“Oh, sorry,” he muttered bringing the window down and blowing out gray smoke. “You know when this is all over, you and I should get a cottage up here. They say the Adirondacks are a nice place to unwind.”
“Zach, if you haven’t figured out yet, your chances of getting me into bed are zero! So you might as well give up now.”
“Who said anything about bed?”
“Oh please,” she said rolling her eyes and glancing at her phone as Dalton sent her a text updating her on what he’d found out from the kid. She showed Zach the photo of a fragment of a taillight.
“Looks like there is some weight to Winchester’s story.”
Zach sucked on the cigarette and blew smoke out of his nostrils. “Makes you wonder, doesn’t it?”
“What?”
“Why go to all that trouble? I mean, okay, the guy isn’t a saint. He has a dark past, probably darker than most, but still. Kidnapping his girl, leaving a trail of bodies behind and then setting up Winchester to put him in a forensic mental hospital. You’ve got to be pretty twisted. You think he slept with someone’s daughter?”
“Oh brother.”
“What? I’m just saying. New Yorkers aren’t the friendliest people on the planet. I had a friend of mine who dated this girl. She said she was of age. You know, eighteen and whatnot. Anyway, it turned out this gal was sixteen. Can you believe that? I swear there is something in the water as these females today are… well you know…” he said pointing to his chest.
She chuckled. “This friend of yours. It wasn’t you, was it?”
His eyed widened. “Me? No. Anyway, the girl’s father was some big shot in Chicago. He put a hit out on this guy. The guy was lucky to survive. Last I heard he flew to some European country.”
Kelly put her head in her hand as she continued to flick through the photos. She glanced up and saw the secretary come out with an older man, late fifties, glasses, short, wearing a brown suit. He said something to the woman and she nodded and hurried towards her car while he locked up. A moment later he headed for his. Kelly nudged Zach as he was still waffling about younger women looking older than they were. “Let’s go.”
She hopped out and hurried over to speak to him.
“Dr. Grossman. Doctor!” she said. He stood beside his large silver truck and looked at her.
“Can I help you?”
“Kelly Armstrong. I was in today. Can I get a moment of your time? It’s about Jack Winchester’s case.”
His face changed from pleasant to shock. “I’m sorry, I don’t have time.” He pressed the key fob to open his truck. Zach cut him off and shouldered the door before he could get in. “All we need is five minutes of your time.”
“Look, if you don’t get out of the way, I’ll call the cops.”
Zach narrowed his eyes. “Yeah, I bet they would be really pleased to learn that you fabricated a story.”
“I didn’t fabricate any story and I don’t appreciate the accusation.”
Kelly added, “No? So you believed Winchester when he told you that he was in an automobile accident?”
His brow furrowed. “Look, who are you?”
“Trouble,” she said turning her phone around and showing him one of the photos Dalton had sent over. “And we have a witness that can verify there was an accident. Now, if I can find out all of this, you can imagine what the cops will uncover with a little help from us. Now do you want to speak with the cops or can I persuade you to get out of the rain and have a cup of coffee with us?”
10
Rain pelted the window of the restaurant, droplets wiggled heavy and fast. Dr. Grossman nursed a cup of coffee. Zach sat beside him. Sitting across the table, Kelly emptied a packet of sugar into her cup and stirred.
“Why wasn’t he taken seriously?” She asked.
“Would you after finding meth in his system? Look, I was called in to evaluate his mental state. Nothing more. I’m not a police investigator. I wasn’t brought out to Apalachin or told anything beyond who he was, and what crime he’d committed.”
“But surely you would have passed on the information that Winchester relayed to you.”
“I made a note of it in my report but Mr. Winchester’s attorneys and the state stipulated and agreed to the facts of the case. Mr. Winchester waived his right to a jury trial, leaving the judge to decide his fate. If he had concerns with what his attorneys were putting forth that was something I assumed he would have discussed with them.”
“And did he?” Zach asked.
“I can’t speak to that. You would have to speak with his attorney, Douglas Sanders. All I can tell you is that I found at the time of the crime he met the criteria for insanity defense.”
“So you weren’t paid by anyone?” Zach asked.
He scowled, flashing him a sideways glance. “No.”
“Pressured?” Kelly asked.
His brow furrowed. “Bringing into question my decision is one thing, questioning my professionalism is another. I did what was required of me as I have done on many cases like this.”
Kelly nodded. By any measure he appeared to be telling the truth, that or he just had a very good poker face. “When did you learn about Dana Grant, the kidnapping and an automobile accident?”
“His attorney told me.”
“So before you sat down and did the evaluation,” Zach added.
He nodded. “That’s correct.”
“And what did he tell you?” Kelly asked.
Grossman cleared his throat and for the first time since starting the conversation, Kelly saw a crack in his facade. “I think you should speak with him regarding that.”
“If it didn’t sway your opinion of Mr. Winchester, why can’t you tell us?”
“I think I’ve said enough,” he muttered looking out the window nervously as a dark truck rolled by. Kelly followed his gaze and caught its red taillights before it disappeared
