“Let me start with my brother, Dustin Denning,” Sarah said. “He committed suicide not too long after your sister did.”
“Oh, I’m so very sorry! I only met Dustin a couple of times, but he seemed like such a nice young man.”
“Thank you. It’s been hard, as you well know. I suppose I’m having a difficult time accepting it because of how he was just prior to his death.”
Lucy frowned. “What do you mean?”
“My other brother, Caden, brought Dustin home from the hospital when he was released, and apparently, he was doing well. He was happy and upbeat and looking forward to the future.”
Lucy was nodding.
“Helen too?” Sarah asked.
“Yes, that’s why I was so stunned to walk in and see what I saw.” She shuddered. “She’d been so happy about being released from the hospital and was talking about going back to Kabul so she could get back to work. And now, I can’t close my eyes without picturing her standing there in the window. I yelled at her and she didn’t even acknowledge me. Or hesitate. She just . . . jumped.”
Sarah shivered. “According to my father, security footage shows Dustin doing the same thing. He went to the hospital where he was supposed to be meeting with his therapist. Instead of going to her office, he went to the roof and . . . jumped. Two days ago, another vet, Brianne Davis, shot herself.”
“Brianne Davis!” Lucy pressed a hand to her chest. “I know her.”
“How?” Gavin asked.
“She and Helen met in the group therapy sessions. They had a lot in common. Brianne had worked in the hospital with Helen in Afghanistan, and she assisted in the surgeries after the bombing.” She swiped a stray tear. “Neither she nor Helen were ever the same after that.”
“So, Dr. McCandless worked with Brianne as well?”
“Yes.”
Sarah frowned. “That’s three patients of hers who have committed suicide in the last few weeks? I don’t like those odds at all.”
Gavin shook his head. “I’m inclined to agree with you.”
“So, what does all this mean?” Lucy asked.
“I don’t know,” Gavin said, “but I think we’re getting closer to figuring it out.”
“One more question,” Sarah said.
“Of course.”
“Who was Helen’s doctor?”
“Dr. Kilgore.”
Gavin tensed and caught her eye. “Okay. Now I have another question. Was Helen on any medication?”
“Several. An antidepressant, something for her blood pressure, and she took something to sleep at night.”
“Do you have the names of the meds?”
Lucy bit her lip and shook her head. “I threw everything like that out shortly after Helen died.”
“Could you get the names of the meds from the doctor?” Sarah asked.
“I suppose. I’ll see what I can do.”
“Thank you.” She looked at Gavin. “I think the next step is Dustin’s house, but we can’t go without Caden.”
“Of course.”
Sarah called Caden while Gavin chatted with Lucy. When Sarah hung up, she nodded. “He’s going to meet us there.”
Gavin stood. “I’m ready when you are.”
Sarah stood outside Dustin’s duplex door and drew in a steadying breath. He’d lived in the place for only three days before he’d jumped off the roof of the hospital. How moved in could he have been? Gavin was still on the phone with whoever he’d called to get information about Dr. Helen Craft.
Caden had just driven up. “Not thinking about going in without me, are you?” he asked as he approached.
Sarah snorted. “How do you expect me to do that? You’re the one with the key.”
He joined her at the bottom of the steps, fingers clenched. He unfurled them to study the little piece of metal. “Dustin gave me this the last time I saw him. Said he wanted me to have access to the place so I could do surprise searches.”
“He wanted to be held accountable,” she said. “He was planning ahead, Caden. Someone who does that doesn’t jump off hospital roofs.”
“I know.”
Gavin hung up and joined them. “Three people dead of suicide, all treated by the same doctor, all taking medications prescribed by that doctor. I don’t know what the puzzle is going to look like once it’s finished, but I have a bad feeling about it all.”
Caden unlocked the door and pushed it open. “So, let’s see if we can find some more pieces.”
Sarah stepped around him and took in the chaos. Upon closer inspection, she could see it was organized chaos. Boxes lined the walls, but they were labeled. To her right was the dining area. A table and four chairs were tucked into the space in front of the bay window overlooking