Going Under_ A Bill Roberts Thriller - Silas Payton Page 0,11

into the adjacent observation room and pulled out his phone. When Cathy picked up, he asked if she'd heard from Cliff or Evans. She told him Evans had interviewed a close friend of the wife, and they had confirmed what he already knew. Nothing new yet. She also told him the CEO of the Toronto Port Authority was unavailable until tomorrow -- a Mr. Niccolo Coppola.

Hearing the name, he said, "I remember Cliff interviewed that guy a couple of months ago about the dock worker case. He said he found him to be a bit of a brick wall -- not at all helpful, from what I recall."

"Garneau. Pierre Garneau was the guy who got stabbed," Cathy said.

"That's it. I wonder if Cliff would like to interview this Mr. Coppola again this time around -- since he enjoyed it so much the first time."

"Cliff's currently at the house of the missing man, Andrew Livingston, but I'm sure he'd love to be the one to question Coppola again," she said, sarcastically.

Bill said, "I spoke to Mrs. Elliott, the shooter, and it came up in conversation that she'd normally be at the Ellington Athletic Club right now, training. Can you have Cliff or Evans get over there to question anyone who might know her. There must be someone she trains with."

"I'll get one of them right on it," she said.

"Thanks. I'll be in touch."

Bill could see through the mirrored glass into Sarah Elliott's interrogation room. She was crying again, wiping the tears away with another tissue.

I've seen some good actors over the years -- you, Mrs. Elliott, I'm not sure about yet.

Bill then called the morgue to see if the body had arrived. His friend of many years answered before the first ring had finished.

"I wondered when you'd call," said the Medical Examiner, Terry Wight.

"Hey Terry. Long night for both of us again, I guess. How's your wife doing? She still putting up with your crappy hours and formaldehyde smell?" Bill asked.

"She keeps telling me how boring it would be without me. I guess it's a good sign."

"She'll come to her senses one of these days -- well, except her sense of smell. She's lost that, being around you," Bill said.

Terry replied, "I'm guessing you didn't just call to discuss my smell. I'd be willing to bet it's the same reason I'm not at home with my wife right now."

Bill, was suddenly back to business. "Terry, something's not adding up on this one. I don't know what you've been told, but there was no sign of struggle. It appears the wife sat and waited for him to come home, yet by all appearances, they were a happy couple. When you get a chance, can you confirm the cause of death? And let me know if you find any signs of a struggle on the body."

Terry responded, "I knew you'd be calling so I did a quick preliminary inspection when the body came in. In my early opinion, he appears to have died from a bullet wound to the head. The tissue damage to the skull and brain was consistent with a 9mm hollow-point round fired at close range. I can't confirm it was the same weapon yet, but it is the same ammunition used in the Smith & Wesson, which was reportedly found at the scene. I also did a once-over of the body and I didn’t see any other obvious cause of death, and no signs of a struggle. I'll be at this a while yet tonight, then finish up tomorrow. I'll call you if I find anything else. I'll also have some blood work results tomorrow, but toxicology won't be available 'til Monday."

"All right, Terry. Thanks for your help, again. I owe you one. I have to go find a missing motive."

"You seem to have lost track of what you owe me. It's a good thing I'm keeping tabs," he said. "Let me know if you need to add to it some more."

"I have no doubt you'll even the score. I'm betting you'll remind me next time we're at the pub. Call you later."

Chapter 11

The Doctor

Fifteen minutes late for Christ sakes! And, I still have to listen to all the, "Oh, I'm feeling so inadequate" bullshit. Half an hour of me saying "But you're really coming along", "Look at the improvement so far." Bloody pathetic. Sometimes I wish someone would just shoot them and be done with it, instead of me having to listen to all this shit. I don't