Chapter 20 Section 19

The weather turned uncharacteristically again, and the nights became warmer. Bracco and Fisk parked on the street outside Griski's house.Bracco sat behind the wheel with the window rolled down beside him, one elbow resting on the lowered pane.He had a toothpick in his mouth that they had taken off the counter of a sandwich shop in Clement Street. Fisk also rolled down the window next to his seat, looking a little restless.He tutted down the last sip of his drink. "He's not coming. It's just stupid waiting." Bracco turned to him and said, "You don't have to stay here any longer. I'll tell him you have other places to go. You can drive away and I'll find my way home. You have Family man, Harlan. He's like that too, and he'll understand."

"He didn't seem to understand the question this morning." This is true.Griski had come to Harlan's desk and said loudly that if Harlan didn't want to stay with the homicide unit, he would be transferred to another department immediately. "The detectives of the homicide squad don't have their own place and a firm foothold as soon as they take office. Do you understand, Detective Fisk?" However, until now, Fisk felt that it was not too early, it was already nine o'clock. "He didn't expect us to come, Darrell, I don't care what he told you. He left work long ago, disappeared without a trace, and is still sleeping out, maybe for the weekend."

"Let's go, then." Darrell removed the car key from the ignition and threw it between his partner's thighs. "But I'm staying here." Fisk reached out and slapped the outside of the car door. "I can't go alone, that's my opinion. If we go together, that's all right, we can say we did our best. But if I go by myself you're still here..." There was still a lot of Pengquan drink left by Bracco. He put the straw into his mouth and sucked it up. While swallowing the drink in his mouth, he said: "He said that I will report to him every day about the action."

"Really? Come on, if you haven't noticed this, let me remind you, he's not here at all. He doesn't care about these little things when we go over the situation with him. He doesn't want What are you reporting to him by following his ass. He's clearly forgotten all about us." Bracco shrugged and said noncommittally, "Maybe." Fisk continued to insist, cursing and saying: "If he dies, what will happen next? Will you kneel in front of his grave and report to him? There will always be some exceptions, and you know that." "It's the first day, Harlan. Don't make exceptions and excuses for what you're going to do on the first day, or you'll get used to it later." He looked up in the rearview mirror of the car. When the light of headlights turned into their street. "someone is coming."

Fisk twisted and stared at the street. "not him." "I'll bet five dollars on him." "I bet you." Grisky blamed Jackman and Ash for stripping him of his arrest privileges, and Hardy kept taunting him with his scheming lawyer tricks, all of which irritated Grisky.Today, he has no intention of working at all.To hell with them all! After returning home, he made up his mind to give himself a complete vacation for the weekend.He tucked his pager and cell phone into the dresser next to his bed, and saw a note from Aurel reminding him that he and Lani were both out straight after school, before summer. Take one last chance to have a good time with their ski club mates.That way, with the kids away on weekends, he can truly have a vacation.

When Treya got home, he asked her if she planned to go to town with him to relax.Before he asked a second time, she readily agreed.They went to a Moroccan restaurant on Balboa Street, sat on the floor, ate with their fingers, and swallowed everything with delicious hot tea.The waiter poured the tea from waist-high into the cups on the floor without spilling a drop.What a great show. The night time was so beautiful that they were intoxicated and decided to take a walk to the beach to continue enjoying the wonderful night.On the way back from the beach, they were close together, their hips rubbing against each other and something was happening, so they decided to hurry home.

Just four lanes away from them on the side of the road, street lamps were shining brightly.The scene made them both think that it was really their lucky night, and the stars winked at them, offering them an atmosphere of undisturbed tranquillity.Griskie's arms were around Treya's shoulders, and Treya's arms were wrapped around his waist. "Close your eyes now and don't look," Treya said.Two men were getting out of the car and walking towards them.She whispered, "Hope they're two ruthless little rascals trying to rob us. We'll be able to pick them up quickly and get out of here."

"They're punks, that's right." Griski said in a low voice, and then raised his voice, "Gentlemen, are you out for a walk tonight?" "You said you would report the situation every day, sir." Braco explained. "If this is the wrong time..." Fisk further explained that he, too, didn't think this was the right time. "No, just now, Harlan." "It's the right time." Treya agreed, and nodded to Fisk, "It's really the best time." Griski caught her voice and patted her arm reassuringly. "I don't think you two have met my wife yet. This is Treya. Agents Fisk and Bracco."

"It's a pleasure to meet you," she said in a passable-sounding French accent, with a smile that probably showed her sincerity. "I've heard your names many times." On the one hand, Grisky was more or less satisfied that Darrell Bracco did exactly what he said; but on the other hand, he didn't want his men to get into the habit of coming to his house at random.But now that things have come to this, it is hard to say anything more.For the moment, his romantic evening with his wife had to go on with her sitting on the couch with his arm.The chairs that Bracco and Fisk were sitting on were brought over from that small kitchen.

