“My pleasure,” Lisa practically purred.
This guy is a real dish, model material. If I was not a happily married woman, I might be tempted. Lisa reprimanded herself; there would be plenty of time to check out the talent. Right now, I have to find out if my new boss sees me as a colleague, or a problem thrust upon him by head office.
“Lisa, I am delighted that you are here. Is it okay if I call you Lisa?”
“Yes, of course. Look, excuse me for being blunt, but we both know why I am here, and it has more to do with my husband’s qualities than my own.”
Steve’s face became serious for a moment, his voice resolved.
“Lisa, don’t underestimate Meyer-Hofmann; they only employ the best. Your taxi driver is also originally from the UK and has an honours degree in economics. I think you know my history. They would have just paid you off if they weren’t convinced of your abilities. You are going to be my right hand here, and in a normal week, we deal with equities worth in excess of a billion dollars.”
He finished with a flourish, and he knew he had convinced her. Her determined expression had softened, and there was the crease of a smile. Starting to deliberate on the destination of his bonus, he also allowed himself a smile, knowing that she would misinterpret it.
The rest of the day was spent introducing her to the extensive portfolio of the holding company. Steve took his time, showing genuine interest in all of her questions. Sophie helped her get accustomed to the software they used in the office, and the intranet that, although running on the PricewaterhouseCoopers server, was totally separate from all its other business clients. By the time Sophie dropped her off at the Bayerische Hof, Lisa was praying that Michael had passed the medical and accepted the job.
When she entered the hotel room, he was sitting on the large light brown leather sofa, enjoying a very large glass of whisky. It was unusual for him to drink during the day, and for a moment she was concerned, but his wide smile soon dispelled her fears.
“Sorry, darling, I started without you. God, please tell me you are happy with your guys!”
She grinned at him and nodded.
“They were really nice, Michael. If you are happy, it is okay with me.”
He surprised her by taking her in his arms and swinging her around the room, making her scream for him to stop. She had rarely seen him so animated, but somehow, the situation seemed to merit it.
It was a new beginning for both of them.
“Michael, Michael, please.”
He let her fall onto the soft sofa, causing it to make a large farting noise, which had them both in fits of laughter for minutes.
“I take it you passed your medical?”
“It was difficult, but I just about managed it.”
She moved over so he could sit next to her and took his face in her hands, kissing him long and hard.
“We are going to do this, aren’t we?”
“Yes,” he replied.
13
The bodies of the Singh Family had been moved to the offices of the State Examiner in Augusta, Maine, a short drive north of Portland. The box-shaped grey building could have housed any manner of office facility, giving no clue as to its actual purpose. Only the ambulance parked at the rear loading bay gave anything away. Dr Michelle Jackson was waiting for Joe on the front steps, when he got to the Examiner’s Offices in the State House Station. The young examiner was an attractive woman, and Joe was pleased to see her again. Despite her lack of makeup and the boring white lab coat, she exuded a quiet confidence in her appearance. She had a mane of shiny auburn hair, tied up in a ponytail, and dark brown eyes, sharp and intelligent. Joe took the opportunity to greet the doctor with a warm handshake and a peck on the cheek, which she didn’t try to avoid. He had been there only four days previously, investigating a woman’s death. The young doctor had been able to identify the cause and time of death, and she had found traces of the attacker’s DNA all over the victim’s body, making his job a formality.
She is not only a looker, but good at her job, he said to himself.
For some reason, the Singhs bodies had not been sent to Augusta for their post-mortem, instead being examined at Portland’s City Hospital. According to the hospital report, they had been delivered by the Chebeague Island Coroner’s Office. Documentation included time and cause of death on all of the victims, which the hospital had verified and entered in the death certificates. It was highly irregular for victims to be treated in this manner, and Joe wondered who had organised it.
“Whoever it was, they must have had a lot of influence.” Joe was talking aloud to himself, a habit he couldn’t seem to shake. He gave Michelle a smile and shrugged his shoulders.
She seemed agitated, ignoring his behaviour and ushering him into her office. The office was a relief for Joe, who was very squeamish, and didn’t enjoy the sterile world of dead bodies and formaldehyde that would have greeted him down in the morgue.
“Joe, I have examined the family, and there are some abnormalities with the male child. The boy had fragments of human skin under the middle and forefinger fingernails of his right hand, consistent with him scratching someone. We are cross-checking the DNA database now, to see if we can find a match. He also had contusions around his neck, consistent with throttling, bruising on his shoulder blades, and to the back of his head.” She was quickly flipping through her report, checking she had not forgotten anything.
“Excuse me?”
She looked up again.
“Choking and bruising—the boy was probably restrained and choked, shortly before his death.”
“Whoa. Are you sure? And what about the carbon monoxide poisoning?”
“That was undoubtedly the cause of death, but I believe he was restrained by someone before he died.”
“Murdered?”
“Most probably. Yes.”
“And the rest of the family?”
“It’s too early to say for sure, but there are no marks on any of the other bodies. They most probably died of carbon monoxide poisoning, but we can’t see any signs of a struggle. There is something else as well. We got the blood work back and found traces of a sedative in the boy’s blood.”
This was a lot of information to take in, and Joe gestured for her to slow down.
“There was a sedative? What kind of sedative?”
“Sevoflurane, it’s a sedative used a lot in paediatrics.”
“That doesn’t make sense, does it? Who would use a sedative on a small boy, outside of a hospital?”
“I can’t say. It’s quite readily available, and it is very effective.” Michelle raised her eyebrows.
“And the others?”
“Nothing. We are checking if the boy underwent any medical procedures recently. It is, however, possible that the whole family was subjected to the sedative, and the boy was simply administered a higher dosage.”
“Can you prove that? This servoflurane, can it knock out an adult?”
“Yes.” Her answers were always to the point. He liked that about her, no messing around the bush. His mind was racing, running scenarios against the evidence. The mumbling began again.
“They could have been sedated, maybe.” He had not meant it as a question, but she answered it anyway.
“It’s a pretty mild drug, but it could certainly be used for that purpose.”
“If you were just trying to keep someone quiet long enough to administer something more potent.” Again, he orated his thoughts.
They were standing in the middle of Michelle’s office. She had started reciting her findings before they had even closed the office door. Joe sat back on the edge of her desk and took a deep breath, taking in the implications of her report. She moved up close to him. Close enough that he could smell her perfume.