"Kiser, Marcia - Doctor Of Death" - читать интересную книгу автора (Kiser Marcia)

Salida sat at Mrs. Mason's desk and opened the first file. A Mrs. Selma Whitney. Salida scanned the medical jargon, feeling out of her element. Between the scrawling handwriting and the unfamiliar terms, she hoped she wasn't missing anything. Turning pages rapidly, she came to the last page. Typewritten, the word "hypnosis" jumped out at her. Salida flipped through the remaining files and found a similar typewritten sheet in each one, except Mr. Harvey's.

Dr. Green leaned against the counter and stared into space. As Salida turned, Dr. Green looked at her. "Satisfied?"

"Oh, yes, Dr. Green. You've been very helpful. In fact, you have the right to remain silent."

"What?"

"I'm placing you under arrest for the deaths of seven innocent people, Dr. Green. It's all here. In black and white. It was very thoughtful of you to type these reports, I might add. I might have missed it otherwise. Your handwriting is atrocious, you know. I can barely make out your signature on these reports."

"What are you talking about?Ф

Salida held up one of the typewritten reports. "This. I'm talking about this, Dr. Green. In black and white. Where you talk about hypnotizing your patients and giving them the suggestion to walk into traffic. Evidently, each one was more than ready to die and didn't want to face their last few months when all they had to look forward to was pain. You may be a doctor, but that doesn't give you the right to play God."

"Let me see." Dr. Green jerked the report out of Salida's hand.

"Oh, my God!" Dr. Green's hand covered her mouth. Her face was horror-struck. "Oh, my God! I thought she was just being nosy."

Dr. Green sagged against the wall. "Detective, I know you're going to think I'm trying to deflect the blame from myself, but I did not and would not practice hypnosis. I did not hypnotize any patient. I don't know how to hypnotize anyone. And, besides, if, and I said if, I were to want to help my patients end their lives, don't you think I'd write them a prescription so they could die in their own home, in their own bed? Rather than in front of a bus? There's nothing sure about a traffic accident. But an overdose? With no one to check on them? It would almost certainly be a sure thing. As well as being less painful."

Salida's elation dimmed. What the doctor said made sense. A traffic accident wasn't a sure thing whereas an overdose would be, especially in these peoples' case. Salida felt a twinge in her stomach; the same twinge that alerted her when someone was telling the truth.

Stubborn, Salida persisted. "Maybe that's exactly why you did the hypnosis, doctor? So no one would suspect you."

"Detective, there is one thing I know about hyponsis and that is you can not give a person a suggestion to hurt themselves. You can not hypnotize a person to kill themselves or do grievious bodily harm."

"How do you know that?"

Dr. Green's faced pinked becomingly. "Because I underwent hyponotherapy after my parents' accident. I had terrible feelings of unresolved guilt because of a disagreement the three of us had that day. Before I agreed to be hypnotized, I throroughly researched the subject."

"So, you know more about hypnosis that you said earlier, then, don't you?"

"Please, come back to my office. We need to talk."

"It's going to take a lot to convince me," Salida warned.

"I realize that. But, I have to try," Dr. Green said wearily.

Seated back in her office, Dr. Green no longer look smooth and chic. Lines etched themselves around her mouth. Her brilliant green eyes looked haunted.

"I told you earlier I had to fire Mrs. Mason."

"Mrs. Mason stated that she quit," Salida countered.

Dr. Green smiled wanly. "She would say that. But I did fire her. She became quite excited, as a matter of fact." Dr. Green shook her head and looked dejected. "I suppose I should have seen something like this coming, but I didn't. It's as simple as that."

Dr. Green leaned forward and propped her elbows on the desktop. She steepled her fingers together and looked directly at Salida. "I came in yesterday morning, Detective, and Mrs. Mason was screaming. At no one! There was no one here at all and no one was expected. She was tossing files all around the room. The place looked like a paper mill had exploded. I was furious. I told her to replace the files and then come to my office. When she did, she looked contrite. I had been debating about letting her go for sometime. She had a tendency to become overly familiar with the patients. Friendliness is one thing, but after his last appointment, I overheard her asking Mr. Harvey to stop by her house for coffee."

"At the time, I let it go. She was elderly and so was he. They were both alone in the world. I thought the companionship might be good for both of them. But, the more I thought about it, the more concerned I became, especially in light of Mr. Harvey's death. I assumed it was good natured humanity, but I have to admit that the idea of Mrs. Mason swindling Mr. Harvey out of his estate, if any, did cross my mind. When I questioned her about it, she became quite unhinged and began screaming, almost unintelligibly. I caught a few words here and there, but nothing that made sense. I finally resorted to throwing water in her face to shock her before she could hurt herself, or me, I might add. She seemed to be violent. At first, I thought it was a reaction to Mr. Harvey's death. Sometimes grief can cause people to do things they wouldn't normally do."