The Society

“I’m not going to give up, though-especially as long as you’re our main connection to the killer. I’ll keep at it on my own time if I have to.”

“Any way I can help?”

“Just keep letting me vent. Will, I’ve looked at these murders from every angle I could think of, but I still can’t get past the feeling that there’s something I’m missing, or something I haven’t done.”

“Maybe it’s in those letters.”

“Maybe.”

“Speaking of which-”

“M and N,” she said, “tucked neatly beneath the hand that had removed countless brain tumors by day and, from what we’ve learned so far, stroked countless women’s bottoms by night. I don’t know why, but try as I might, I’m having trouble warming up to the guy.”

“That’s okay. He’s having trouble warming up at all. M and N, huh? Do you think after we finish here we could go back to my place and use my set to play a little homicide Scrabble?”

“Triple word. Double letter. I before E except after C.”

“Precisely. Okay, Sergeant, here’s the way this all shakes down for me. This is a family of killers at work, not just one. I mean family as in brothers and sisters-at least one of each, maybe more. I feel almost certain of it. The guy who’s calling me said ‘us’ over and over. It looks to me like some managed-care company just tried to cut corners with the wrong patient, and now it’s backfired on them all. Given their policies, it was only a matter of time before someone went postal on them. These killers are furious over the death of their mother, and they won’t stop until everyone everyplace knows what happened to her.”

“Then why haven’t they just gone right to the press?”

“In time they probably will. But at the moment, even though they’re smart and professional, they’re also insane and arrogant and imbued with a bitter, angry sense of irony. I think they want to involve me because having a doctor on their side validates what they’re doing. They’re grooming me to be their spokesman, just as I was for the Hippocrates Society.”

“But now you’ve fallen from grace.”

“Big time. I think if I don’t set things straight and get back to work soon, they’re going to lose interest in me. They’ve chosen me to present their case to the public, and unless I can get out from under the charges against me, they’ll have nothing. They’re either going to demand I find out who did this to me and get myself back on the staff at the hospital, or-”

“Or decide you’re not worth the energy and maybe pay you a little visit with a couple of more letters.”

RTERBECNMN

A phrase? A name? A clue?

With the Scrabble board on the coffee table by the couch, Patty and Will took turns arranging and rearranging the tiles.

“Look,” she said. “E TEMB R.”

“September!”

“Or November, or December-even October if he’s holding back a couple of Os.”

Will shuffled around the remaining tiles, searching for the suggestion of a word, then shrugged and shook his head.

“The mother’s birthday?”

“Maybe. What about remember?”

Patty spelled out REME BR, then lined up the T, C, N, and N.

“Remember somebody.”

“That may be it. If it is, it’s not nearly as obscure as I would have guessed.”

“Whatever it is, there still seem to be a lot of missing letters.”

“That’s a frightening thought.”

“We-I mean, they have a cryptographer working on the letters. There are ten of them now. He should be able to come up with some serious possibilities.”

“Here’s some more,” Will said. “Let’s see you solve this puzzle.”

He placed tiles spelling KI S ME across a triple word.

“Let’s see now. .”

Patty used the K and put AN DO beneath it. She slid her hands behind Will’s neck and drew him close.

“I never really liked Scrabble before,” he said.

“That’s because you never played it with me.”

At that instant, the phone began ringing. Once. . twice. .

“It’s him!”

Three times. . four. .

Reluctantly, Will pulled away and hit the speaker button on his phone.

“Yes?”

Anticipating the frightening electronic voice, he squeezed Patty’s hand.

“Will Grant? Micelli here. Augie Micelli.”

Patty and Will sagged in unison.

“Hey, this is a surprise,” Will said.

“Believe me, it is to me, too. Listen, I sure as hell hope you’ve been staying in shape during your time off, because you’ve got a long, tough road ahead of you. I’ve decided to take your case and do whatever I can to help you out of the mess you’re in.”

Will listened for the slurring that would suggest Micelli was in his cups, but the Law Doctor sounded sharp and focused.

“That’s wonderful,” he said.

“I’m assuming you didn’t take any fentanyl. If you’re lying to me about that, we’re not going to be friends anymore.”

“I didn’t take anything.”

“Good. That part of things is settled. I spoke to a pal of mine in the DA’s office. They’re still of a mind to prosecute you for attempted manslaughter or something, but I don’t think it will take much of a breakthrough on our part for them to change their position.”

“Let’s get to it, then.”

“The first thing we’ve got to do is somehow get them to back off and give us some time and space. Then we’ve got to get your license and staff privileges restored. We’re not going to take this lying down.”

“Just show me where to push,” Will said.

“Our first, second, and third priorities are to figure out how a drug got into your body when you never took it. After we know how, we can start working on who and why. Put your thinking cap on and give me a call. I’ll be in the office after eight tomorrow.”

“Should I ask why you’ve decided to do this?”

“No,” Micelli replied sharply. “I should be asking why I decided to do this.”

Will listened to the dial tone for a few seconds, then shut off the speaker.

“Hey,” Patty said, “that’s great. You’ve got yourself a lawyer.”

“I’ll bet he’s very together when he’s sober.”

“Well, hopefully dealing with you will help give him religion as far as that goes. Now you’ve got a team on your side-him and me.”

“That’s some team.”

“Your new barrister did make one small error, though.”

“He did?”