Gage didn’t like this man at all, didn’t care for his attitude. “The meeting isn’t over, Herr Doktor.”
“Pardon?”
Gage made his tone a notch more menacing. “What—other—injuries? Tell me now.”
Doctor Esser halted his actions and tilted his head. “Are you threatening me?”
“I’ve not threatened you at all. I’m giving you a chance to tell me.”
“Or what?”
Gage stared.
“Sir, I am not in the custom of being threatened in any way. I won’t tolerate it.” The doctor lifted the phone and managed to press one number.
Gage leaned forward and grasped the gray phone cord, snapping it from the wall.
“What are you—”
It was too late.
By the time the chirp of a yell had made its way from the doctor’s mouth, Gage had already shot around the small desk and clamped his left arm around the doctor’s neck like a vise. Gage knew this was a risky maneuver. It could easily land him in jail for assault. He’d lose his visa and it could create all sorts of problems in the long run—possibly even the forfeiting of his passport.
But it was a calculated gamble, and one that involved Gage keeping the doctor quiet enough for the time being.
Tightening his left arm by pulling with his right hand, Gage was satisfied when both of the doctor’s hands clung to Gage’s forearm, not unlike a person would do if being dangled off the side of a building. A natural response to someone being choked, it was also futile. Gage could easily kill the doctor from this position, but he had no desire to inflict any actual harm to the man other than a quick scare.
The only sounds at this point were a few gurgles and the movement of the doctor’s feet as they kicked at the underside of the desk.
“Calm down, quit struggling and I’ll ease the pressure,” Gage intoned, recalling a similar maneuver he’d once used on an unruly airline passenger.
When the doctor obeyed, Gage loosened the choke.
“You make a loud sound,” Gage warned, “and I’m clamping down and holding.”
“No, please.”
“Oh, yes. And I’m not letting loose of the hold when you pass out, and you know what that means, Doctor Pathologist. Your oversized brain will be starved for oxygen, then the real damage can begin.”
“Please don’t,” the doctor rasped.
“I’m crazy as hell and I can’t stand anal retentive assholes like you.”
“Please…please, don’t hurt me…”
“Talk to me, dammit,” Gage growled. “Did Karl Vogel have another injury?”
“It’s too tight,” the doctor pleaded.
“You better not yell,” Gage warned, easing the choke. “There. Did he have another injury?”
“Y-y-yes.”
“Good,” Gage replied. “What was it?”
“I told the medical service I wouldn’t say a word,” the doctor hissed. “I took money to keep it quiet.”
“You hid it?”
“Yes.”
“And the body was quickly cremated?”
“Yes. It was all done to cover up the fact that he’d been murdered.”
“What was the other injury?”
“It can’t get out that I told you.”
Gage provided a hard squeeze to the doctor’s neck. “Stop worrying and just tell me.”
The doctor sobbed his next words—they were rather shocking.
“The killer sliced off Vogel’s penis.”
“Say that again.”
Doctor Esser said it again.
“Who else knows about this?”
“No one, other than Claudia Vogel. She knew.”
“What about his nurse?”
“I don’t know. Maybe?”
“You didn’t tell anyone?”
“No. She’d have ruined me.”
“Did Claudia tell anyone?”
“Of course not. That’s why we had him cremated so quickly.”
“What about the ambulance?”
“I retrieved the body.”
“What?”
“I came and retrieved the body.”
“How?”
“Claudia Vogel called her medical service and told them she wanted this to be treated quietly. She requested that I come alone to get the body.”
“You drove the ambulance?”
“Yes.”
“What about the crematory?”
“I brought Vogel’s body here and performed the autopsy. I then put it in an HRP and took him straight to the crematory.”
“HRP?”
“Human remains pouch. They never opened it—why would they? I had all the seals and forms I needed. They burned the remains of the corpse immediately. I watched.”
“Did you bribe them?”
“No. Frau Vogel might have, but I didn’t. They performed an immediate cremation.”
“No one saw the body?” Gage demanded, releasing more pressure in a slight show of goodwill.
“No. There was no embalming and it was done at such speed there was no putrescence. The crematory is just as its name indicates. If you have the proper papers they do as little as possible. In this case, it was torching the body to ash. The HRP is insignificant at such temperatures and I used one specifically designed for cremation so they wouldn’t open it, and then I remained in order to verify.”
“Why was Claudia so intent on hiding what had happened?”
“At the time, we didn’t know about the potassium chloride. We thought he died because of the severed penis.”
“Did he?”
“It was almost certainly the potassium. But whoever did it sliced off the penis while he was still alive.”
“Did you find anything else?”
“No. I found what might have been a needle prick in his neck. That was all.”
“How bad was his heart?”
“Bad. Stents everywhere. It was only a matter of time.”
“Why did she want his body destroyed?”
“Why don’t you ask her?”
“Smart guy,” Gage said, giving a good squeeze, causing the doctor’s hands to again fly up to Gage’s forearms.
“Please, no.”
“Why?” Gage demanded.
“I honestly don’t know.”
“Guess.”
“That sort of mutilation usually comes after sexual abuse of some sort. She probably wanted to spare the family of the embarrassment.”
Gage released the doctor, watching as he massaged his neck. Then, from inside Gage’s jacket pocket, he retrieved his digital recorder and wagged it.
“You might get me jailed for assault. However, when I reveal this recording, you’ll lose