"Is it about Parnassus?" she asked softly. "Does anyone mind if I stay here?" No one disputes this. Bracco took out his small notebook and put it on the coffee table in front of him, talking about his records item by item as usual. "Let's start with the hospital. First things first, did you know Kenson was late for work on Tuesday morning? He was an hour late." "No idea," Griski said. "I don't know anything about Kenson's activities that day. Even if he was late that day, why do you think it's worth mentioning?" "The car involved in the accident," Fisk continued, "where was he when the accident happened?"

"Was it the first scene?" Grisky asked. "The accident in Markham?" "Do you still think that was part of the murder?" Treya asked. "I thought once they found out that his death was a potassium overdose, you'd drop that idea entirely." In fact, Griski ruled that out from the start, and he still thinks so now.But he's aware that these guys' perceptions are skewed, and he doesn't want to dampen their renewed enthusiasm for work. "At this point, we are open to all speculation without pre-determined limits." He said this, and at the same time used the code language of their husband and wife to silently tell his wife that he was very concerned about this matter. real view.He turned to the agents and said, "So you asked Kenson where he was?" "No, sir," Bracco replied. "We haven't spoken to him again, but he didn't say anything about it when you questioned him last night. Looks like he forgot about it." "He told people that his car broke down that morning." The car was mentioned again.Griski nodded ambiguously, but decided in his heart that they could only bark in vain under this tree without gaining anything. "How did Markham get to the emergency room? What was it like there? Was it a rush? Or what?" Bracco is ready to answer this question. "Actually, it was a rather slow morning. They took in a kid who needed stitches on his head and a woman who broke her hip in a fall. But when the ambulance pulled up, they were in the back Area." "The back area?" Griski asked. "Yes. When you first get to the emergency room, you're sent to the waiting area there, and then when they treat you, they take you back to this big open room at the medical station, complete with multiple mobile There were nurses and doctors on duty. That's where Markham was sent to the hospital as soon as he arrived. Then he was sent to the surgery room down the hall." "There are six surgical theaters on that floor," Fisk added, "and each provides potassium injections and other emergency medicines." "Potassium injections are also available at the medical station near the mobile bed." "Fine." It was a good situation, but Griski had deduced from what they had said that there must still be potassium injections somewhere.As before, there was no doubt that the two agents had gathered a great deal of information.Their problem is how to identify what is useful.If you want useful information, you have to ask the right questions. "Was Markham's wife been with him the whole time they let him in?" They looked at each other, as if to confirm their claims. "Yeah. Outside the E.R. and while they're getting ready in the operating room. Like ten minutes." "What's next? When he goes to the operating room?" They looked at each other, and Bracco replied, "She was in the waiting room when he came out, and then went upstairs to the waiting room in the intensive care unit." "Okay," Gritters said, "but has she ever been alone at the nurse's station, next to the mobile bed? That's what I'm trying to figure out." , they may have tracked down this issue, so he directly asked another question, "How did she deal with this? Has anyone said anything?" Fisk took over the conversation. "I talked to both of the nurses who were there—" "How many nurses are there on a typical shift?" Griski interrupted. "There are two night shifts, from ten o'clock in the evening to six o'clock the next morning. There are four day shifts." "So are there four nurses on duty? Where are the other two?" Bracco took over and smoothed things over for his partner. "Watching two other patients, sir. Because one of the doctors in the ER was late that day, they were missing a doctor for that shift. They've got another room ready for the woman with the broken hip." The operating room, and there was a nurse there with her waiting for the surgery. Another nurse was with the kid and his mother, and the doctor was stitching up the wound on his head." "Okay." Gritters thought he had finally figured out the situation.Two doctors, four nurses, three patients, two visitors.He said to Fisk, "Have you talked to the nurses in Markham about his wife? By the way, are those two nurses male or female?" "Both are women," Fisk replied. "Yes, sir, I asked them about his wife at the time." Griski said nothing, waiting for him to continue. Treya saw her husband's impatience and asked softly, "How's it going, Detective?" "Hysterical," Fisk replied, "very manic, almost speechless." "Did they all say that?" "Yes, sir. They agree exactly." "Are you crying?" "Yes, sir. I asked that specifically. She was crying fitfully there." Grisky fell silent.Bracco, who had been listening intently to the conversation and reviewing his notes, decided to offer his opinion. "I've also spoken to one of the nurses, sir, Desmond La Muller. She was with Mrs. Markham the whole time they wheeled Markham into the operating room and back into the waiting room, In the waiting room, she - Muller - took her hand and shook it for a while as a reassurance. Anyway, Muller, she used the word 'overwhelmed' to describe her situation. Marka Mrs. Mu