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until his head was free and he could scan both right and left down the hallway. His
shoulders and arms relaxed when he couldn t sense or see anyone nearby.
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Marti stood behind him and stepped back when he pulled his head back inside her
office. She poked him in the back and asked, What the hell did you mean by that crack?
Why should I be paranoid when I m here on a legitimate errand?
Jake quietly closed the door and turned to face her. Because, you dope, if Nelson
is the killer and he for one minute thinks we suspect him, do you think he s going to
politely hand us a cup of coffee and want to chat before letting us go? And, if he s not the
killer, then the real one might be watching and following you anyway, just waiting for his
chance. Remember the writing on my door? I m not fool enough to think my being with
you would stop this bastard and you shouldn t be either. Doesn t it strike you as strange
that the elevator is moving when the office building is closed and locked for the night?
He snorted before shaking his head and opening the door again. Come on, let s go take a
look at those files. I want to get out of here as quick as I can.
You are paranoid., she replied sarcastically. Marti slipped past him and walked
confidently to the file room with the crystal key ring ready in her hand. She opened the
door of the tiny room and flipped on the overhead light, revealing a full wall of filing
cabinets and shelves, a large work desk with a comfortable chair sitting behind it and a
smattering of artificial plants and cheap pictures.
Jake followed her while inspecting the windowless cubicle with the practiced eye
of an agent. Someone works in here on a regular basis. Nelson must have a file clerk.
Make sure to find out the name and address, just in case. Probably someone who works
for peanuts. Look at those horrible pictures on the wall. K-mart taste. One door leading
to the boss s office and a huge copy machine tucked into the far corner.
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When Marti unlocked the first file drawer and drew it out, the noise brought Jake
back to the task at hand. He stepped up behind her and scanned the names on the file tabs
while she flipped through them until she found Diana Brandmeyer s file and pulled it out.
She handed it over to him before continuing her search for Liz Delisi s file.
Jake sat down at the desk and opened the file. He scanned the handwritten reports
and frowned. I can t understand a word of this stuff, he whispered.
Marti placed the second file in front of him before reaching out and turning
Diana s around to read it. That s because you aren t a shrink, my dear Holmes, she
replied while reading the top sheet. It says here she was diagnosed with moderate
depression. William gave her a prescription for Valium and continued to see her until
September, when she stopped coming.
What about the other one? Jake asked, opening Delisi s file.
Marti read the top sheet and said, Same thing. Something mild with follow-up
visits then she stopped coming. She raised her eyes from the paper and asked, Is it
possible this just might be a coincidence, Jake?
In my work, they don t happen. I don t believe in coincidence anyway. I think
the good doctor is mixed up in this up to his neck. At least we know he personally knew
two of the victims. Do you have that list of names we made from Quigley s files? We
need to check those out against the patient files; that will give us an idea of how deep into
it he is.
Marti pulled a folded piece of paper out of the pocket of her jeans and unfolded it.
Okay, I ll do that. What are you going to do? she smirked at him.
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He stood and stretched. I m going to check out this floor. If that elevator stopped
on this floor, then somebody had to push the button. I want to know who is here with us
at this time of the night. Jake moved to the door, stopped with his hand on the knob and
added, Lock this door and don t open it to anybody but me.
Before Marti could respond, Jake cautiously stepped out into the hall and shut the
door behind him. When he heard the click of the lock, he glanced to the right, where
Marti s office and two more between it and where he stood, beckoned with closed doors.
To the left, Nelson s executive office took up the rest of the building space to the end of
the hallway. Across the hall was a bank of three private elevators, open and empty. To
the right of them, was a utility closet, the standard his and hers restrooms and the door
leading to a stairwell. He moved toward Marti s old office, determined to check each one
in turn, starting with hers.
Jake s loafers sunk into thick, plush gray carpet, deadening his footfalls when he
approached the first closed door, Marti s office at the end of the hall. This is like playing
Let s Make a Deal. Pick a door, any door, and win a surprise gift, he thought then
almost laughed at the absurd thought and image it brought under the circumstances. He
pulled the .38 he always carried out of the holster tucked under his left armpit and held it
ready.
He turned the knob, pushed open the door and quickly stepped to the side when it
swung wide, revealing the room, still lit and empty. Jake took a deep breath and stepped
inside. The room was as they d left it with no places to hide an intruder. Jake turned,
flipped off the master light switch, stepped back out into the hall and closed the door.
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The second office was locked but the third, next to the file room, was open. Jake
used the same procedure to enter the unfamiliar and dark room, but, once inside, he
crouched, alert and aware that he had no idea of the room s layout. He cautiously moved
along the wall, lightly feeling for a light switch as he went and hoping that if the visitor
was here, he was just as unsure of himself as Jake felt. Without warning, his hand hit a
table, almost knocking over a lamp sitting upon it. Jake grabbed blindly for it, steadied it
then felt along its smooth ceramic top for a switch. He found it and turned it on. The
room was abruptly flooded with bright light, momentarily blinding him. He hit the floor,
instinctively turning his body into the smallest possible target and gripping his .38, ready
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