Time of Death

‘A what?’

‘A taint team – there’s a lot of crap in those files no one needs to see. I might need to know that Patient A’s giant white rabbit friend was telling him to kill all medical professionals, but I don’t need to know he wore his great aunt’s yellow drawers to his sixteenth birthday party.’

‘Right.’

‘So this taint team goes in, reads the psych files, tries to match them to these Patients A, B and C, and hands only what they see as the relevant parts of these files over to the judge.’

Ren paused. ‘And this is so that a defendant – if you find one – can’t file a motion to suppress all the information in the files on the grounds that it could taint the investigators and prosecutors?’

Glenn paused. ‘I believe that is correct.’

‘And these are the only three files you can access? Just because they were in plain view?’

‘That’s the law.’ Glenn shrugged.

‘Do you know who’s on this taint team?’

‘Three prosecutors from the DA’s office that aren’t involved in the case.’

‘For objectivity.’

‘Yes.’

‘And who’s the judge?’

‘Douglas Hammond.’

‘And…how will it all work?’ said Ren. ‘I mean, the fact that a patient is a patient is privileged information in itself.’

Glenn nodded. ‘I guess they feel that the taint team addresses that. It goes no further than those three people.’

‘That doesn’t sound strong enough to hold up.’

‘Douglas Hammond seems to think so.’

‘What did Helen Wheeler’s assistant say about the book?’

‘She said she didn’t know anything about it.’

‘And you don’t find that strange?’ said Ren. ‘Her own assistant doesn’t know?’

‘Not really. Wheeler could have just wanted to keep it on the down low before she told anyone what she was doing. The assistant didn’t seem very helpful,’ said Glenn. ‘Wouldn’t you think she would want us to find her boss’s killer?’

‘Yes, but not to destroy all her patients’ mental health in the process,’ said Ren. ‘I doubt Helen Wheeler would want that either. Also, I’m sure if her assistant really thought one of the patients was a threat, she would have let you know.’ I am talking about this too much.

‘Sure,’ said Glenn. ‘But it’s not like the assistant’s a trained psychiatrist.’

‘True. Right, well, keep me posted,’ said Ren. ‘Hopefully something will come up.’

And please God let it not be Patient B’s deep dark secrets.

20

Gary was the only person in Safe Streets who knew about Ren’s condition. She rushed to his office.

‘Gary, I was talking to Glenn Buddy and they’re going to try and access Helen’s patient files.’

‘I wish them well.’

‘No – it looks like they’re able to do it,’ said Ren. ‘Apparently Helen was writing a book and her notes were in plain view when they went to check out her office. They were like Patient A, male, thirty-one, whatever. Patient B, Patient C. And I’m Patient B.’

‘Whoa. What?’

‘I am Patient B. No names, obviously, but it is me. Female, my age, law-enforcement officer, bipolar…’

‘But they’re privileged files—’

‘These notes were right there on top of her desk,’ said Ren. ‘Denver PD’s got nothing to go on so far, so they’re looking at the patient-gone-nuts angle. The closest they can get to a patient at this stage is these notes.’

‘You had no idea she was writing a book?’

‘No,’ said Ren. ‘And I would, let’s face it, be the last person to give Helen permission to use me as a case study if she had been. I mean, it’s not like I’m relatable to in the grand scheme of things. My case study is too unusual. She was probably writing notes first, then going after permission.’

‘Has this been confirmed – was she definitely writing a book?’

‘I didn’t ask, I was too thrown. Glenn didn’t seem to be questioning it.’

‘Did she have a publisher?’ said Gary. ‘Is there anything else to back this up?’

‘There might be something in her email. But according to Glenn, her assistant knew nothing about it.’

‘That just doesn’t add up.’

‘What can we do?’ said Ren.

‘I’ll talk to Glenn Buddy and tell him not to go after Patient B’s files.’

‘Can you do that?’

‘If he knows I can vouch for Patient B, he’ll take my word. He would know that I wouldn’t go out on a limb for that. The judge isn’t going to have a problem with it – the less he has to wade through, the better.’

‘I hope you’re right.’

‘You don’t need to hope.’ Gary paused. ‘OK, if I’m going to get Denver PD to bury this, you need to tell me what you were seeing Helen about…’

‘Everything, really,’ said Ren.

‘Relationships? Your family? Work?’

‘Yes.’

‘Ren,’ said Gary, leaning forward, ‘for now, you are one of three patients Denver PD are interested in. I need to be absolutely sure that your file is not going to hold the key to this entire investigation or even be twenty steps behind the key to this investigation. I need to know that we’re not all going to spend weeks or months or years looking for a killer who is named on page one of your patient file.’

‘No, not a chance.’

‘You’re off medication at the moment, right? That’s according to my last time checking in with Helen.’

‘Yes.’

‘Were you discussing the work stuff in detail with Helen?’

‘Not major details, no. And I doubt she would have taken them down if I was.’

‘Different psychiatrists take different kinds of notes. It’s their call. Did you notice – did Helen have separate psychiatry/psychotherapy files? Did she have the meds in one file and notes on the talk therapy in another?’

‘I don’t know,’ said Ren. ‘Most psychiatrists do nowadays. Or do they? I mean, if you thought someone other than your therapist would be able to access the inner workings of your mind, you wouldn’t tell them everything. And if you don’t, then your treatment is a total waste. I would have said that Helen was a “one file for Medicaid, one file for me,” kind of person. But then again, I wouldn’t have had her down as a secret author…’

‘Do you think there’s something up with that?’

‘I don’t know,’ said Ren. ‘I mean, why would she tell me about a book if it was early days? Maybe it was just a confidence thing.’ She shrugged. ‘I really don’t know.’ But I’m a little rattled.

Gary nodded. ‘The other thing is – and I’m asking because I have to – was there any tension between you and Helen?’

I must meet all these devils that my family and friends are being advocates for. ‘No, no tension at all. We had an excellent relationship. We were like…’ Ren’s eyes filled up with tears. ‘…friends. It was a professional relationship, but she was like a friend. She was…just…always…there for me.’

Gary reached out for the phone.

‘OK,’ said Ren, standing up. ‘Thank you.’ She turned back as she reached the door. ‘Do you think Glenn Buddy is going to guess that it’s me?’

‘Does that matter? The point is you’re being eliminated from his investigation. I know a lot of agents, I’ve moved around a lot. I could be vouching for anyone. And Helen’s worked as a shrink for over thirty years in different