kept saying things like: 'They couldn't let him die. They wouldn't let him die, would they?'" Griski was thinking of two things: the first, of course, was that Mrs. Markham might have been a good and good actress all along, but that didn't sound like a plan to kill her in the next few hours. second, if Nurse Muller had been with her from the mobile bed area to the surgical operating room and back, then she did not go to the medical center in the middle of the house alone. Stand by to pick up a vial of Potassium Injection.Still, he wanted to make sure of it. "Isn't she waiting in the mobile bed area?" "Yes, sir. In the waiting room outside, and then upstairs to the waiting room next to the intensive care unit." "Okay," Grisky said, "let's move on. How long was Markham in the operating room?" Fisk gave Bracco a grateful look, hoping he could help.Bracco's transcripts are well done, and some of them answer exactly that question. "Nearly two hours," Darrell said, before volunteering more, "and by the time he came out of surgery and was in intensive care, some of Parnassus' senior executives were There. Malachy Ross, the medical director, and Markham's secretary, a guy named Brendan Driscoll, who apparently had some fights with Dr. Kenson." "For what?" "Go in and meet his boss." "Markham? He's unconscious, isn't he? Was he ever sober?" "No, sir." "Then why does he want to meet him? I mean this Driscoll." "Nobody seems to know that." Braco was clearly annoyed that he hadn't succeeded in finding out the answer. "Nonetheless, he went in and met his boss." Griski leaned forward. "Is that Driscoll? In ICU? How long?" "It's the same thing," Braco said, "no one knows exactly when. But when Kenson found out he was there—" "Are you saying he was there alone?" "Yes, sir, there's no question about that, and when Kenson found him inside, he gave him a slap in the face and kicked him out," Griski replied with almost exaggerated composure. : "I don't think 'swear' is a proper legal verb, Darrell. Are you saying Kenson and Driscoll had an argument?" "It didn't last long, but it was quite intense. Kenson even made a move and threw him out." "From the ICU? Or from the hospital?" "No, just out of ICU. But Markham was around when he died." "Do people remember what he was like?" "Yes. He was completely out of control, crying like a child." "Okay. Where did you get the latter situation? Was it provided by the nurses in the operating room?" "No," Fisk replied, "there's a nurse's station outside the ICU." "I have their names," Bracco added. "There are twelve permanent nurses in the intensive care unit, divided into three shifts. There are two people in each shift, but they work in two-week shifts of six. , the next two weeks will be off in rotation, and the manpower is obviously quite tight when it comes to work." "This is also an excuse for them to shirk responsibility." Treya interjected coldly. Griski squeezed her hand, signaled her to keep her mouth shut, and continued, "But you're telling me that, even with all those remedies, sometimes the ICU is empty, right? Except for those patients?" "It's like this." Bracco looked away from his notes, searched the memory in his mind again and said, "Everyone is monitoring vital signs such as heartbeat, blood pressure, and kidney function through monitors. Who cares what else is going on? The doctors and nurses just make their rounds in the wards here and there, and no nurse seems to be stuck in a medical station all day. They have other jobs to do—non-stop Local distribution of medicines, daily medical record management, handling of emergencies, etc.” Griski pondered the situation for a moment. "Can they see anyone going in and out of the ICU from the nurse's station?" "Of course, if they're in the station, they'll be able to see people coming and going from there." "Then who has been in and out?" Bracco flipped through a page or two of his blotter and read: "Besides Kenson, there are two doctors, Cohn and Waterrip. Then two nurses. I'll put their names down later. Where is-" "That's not important, just keep talking." "And Driscoll, Ross. Three family members of another patient there who showed up during the morning visit. I can get their names." "Let's talk about that later, Darrell, if we need them. When did Markham die, do you know the situation?" Bracco was well prepared for this question. "Twelve forty-five, not bad." "So the total time Markham stayed in the intensive care unit was about four hours?" "Probably so. Maybe a little shorter." Another idea popped up for Griski. "Did Rose go in, too? And why?" "I don't know," Braco said. "But he's a doctor, you know," Fisk added, "and he's patrolling the place. He's been there with Kenson since they brought him up from the operating room." After a moment of silence, Griski finally nodded. "Okay. Is that all there is to it?" Braco casually flipped through a page or two of the notebook in his hand, then raised his head to look at Grisky and Treya, then lowered his head, nodded and replied, "That's all for today, sir." Then he added, "Sorry we bothered you tonight." "Don't be stupid," Treya blurted out, stood up, and then shook her finger at them, jokingly, "Just don't make an example." Griskey took her place on the spot. "Working late is part of the job." He just said something frankly and didn't think much about it, but as soon as he said it, he realized from the expression on Fisk's face that he understood it as Griski was once again saying he wasn't fit to be a cop. It would be unfair to Grisky if he understood it that way.The two inexperienced agents did some investigative work after all.They stayed up late to report