over his mother’s condition could trigger him to commit mercy killings or even assisted suicide. But he didn’t see the connection between him and Gloria Inman.
Mrs. Inman had been late forties and had years of life ahead.
Although...the possibility of assisted suicide led to another point. What if Conrad was paid by the people to help end their lives? Either by the elderly patient or one of their family members who no longer wanted to see them suffer?
His phone dinged with a call.
Peyton twisted her hands together as he drove toward Golden Gardens, and he pressed Bennett’s number. “I’m driving. You’re on Speaker. Peyton Weiss is with me, but you can speak freely. What do you have?”
“It’s about the two patients who died at the hospital where Conrad worked. First Edna Fouts, seventy-nine. Suffered from Parkinson’s complicated by delusions and memory loss associated with the disease. She was in stage five, had fallen several times, was unable to get out of bed, and experienced deep vein thrombosis. She died in her sleep.”
“Was an autopsy performed?”
“No, the family said she’d suffered enough. They didn’t want to put her through anything else.”
Dammit. “Go on.”
“Patient number two—Lydia Corgin, eighty-three. Suffered from Alzheimer’s. Again, late stages. She’d stopped getting out of bed, refused to eat and drink. Then she developed pneumonia. Again, no autopsy.”
Liam’s chest tightened. “And the third?”
“Conrad took the job at Serenity Now after that. Hilda Rogers, eighty-one, had a history of heart failure. She suffered a stroke and died in her room before the ambulance arrived. Again, no autopsy. Doctor and family agreed that she was ready to go. Son stated that he was glad she was finally at peace.”
Liam bit back a curse. “Listen, Bennett, it’s possible these deaths were natural causes. But we can’t discount mercy killings. In light of the fact that none of them were autopsied, we also could be dealing with assisted suicides.”
“I’ll research his financials and see if there’s anything off,” Bennett said. “And I’ll start looking at the families. See if there’s anything strange about their insurance policies or financials.”
Peyton was watching him, anxiety radiating from her rigid posture, as he ended the call.
“I understand why you suspect Conrad of killing those other women, but why would he hurt Gloria Inman? She had health issues, but she wasn’t terminal.”
“Maybe not. But what if Inman wanted out of his marriage and he learned Conrad could be paid to help. Maybe he took advantage of that. Or he could have even blackmailed Conrad into killing Gloria.”
Peyton paled, and Liam pressed Jacob’s number to fill him in on his latest theory.
He could be wrong. The pieces were still floating around in his head and he hadn’t yet connected them. They might not all be related either.
But at this point, he couldn’t discount any possibility.
* * *
PEYTON COULDN’T SHAKE her worry for her mother as Liam parked in front of the main building at Golden Gardens. Was Miller Conrad a mercy killer or a killer for hire?
She texted Fred that they’d arrived, and he met them at the front door and led them to his office. “I already pulled the footage,” Fred said.
“Did you look at it?” Peyton asked.
“I haven’t had a chance,” he said. “It’s been a crazy day.”
“What do you mean?” Peyton asked.
The age lines around Fred’s mouth thinned with his frown. “We lost a patient,” Fred said quietly. “Leon.”
The hair on the back of Peyton’s neck bristled. Leon Brittles who’d seen Val the other night.
“What happened?” Peyton asked.
“I don’t know exactly. You’ll have to ask Dr. Sweetwater. She rushed to try to save him, but it was too late. His body is on its way to the funeral home.”
Liam’s suspicions about a mercy killer or assisted suicide taunted her.
Poor Leon. He had no family. No one to call. No one to ask questions about his death.
Chapter Sixteen
Peyton inhaled a deep breath. “How did Leon die?”
Fred pulled a hand down his chin. “All I know is that he wandered out in the garden sometime during the night. Ms. Marley found him this morning when she went for a walk after breakfast. She was pretty upset. Dr. Sweetwater gave her a sedative to calm her down.”
Poor lady.
Liam cleared his throat. “Was Leon seriously ill?”
“He had Alzheimer’s, and got confused a lot,” Peyton said. “But he was mobile and wasn’t suffering from any other fatal disease.”
Liam folded his arms. “Did Dr. Sweetwater order an autopsy?”
Fred shrugged. “I have no idea.”
“I’ll call her and ask.” Peyton pulled her phone from