B006JIBKIS EBOK by H. Terrell Griffin Read Free Book Online Page B

looked at me with incredulity. She started to say something, thought better of it, and closed her mouth. Then, “No can do, Matt. Bring him in, and I’ll show you my cards.”
     
    The Sarasota Memorial Hospital takes up a lot of space on the Tamiami Trail south of town. It has grown over the years and has developed a reputation as a first class institution. Tucked away on the back side of the campus is a small two story office building that seems out of place among the gleaming white buildings of the hospital. The building houses some of the junior executives of the hospital and Bert Hawkins, the Chief Medical Examiner for the Twelfth Judicial Circuit.
    I had met Dr. Hawkins on several occasions. He was a golfing buddy of Tom Bishop, the former Longboat Key police chief. and had once joined us on a fishing trip on a large boat owned by one of the winter visitors who had more money that God. I hoped that he would remember me.
    I went into the office and told the receptionist that I didn’t have an appointment, but that I had been in the neighborhood and thought I would take the chance that Dr. Hawkins was free for lunch. She took my name, asked me to wait a minute and disappeared behind a closed door. Within a couple of minutes Bert Hawkins came striding through the same door.
    “Matt, good to see you. I was asking Tom Bishop about you just the other day.” He was a large man, about my height but built like a linebacker. He probably weighed 250 pounds, but there was no fat. He had a full head of iron gray hair that he wore over his ears. You got the impression that he was not being fashionable, but just didn’t get to a barber shop regularly.
    “Hi, Bert. Glad to see you. I just dropped in to see if you had time for lunch.”
    “Sure do. I’m buried under paper work back there and was looking for an excuse for a break.”
    “How’s Marina Jack suit you?”
    “Great. I like their grouper fritters.”
    We took my Explorer and headed back north on Tamiami Trail, making small talk about fishing and the doctor’s golf game. We pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant overlooking the municipal marina and the bay. The sun was high and hot, and by the time we parked and walked to the restaurant we were both sweating.
    We were taken to a small table overlooking the bay. There was a little wind and the bay rippled slightly as the breeze crossed its face. A small schooner, sails furled, motored under the Ringling Causeway bridge. A couple of jet skies cut across its bow, and I could see the captain give the finger to the drivers.
    We both ordered iced tea and grouper fritters. When the tea came, Bert looked at me and smiled. “Okay, what do you want to know?”
    “About what?” I asked, all genuine surprise.
    “Deductive reasoning, Matt,” he laughed. “You’re Logan’s buddy, you’re a lawyer, and I’m the state’s witness to the rape of a dead girl.”
    “Well, I’ve been meaning to call you for lunch anyway. I figured I might as well kill two birds with one stone.”
    “Are you representing Logan?”
    “Yes.” There. It was done. I was now back in harness. I would have to see this thing through. Logan was my client, like it or not.
    “Have you talked to the SA’s office?”
    “Yes. I met with Elizabeth Ferguson this morning. She won’t give me anything.”
    “I can’t tell you a lot, Matt, and it’ll probably piss Elizabeth off if I tell you anything. But you’ll have a right to know what I know sooner or later, so why not sooner.”
    “I won’t be telling anyone we talked Bert, if that bothers you.”
    “Hell, no. I’m going to tell you everything I know, and then I’m going to call Elizabeth and tell her what I told you. You lawyers play too many games for me. Let’s throw up the evidence and let the chips fall where they may, is what I say in mixed metaphors.”
    “Was strangulation the cause of death?”
    “Yes, without question.”
    “Was she raped?”
    “I don’t know. There