out of his coat pocket and examined Ned’s eyes. “You look all right, my friend,” he said seriously, running expert fingers around Ned’s head. Ned winced. “But you’ve got a nasty bump at the base of your skull.”