May nodded. It was a harsh reality that there was more than one way for Nurse Keyes to try and make his escape. He might try suicide. Or he might try to flee the state.
"We must make sure that the ward matron and nurses keep a close watch on him until we're ready to speak to him," she said."When he’s just woken up, after such an experience, he might be more ready to tell the truth."
When they had arrived, May pulled up at the side entrance to the hospital, parked in one of the empty bays, grabbed their laptop bags, and ran inside, heading straight for the reception desk. At this hour, it was quiet, and the receptionist was able to help them immediately.
"We're looking for a patient called David Keyes, who was just rushed in here," May said. "We have permission to use a waiting room close to the ICU ward where he is."
The receptionist quickly checked her computer screen.
"If you take the elevator to the second floor, you can use the room to the right of the ICU ward," she said quickly.
Aware that time was ticking, May and Owen rushed to the elevator. They rode up to the second floor and then ran along the corridor.
Ahead, there were signs pointing the way to the ICU ward. Even now, Nurse Keyes was fighting for his life in here, getting his stomach pumped out, getting medication to fight the overdose of tablets, and perhaps even needing some form of life support or breathing assistance. May didn't know what it would take to save him, but she hoped that it would happen fast.
All she could do was hope that he would be awake soon and that he would be able to tell them what they needed to know.
She felt sick with worry about what might happen if this man died.
Here was the waiting room that they were going to be able to use. She headed into the small, windowless room. There were four chairs inside, and a tiny round table that would work as a makeshift desk.
May placed the laptop bag carefully on the desk, and then pulled out her chair. She sat down and immediately opened the laptop, turning it on.
There was a lot they could do on this case, but the late hour was working against them. They would be battling the clock to make sure they got the information they needed.
She turned to Owen. "Let's begin by tracking his movements over the past few days and see if we can match any of his locations to where the victims were killed. He isn’t like Professor Bright. He’s not within walking distance of these crime scenes. He lives far enough away that he would have had to use a car."
Owen nodded. He began to tap information into the laptop.
“Here’s something relevant, May. The police have just messaged us that they measured the boot print at the farmhouse. It’s a size ten shoe. So we can see if Keyes’ shoe size is the same. I’ll go and do that now. The ICU team will have his clothing there.”
“Great idea,” May said.
“Then, I’ll look up all the routes out to those farms that could have had cameras anywhere along them. Especially near his house, there's a chance cameras could have picked up something. I think I saw one at a gas station."
“I'm going to try and access his phone records. We're looking for any possible link here. I know it's very late, but perhaps it can be done. Maybe he called, or texted his victims, or got in touch with someone living nearby,” May said.
Perhaps Kerry could help, she thought suddenly. Kerry had access to larger databases than she, a humble county deputy, could reach. And Kerry could get the results faster too.
With that thought in mind, May dialed Kerry's number.
Kerry answered immediately, and despite the late hour, she sounded wide awake. In fact, May briefly wondered if Kerry ever sounded tired. She couldn't recall it. It was as if her sister had limitless stamina, in addition to all the other ways she was superior to May.
Or perhaps Kerry was better at seeming wide awake, May amended. She herself was less good at acting the part, and already feeling as if her brain was shutting down on her and pleading for sleep, even though the pressure of this case didn't allow for it.
"Kerry, it's May. Sorry to call you so late."
"That's no problem, sis. Luckily, I've just got in from work myself. Had a very successful day. A major criminal takedown. It was quite the operation. We had ten agents and two helicopters involved. I corralled the kingpin as he was trying to flee." Kerry sounded satisfied, but her cheery recount of the day made May’s heart lurch as she acknowledged her own inferiority.
She was battling with a case so simple in comparison, and yet, she couldn’t solve it.
"What's up your side?" Kerry asked.
"I'm here at the hospital, and we're about to interview a suspect in a murder case."
"You are?" Kerry asked. "Why the hospital?"
"He attempted suicide before we reached his house. Not because we were on our way. He didn't know that. I think he just regretted his life decisions."