to him about their work, and they were working very hard, and they worked long hours that day.Grisky knew it wouldn't save face to say something nice to them.He tried to inject some enthusiasm into his tone. "Had a pretty good job today, fellas. That's right, keep up the good work," he said, "but there's one more thing I need to say. Tomorrow morning, you must get your tapes of your conversations out as soon as possible. .I'm going to put all of this in the dossier." Both of them couldn't recover from Griski's praise and encouragement just now, and they couldn't believe their ears, and they gave each other worried looks. Griski saw it all and understood why. "You guys taped all your conversations, right?" Hardy remembered to buy flowers, beautiful flowers at that, and bought them both.Baby pink roses are given to daughters, and gorgeously packaged roses are given to wives.At this time, the flowers were on the seat next to him, and he was driving around near his home, looking for a parking space.He didn't expect Franny and Baker to admire these beautiful flowers now, because they were probably asleep. It was ten minutes to twelve midnight. He left Strout's office in high spirits.The warm, pleasant evening, the fragrant air, and a feeling of well-earned fulfillment in the heart made a wonderful combination.He had already struck a big deal for his client and Jackman, convincing the medical examiner to perform an autopsy as soon as he had convinced James Lackert's family.He called Franny on his cell phone and said he would be home in an hour.Maybe he'll pick up some fresh salmon on the way home, and they might have the first salmon barbecue of the season. But when he returned to the office, the momentum of this good luck was stopped.Lackert's obituary was published in yesterday's San Francisco Chronicle, and it was published in the name of his next of kin.These people are in his address book.Hardy called his older son, Clark.Clark's home was on Jagro Street, between Hardy's office and home.He made an appointment with Clark to meet there.What surprised Hardy the most was that there was only one message on his answering machine, the bad news from Biko that the shark named Francis didn't make it through and died.Biko thought Hardy would like to know the news. Not even Biko's disappointing news could dampen Hardy's high spirits.To be honest, he would have liked to invite Clark and his family over to his house, just in time for the salmon barbecue, which might cheer them up a bit.But then he remembered that he had gone too far last night with Moses and Susan, so he reconsidered that maybe tonight he should be with his own family only. But after half an hour of talking with Clark, Patty Lacotte, and James' widow Allen, he called Franny again and said he was very sorry and might be late.None of the Lycottes were in favor of an autopsy.This looks like it will be a time-consuming and labor-intensive exercise of persuasion.He would try to get home early so she and the kids could do whatever they wanted without waiting for him for dinner.She told him it was okay, without irritation or even the slightest hint of disappointment in her tone.From her words, he thought the only thing he could understand was that she was exhausted, and that in some ways, to bother him was against herself, not for herself. He finally found a parking space three blocks from his house.Holding the out-of-shape bouquet in his hand, he pulled out the latch on the protective fence outside the courtyard, closed the fence after entering, and walked through the small lawn in two steps in three or five steps. aisle.It took a lot of effort, but finally got the consent of the Lei Kete family, but only after the funeral ceremony tomorrow.The so-called "ceremony is over" does not mean that Mr. Lei Kete's body is placed in the ground of the Colmar cemetery, but that the dissection is completed on John Strout's metal table in the mortuary, so that it can be regarded as a certainty, and you're done. As he shuffled his weary legs up the front steps, he swore inwardly that he had had enough of coming home like this every day.He had to change something, not just for himself, but for his wife, and his marriage. Of course, none of the lights in the house were on, and it was pitch black everywhere.He tried to get in as quietly as he could, but the wooden door had swelled in the warm weather, and he had to push hard to close it, which inevitably made some noise.Tomorrow, he thought, he'd fix it, fix it, and get it right.Carpentry was once a job he was good at, and even a longing for.Maybe he'll do more chores, spring cleaning.They can open all the windows and let the moving air give the winter stuff a final blow before winter is over, and they can work together to make the house look like it's summer, and they can put "" The Beach Boys" or the old records of the "Eagle" band, turn the volume up, and let that happy and comfortable feeling fill every corner of the room.Unplug all phone lines and be free from outside disturbances. Gently pressing the light switch in the hall, he walked into the living room and put the flowers in his hand on the chair where he sat while reading and reading newspapers.The note Franny had left was under an elephant on the mantelpiece, where she knew he would never see it when he got home. "Dismas, I've decided to take the kids to Monterey for the weekend. Be back late Sunday afternoon. Fran." No words like "darling", "my love", not even "Frannie". He crumpled the piece of paper in his hand, leaned his body against the mantelpiece with the other hand, and stood there.His head drooped as if he had been hit by something.