"And what are those decisions?"
"He's a nurse. He assaulted a patient. He got fired for it. But we suspect he might be the perpetrator in a series of stabbings, that seem to be related to victims who’ve survived earlier experiences.”
“So that’s a real psychological challenge. Does he have a link to them?”
“Yes. Before he was fired, two of the three murder victims were in the ICU when he was working as part of the team."
"Okay," Kerry sounded instantly on board with the situation. "So while he's being treated, you're looking to see what you can find on him?"
"Exactly," May said.
"I'll see what databases I can access from here. Send me his phone number and other details. I'll have a look and see if there's anything that can help you."
"Thanks, sis," May said.
She briefly wondered if she should tell Kerry about the safe, about what she'd discovered in Lauren's case, but decided not to. That was a personal matter, and May didn't want to think about it right now. She needed to put all those thoughts and worries in the back of her mind and focus on hunting down this criminal.
Besides, once the safe was open, she'd have even more news to give Kerry, May reasoned.
"I'll be in touch later." Kerry sounded pleased to have a project to sink her teeth into. She cut the call and May returned to her own research.
Owen rushed in again.
“Yes. It’s a size ten shoe. So we have a match there,” he said sounding triumphant. “Now, I’m going to get onto his movements.”
Since Kerry was now handling the phone records and doing it with more resources than May could do, she decided to reread the old case files that Nurse Keyes had been involved in, to see if there were any other similarities or parallels.
She turned to the task feeling keen and motivated, hoping that there would be some clear parallels, that he'd threatened other patients, that there would be some common thread or starting point that could strengthen the links between Nurse Keyes and the current victims.
The problem was that as May read through the case files, she didn't find what she was looking for.
In fact, she found the opposite, which was not what she wanted to read, and in fact was a big disappointment.
It seemed there were two sides to the story. Nurse Keyes might have had anger issues in the past, but the patient’s account was inconsistent, and May had the feeling that the charges might have been dropped because they were exaggerated.
And the lawsuit that the hospital manager had mentioned?
Nurse Keyes was suing the hospital for unfair dismissal, with a sheaf of character reports from colleagues and previous employers to show that he was a fine and upstanding member of society.
As May realized this, with a frisson of dread in her stomach, she started thinking about a highly unwanted possibility.
What if Nurse Keyes was genuinely innocent?
What if they were spending hours, and taking precious time, researching the wrong suspect?
And what if the real killer was out there still, driven forward by his short interval, planning the murder of his next victim?
May shivered as she realized this was a serious possibility.
They might not have time to save another woman if she was right about being wrong.
CHAPTER TWENTY ONE
May was getting a bad feeling about their suspect, and as she looked at the evidence in front of her, it was onlygetting worse. She knew she had to share her suspicions with Owen, as the clock ticked toward one a.m. and her research was getting her firmly nowhere.
Around her, she'd tuned out the sounds of the hospital, the bustle coming from beyond the door, the sound of voices, the occasional rattling of stretchers. In the harsh overhead light, her eyes felt red and tired.
She looked over toward her deputy, who was battling with the locations of the different cameras. He'd made what seemed like hundreds of calls so far but had been unable to get hold of the people he needed, who could access the footage.