Chapter 4
The doctor sensed his presence and reacted with surprising speed. Sean was unprepared for the elbow which caught his jaw and sent him sprawling against the table. Sean’s hand closed around a plastic TV remote. He brought it round in a fast hard blow to the man’s head. The man was blinded and his counter punch missed Sean. Sean drove two blows to the chest and followed with a knee to the groin. He fell back but began struggling to his feet almost immediately. Sean punched him hard on the side of the head. The doctor sank to the floor.
The pillow was still covering Ben’s face. Sean flung it off the bed and checked his pulse. He couldn’t feel anything and Ben’s breathing had stopped. Sean saw the red emergency cord above the bed and pulled it, then turned back to the bed. He began to apply CPR to Ben’s chest though the ribs were probably broken. Hearing a noise behind him he prepared for another attack but it never came. Glancing around Sean saw the doctor leaving through the emergency exit. After ten compressions Sean put his hand underneath Ben’s neck, pinched his nose and gave him the kiss of life.
He could hear a commotion not far away. Must be the crash team. Sean removed the latex gloves and continued giving CPR until the doctors entered the room.
‘Here’s a cup of tea for you.’ The nurse handed him a Styrofoam cup without asking if he wanted one.
Sean thanked her quietly. While he sipped the tea, memories of Ben flooded in. It was always this way when a friend died.
Sean excused himself and walked outside to make a call. His mobile looked like any other quad-band mobile but contained an embedded encryption chip which scrambled chosen calls.
‘Hello?’ Lomax replied immediately.
‘Campbell’s dead’ said Sean bluntly. ‘They made another attempt while he was in hospital and I wasn’t able to save him.’
‘Any leads?’
Sean saw the man approach from the corner of his eye. ‘There is one angle I could try.’
‘Ok, see what you can do.’
Sean ended the call. He looked up to find a man in a smart uniform in front of him. The man removed a card and gave it to Sean. It said ‘Detective Sergeant John Peters, Massachusetts State Police.’
Natasha had just got off to a fitful sleep when the phone rang. She jerked upright in the bed, momentarily unsure of where she was. The alarm clock showed it was past nine o’clock in the morning. The phone continued to ring and she picked it up wearily.
‘Hello, Natasha?’ Although the voice was familiar she couldn’t place it at first. Then she realised it was Sean Quinlan, the man she had met at the hospital.
‘Yes?’
‘I’m sorry to wake you so soon but I’ve some bad news.’
‘Ben?’ she asked hesitantly as she pulled hair out of her eyes.
‘I’m very sorry Natasha. He passed away a few minutes ago.’
Even though she was half expecting it she was still shocked. She didn’t know what to say and ended up saying nothing.
Sean began to talk again. ‘Someone attempted to kill Ben. The police are at the hospital interviewing people who were in his room. I expect you’ll get a call from them before long.’
Natasha sat bolt upright. She was fully awake now.
‘What happened?’
‘I went to the toilet and when I came back the murderer was trying to press a pillow over Ben’s face. I shouted and he escaped through the external door.’
‘Oh God!’ she couldn’t believe what she was hearing.
‘The police have just taken a statement from me’. Sean paused. ‘Do you know any reason why someone would want to kill Ben?’
‘No. Ben was..’ she hesitated. ‘Well I just can’t imagine anyone wanting to do that to Ben.’ She thought for a moment. ‘So Ben was murdered?’
‘I am sorry to break it to you like this’ continued Sean. ‘Could I ring someone to come round?’
‘No’ she whispered.
‘I mean friends or relatives, anyone I could call just to help out?’
‘No — no thank you’ she replied more firmly.
‘OK, that’s fine. The nurse said the police will want someone who knows him well to formally identify the body. I guess I could do that but I think they would prefer a resident of the USA rather than a visitor. I wondered if you might be able to help? If not, is there someone else I could ring — perhaps someone at work?’
Natasha thought for a minute. There were many people at work who could go, but in fairness she knew him better than anyone.
‘Is there a set time I need to be there?’
‘Not really’ said Sean. ‘I could pick you up around 2pm tomorrow if you would like me to take you?’
Natasha felt relieved. ‘That’s kind of you, thank you.’
Natasha gave him her address, put the phone down and sank back on the pillow. The sense of despair she had felt earlier returned with renewed force. Tears formed and began to trickle down her cheeks.
Sean knocked on the plain varnished door of Ben’s apartment. There was no answer. He knocked again and waited a few minutes. Still no answer.
He retreated back down the stairs and rang the bell of the apartment below. Surprisingly it opened quickly, but only by a fraction. The person lay in shadow.
‘Sorry to trouble you but do you know the owner of the apartment above?’
‘Who wants to know?’ came the reply. The owner was definitely an elderly female and Sean suspected she lived by herself because of the door chain.
‘I’m Sean Quinlan. Ben was a friend of mine.’
‘Was?’ queried the frail voice.
Sean looked down. ‘Yes, was’ he replied. ‘I’m sorry to say he died yesterday.’
There was a long pause before the chain was released with a quick muttered ‘well, you’d better come in then.’
He followed the well dressed lady into her apartment. She sat on a floral settee and Sean sat opposite in an old-fashioned arm chair.
The lady’s fingers plucked aimlessly at her skirt. ‘How did he die?’
Sean hesitated. ‘He was involved in a road accident.’
She stared out of the window. ‘He was a good man. He used to do a bit of shopping for me at weekends and made sure that my daily help didn’t miss the cleaning.’
‘I’m really sorry to bring such bad news. Do you know if Ben had many visitors recently?’
The old lady looked sharply at Sean. ‘What do you mean?’
‘Do you know if he had many friends? Did they call much?’
The old lady shook her head firmly. ‘He wasn’t one for partying, if that’s what you mean. He had a few friends but they hardly ever used to visit. Generally he kept himself to himself.’
‘I see.’ Sean stood up. ‘I’m sorry to have troubled you.’
The lady followed him to the door. He opened it and turned back for a moment. ‘I don’t suppose Ben let you have a key to his apartment?’ For a second he saw her eyes widen fractionally.
She peered up at his face then slowly drew back having made her decision. ‘I have a spare somewhere. He asked me to keep it in case he forgot his own. I gave him my spare key too, just in case I lost mine.’ She smiled briefly at the memory.
Ben’s apartment was a mess. Graffiti was sprayed on the walls. Papers lay scattered about the floor and amongst them Sean saw some post. He felt cool air on his cheek blowing through an open window. A chair lay on its back and several books from a nearby bookcase had been pulled out. A laptop lay in pieces next to the radiator. The old ladies’ hand flew to her face. She walked slowly over to an armchair and sat down heavily.
Sean picked up some of the plastic pieces from the smashed laptop. On one he found the make and model and made a mental note.
He walked through to the next room. There was a small but well laid out kitchen. The floor was strewn with the debris of smashed crockery. The phone was still on the wall and had a blinking light indicating a message waiting. A door separated the kitchen from the next room but it hung crazily from its hinges, as though someone had tried to barge through it. Sean carefully pushed it back. On the left was a tiny bathroom and facing him was the last room, a bedroom. This was a good size and contained a double bed. The bed linen was piled up in one corner and a mattress sagged against the wall. Clothes from the wardrobe were heaped on top.