Cindy felt upset by the idea, she didn’t want to get Alana into any more difficulty than she was in right now.
“First let’s look into medical mistakes and drugs at the hospital,” Cindy suggested, “that’s a better way to go. And, let’s get over to the police station immediately and find out what they have on Owen.”
“You’re protecting Alana?” Mattheus gave Cindy a long, slow look.
“For now, I am,” said Cindy. “We don’t have anything definite on her yet, and it’s too easy to put the blame where it doesn’t belong. The hospital’s in a better position to defend themselves than Alana.”
Mattheus agreed and stood up. “Okay, we’ll wait and see about Alana. Let’s get to the station right away,” he said.
*
Eric Holder, Chief of Police was pleased to see Cindy and Mattheus when they walked into the station. It had been awhile since Cindy had been around, though Eric and Mattheus had obviously met a few times.
“I got your message, Mattheus,” Eric said as soon as he saw them. “I’ve arranged for Tom Dillard to join us. He‘s the chief lawyer on the case and can answer any questions you guys may have. I told him you’ve been cooperating with us, that we’re working side by side.”
Cindy was surprised not only by Eric’s comment but by his new founded warmth and cordiality. He and Mattheus had probably gotten on well together. Mattheus always had a way with the police.
In a few moments Tom Dillard walked in and joined them. An attractive ex pat, he looked suntanned and confident. After introductions they all sat around a table and after a few minutes Cindy decided to start the meeting off.
“What’s the new evidence you have against Owen?” she asked, getting things rolling.
Eric rubbed his face slowly. “Who told you about that?” he asked.
“The word is out,” said Cindy.
“Eric closed his eyes a second. “There’s nothing you can keep quiet here for more than a few seconds,” he murmured to Mattheus, “word leaks through a thousand cracks in the walls.”
“We need to know what the evidence is,” Mattheus responded calmly. “I’m sure you understand.”
“Of course,” Eric acquiesced, “the final medical examiner reports have come in. The exact time of Tara’s death has been established. We know how long it took for her to die and when the toxic substance was added to her IV.”
Cindy took a deep breath. It was amazing how specific forensic evidence could be.
“From our calculations,” Eric continued, “the substance was administered at ten p.m. At that time Tara’s night nurse was off duty. Owen was the only one present in her room.”
Tom Dillard tapped his hands on the table and gave Cindy a long, slow glance. “Sounds pretty conclusive to me,” he stated.
“Not at all conclusive,” Cindy objected. “There’s absolutely no way of knowing if someone or other didn’t come into the room and administer the substance.”
“If they did, Owen would still have been present,” Tim stated. “He was a consenting presence.”
“But what if Owen fell asleep and was dozing at the moment?” Cindy asked.
“You can dream up any excuse you care to,” Tim’s voice grew harsher, “but the facts are the facts.”
“It’s not an excuse, it’s a possibility I’m suggesting,” said Cindy.
“Possible, but not probable,” Tim replied. “What we are looking at is an active euthanasia case. That is charged as first degree murder.”
“Seems extreme to me,” said Cindy, staring to breathe fast.
“There are other forms of euthanasia as well,” Tim went on matter of factly. Passive euthanasia is different. It’s when a patient dies because medical professionals don’t do something necessary to keep the person alive, or when they stop doing something that has been keeping the patient alive. That isn’t charged the same way. Active euthanasia occurs when someone does something deliberately to cause a person to die.”
“Death is death,” Cindy retorted, “Why isn’t passive euthanasia charged as murder?”
“People make a moral distinction between active and passive euthanasia,” Tim continued. “It’s more acceptable to withhold treatment and allow a patient to die naturally. Medical people agree. It allows them to provide a patient with the death they want, without having to deal with deliberately killing the person.”
“Stopping treatment is also a deliberate act,” Cindy objected again. “Switching off a respirator is a deliberate act, isn’t it?”
“We are treading a fine line here,” said Tim. “I do not make the laws, only enforce them.”
“It’s just not fair to charge Owen so harshly, especially as it was his wife who died and all evidence shows that he loved her,” Cindy insisted.
“Whether he loved her or not is beside the point, if he actively decided to take her life,” Tim rebutted.
“It is not beside the point,” Cindy objected. “It goes directly to motive. Not only friends and family say he loved her, I have Tara’s diary which states how happy they were together.” Cindy was dead set on defending Owen, no matter what it took.
“You have Tara’s diary?” Eric asked perplexed. Obviously he hadn’t heard about it.
“Cindy got the diary from Tara’s nurse Alana,” Mattheus chimed in. “Alana took it from the patient’s belongings. When Cindy went to talk to Alana, she gave the diary to her.”
“Why did Alana take it?” Eric was distressed, it didn’t sit well with him. “Is there anything else I should know about Alana?” he asked then, looking hard at Cindy.
Cindy wondered if Eric knew that Alana had been fired from her past job due to negligent patient care. She held back saying anything, though.
“Alana was fired from a previous job due to patient negligence,” Mattheus quickly filled the information in.
Both Eric and Tim looked startled. “That’s trouble right there,” Tim muttered, “why didn’t Konrad let us know?”
“Good question,” Eric agreed. “I’ll speak to Konrad about it immediately.”
Eric turned to Cindy swiftly then. “Is there anything else you’ve found that we should know?”
“Just one more small point,” said Cindy. “I spoke with an aid on the case, Gloria. She told me she actually saw Tara wake up at one point and ask to die.”
Both Eric and Tim looked stricken. Tim turned to Eric swiftly, “What’s this about? Who’s this witness?” he demanded.
“Don’t worry about it,” Eric tried to calm him. “The locals down here are religious and superstitious. If someone’s in a coma for too long, they get nervous. They think they see ghosts and hear spirits speak. It’s actually a part of some of their religions. I wouldn’t take it too seriously.”
Tim calmed down a bit. “It wouldn’t change things much anyway,” he finally reflected. “Even if this report were horribly true, even if Tara did ask to die, the law is the law. You can’t honor a request like that, you can’t inject a lethal substance into her IV.”
Mattheus stood up then, irritated. “Naturally, this report is simply rumor and hearsay,” he agreed, “part of the local scenery. There are more important facts to be considered, like medical mistakes at the hospital.”
“What about that?” Eric looked startled.
“I don’t know enough yet,” Mattheus went on. “I have to check further into them, but, in my opinion the case against Owen is not a slam dunk, not by any means.”
Tim shook his head slowly. “We got all we need here,” he drawled slowly.
“Not really,” Mattheus objected, standing up. “Give me a little more time to get back to you.” Mattheus was obviously eager to move on.
“Check what you like, but time’s running out,” Tim smiled strangely.
“Cindy and I have to attend Tara’s cremation in a little while,” Mattheus responded. “We’ll be able to spend more time with the family there and see what else we find.”
Eric got up and stood close to Mattheus. “Go if you want to,” he said softly, “but don’t knock yourself out. From the looks of it now, the case is pretty much sewed up.”