Murder in Misery (Spook Squad) - By Ashley K. Broome Page 0,56
hazel eyes filled with tears and immediately went for the tissue. “I knew something was wrong. She always came in impeccable you know? But lately she didn’t bother curling her hair like she usually did. She didn’t put on make up and she looked like she never got any sleep. She looked rough and once the patients start whispering you can’t really ignore it anymore.
“I tried to get her to tell me what was going on but she wouldn’t say anything. I thought maybe she was having trouble with her girlfriend but,” Olivia shook her head, “Mandy came in to have lunch with her a few times and left looking frustrated with the fact that she didn’t know what to do for Elaine. Whatever was bothering Elaine, she wasn’t telling anyone. I wish I could have just pushed her a little bit more so she would have talked. Maybe then I could have helped. Somehow, any way that I could, you know?”
Keegan passed Olivia a tissue and waited as she wiped her eyes and brushed beneath her nose and tossed it in the trash. “Do you know Mandy’s last name?”
“Brown,” Olivia supplied. “She works at Misery General as a Surgical Tech. She was always on Doctor Madsen’s surgeries. That’s how they met.”
“Things were good between the two of them?” Keegan asked already knowing the answer. If the leopard that was fighting to get to Elaine on the night of her death was actually Mandy then they were mates. Only someone like Keegan could have stopped the leopard from killing to get to her dead partner.
“They were so sweet to each other,” Olivia nodded. “I secretly think most of us wished we could be like them. You could see how much they cared about each other when ever they were around the other.”
“Is there anything else you can think of that might help us find the person who did this to Elaine?” Keegan asked already wrapping up the interview in her mind.
“I know this sounds really stupid but,” Olivia rubbed at her throat uncomfortably, “These last few months, after full moons she would be easy to anger.”
“And she wasn’t like that before?” Keegan questioned. Some shifters were always grouchy after a full moon. The pain that came with shifting back and forth between forms would account for the attitude. Others acted as if they were on a high, happy and excited.
“No,” Olivia shook her head. “She was always a sweetheart. I think that was the caregiver in her. She was always happy until lately. I don’t know what happened, none of us really knew but she hadn’t been herself. It’s like she was a completely different person.”
Jotting down the last few comments Keegan stood up from her seat and shook Olivia’s hand in thanks. “Thank you for your time Olivia. You have really helped.”
Keegan pulled out a business card with her work number scrawled across the front of it and placed it on Olivia’s desk. “If you think of anything, don’t hesitate to call me. Even the smallest of things can be helpful.”
Olivia tacked the card up to the stripe of cork board behind monitor and nodded. “You just find who did this to her. Elaine didn’t deserve to be killed. She was a good person and we don’t have enough people like her in the world anymore. She was something special.”
The rest of the office wasn’t as helpful as Olivia. Jesse barely knew Elaine having worked on separate ends of the office but he had heard that something had been going on with her and he tried to reach out to her according to Matt. Keegan had enough to confirm that Bryton was a legitimate suspect and she needed to dig up more evidence on him to get a warrant for his DNA. If they got a match from both crime scenes, hell even one of the crime scenes they would be able to put him away and be done with the entire thing.
“You and Hollis get anywhere this morning?” Leeroy asked as he dug through the mound of folders and papers on his desk.
“I’m pretty sure I know who did it.” Keegan shrugged, “But I don’t have enough evidence.”
Leeroy huffed out a frustrated sigh. “In other words, you do have enough evidence to go after the guy if he were a human. But since he’s a supernatural you need more because all the judges around here are jack holes.”
Keegan nodded, “That about sums it up. I figure we might