Page 33 of Forgotten Path

He jerked a thumb toward the door. “She has it.” Then he looked at his partner. “Ready?”

“Ready.”

“On three. One, two, three.”

They lifted the bag and deposited it onto the stretcher with a loud, wet thud. Charlie, Angie, and the photographer shuddered in unison. Bodhi and the morgue workers remained impassive. After they’d wheeled the stretcher out of the house and onto the porch, he joined Officer Green at the door. The two of them stood and watched Joel leave the clinic for the last time.

The police officer’s shoulders heaved.

“Did you know Joel?”

She swallowed audibly before answering in a soft voice. “Sure. Everybody knew Doc Ashland. He was …”

“One of a kind,” Bodhi supplied.

Her head snapped up, and she searched his eyes. “You knew him, too?”

“He was a friend.”

“I’m sorry.”

Bodhi nodded. “So am I. You’re looking less peaked.”

“Yeah, the morgue attendants didn’t have any menthol rub, but they gave me some spearmint gum. It really helped.”

“It does.” He paused and then switched gears. “Did you include all those folders from the desk in the loft in your inventory?”

“Sort of. I wrote one line item for ‘stack of patient files.’ I didn’t know if I should list them all separately. There are a lot and … well …”

He waited.

She sighed. “Chief Rodman said we’re treating this as a suspicious death for now, but it’s probably just an accident. So I didn’t see the point in listing every single file. I mean, Doc fell from the loft, right?”

He didn’t want to answer that question directly, so he didn’t. “Did your police chief say anything else?”

“Just that you’re in charge. Well, you and the FDLE guys. Please don’t get the wrong idea, Dr. King. The chief cares that Doc Ashland died—everybody in town cares—but we’re not equipped to do any kind of extensive investigation. We’re a really small department. The chief, me, and two other full-timers, three part-time officers, and the chief’s secretary. That’s it.”

“I understand. I’m taking the patient files with me.”

She wrinkled her forehead. “Why?”

“Lots of reasons. One, there are privacy laws at play. Right now, there’s nobody to step in and take over the clinic, and we shouldn’t leave them here unsecured.”

“Well, I’m guarding it.”

“For how long?”

She dropped her gaze to study her shoes. “My shift ends at eight.”

He glanced at his watch. “So, two more hours. Is the chief posting an officer overnight?”

“No.”

“You can write out a form stating that I took temporary possession of all the files on the desk. I’ll be happy to sign it.”

She considered that for a moment before shaking her head. “No, I guess it’s fine. The chief said you’re in charge.”

“Okay. One more question. May I see the note that was in Joel’s pocket?”