The Imposter by Judith Townsend Rocchiccioli Read Free Book Online Page B

mouth and teeth of the suspect.  As you can imagine, the evidence was inadmissible. 
It was a big loss to the prosecution.   Lots of heads rolled on that one."
    "I
bet they did and they should have," Alex said.  "A huge error of
omission.  I bet the prosecutor was enraged." Alex could imagine the
colorful and politically astute Harry Connick Senior, the New Orleans
prosecutor, being caught with his pants down.  The man just hates to lose,
just like me, Alex thought.  I do hate to lose . 
    "Are
you all sure you did everything right this time," Alex inquired, with a
hint of that old Virginia southern drawl slipping passed her lips.
    "Yeah.  
Best I can tell.  We took the photos, included the scale, and called in a
forensic dentist.  The crime team also asked that casts be made to use later to
identify the perp.  I think we are covered.   One thing the CSI team said is
that one of the forensic nurses noticed some puncture wounds on each side of
Angie's neck.   She said they were hard to see because they were in the slice
wounds going around her face."
    The
three sat in silence for a few moments, pondering the horrific attack on
Angie.  Finally Alex said, "Puncture wounds.   Why would she have puncture
wounds?  Have you ever seen that before, Jack?"
    Jack
thought for a few minutes and answered, "No, I haven't.   I really didn't
notice them in the E.D., but we'll cross check that with other similar injuries
in the data base.   We may get a hit."
    "Did
they mention a lot of blood at the scene?"
    "Nope.  
It didn't come up, but I haven't been to the scene yet.   If there was, it'll
show up in the crime scene photos," Jack replied, looking at both women.
    After
several minutes of silence Dr.  Desmonde asked Alex, "What do you think
the liability of the hospital is on this?"
    Alex
shook her head.   "I don't know yet, probably significant.   Personally, I
feel that we should provide a safe place for our staff to work and that we
should provide security for them to get to and from their cars, which we do
...."
    Monique
interrupted her angrily, her face flushed.  "Dammit, Alex.  You sound just
like a Main Street lawyer! You know as well as I do that the location,
staffing, and administrative management of the psych department are unsafe. 
It's a joke!"
    "Unsafe
to you and me, Monique, nevertheless, the standard of care." Alex sighed. 
This was getting difficult.  She continued, hesitating a little and then
continued, "Well, the nurses can choose to call security to escort them to
their cars when they get off and …."
    "Stop
it, Alex.  That's shit." The usually tranquil chief of psychiatry at CCMC
was livid, her pale face colored with anger.  Monique rarely used bad
language.  "You and I both know it! Escorting nurses to their cars during
the off hours is the lowest security priority in the entire hospital.  Last
night Angie Richlieu stayed late.  There was some sort of patient commotion. 
One of the patients attacked a woman in the day room.  I don't have the
details, yet.  Anyway, the patient incident got the entire unit in an uproar. 
Angie stayed late to help the night shift calm the unit down.  She didn't have
to.  She doesn't get paid for staying late anymore.  In exchange for staying
three hours overtime, she's told it'll be 30 to 45 minutes before security can
escort her to her car! Alex, for heaven's sake, give it up.  You know it's
wrong!" Monique's voice and hands were shaking.
    Alex
sat quietly and said nothing.   She knew it was a losing conversation.  
Commander Françoise placed his big, callused hand over the psychiatrist's
small, manicured one.  He said to her, "Monique, you've got to calm down
some.  Things are terrible, but for us to help Angie and her family, we've got
to get ourselves together.  You're an important player in this.  Right,
Alex?"
    "Right,
Jack." Alex looked at Monique.  "I agree with everything you say,
Monique.   You're singing to the