Malpractice Makes Perfect

Chapter 23

         He took one more small step forward. "It was such a simple plan. She was so out of it she'd never even notice. Corrine pushed in just enough morphine to keep her loose. I drew up the new will. And Malik talked to her—tried to coax her to sign."

          I followed his train of thought and filled in the gaps. "But then she started rambling about your shady back door deals. Including the judges."

          He nodded and took a pitying glance towards where Malik lay sprawled. "Corrine wasn't paying attention--she didn't care...but Malik. He's smart. I could see it on his face. If she said anymore, he could work it out."

         "So, you killed her."

          "I didn't go there that night for that, I swear." He released a burdened sigh and wiped the sweat from his brow with the back of his hand. "I let myself in to find her records. I knew she kept them in her office, but I couldn't find them."

          I turned slightly so my right leg was closer to him and held my breath. This was the moment I had been waiting for.

          "On the way out, I stopped by to see if they were in her room." He looked at me for reassurance. Why do murderers always want to be reassured that deep down they're good people? "She was awake. She knew who I was, she knew what I was after."

          "She knew what you did."

          He nodded. "She knew what we did. And that...and that she'd tell. About the will, the judges, all of it. She wanted to die with a clear conscience. But what we did was a federal crime! They'd lock me away for life! What was I supposed to do?"

          "She was your friend."

          "She was already dying. My life is far from over."

          "So you decided to kill her."

          "It was a mercy!"

         I scoffed. "Is that what you tell yourself?"

         "It's the truth. Who wants to live that way?" A look of disgust settled across his face. "It was so easy. I shot her a little morphine first so she wouldn't fight it, then pushed the air in the line. It only took twenty minutes or so and then she was gone."

          "And you booked it out of there and let them think she died of natural causes."

          "It was less cruel that way."

          "Sure. And if they suspected unnatural causes they'd blame Corrine for malpractice first. How humane."

          "Malik would have gotten her the best lawyer."

          Something tells me he doesn't give a crap about that. "We can still go to the police. Malik's probably not dead. You haven't gone too far yet"

          "I told you I'm not going to the police," he said quietly. "And you aren't either."

         The shift from dialog to violence was rapid. There was a lick of his lips and a twitch of his eyebrow, then he was coming at me in a blind, desperate rage.

          I jammed my hand down into the tight fold of my pocket and gripped the taser so hard I worried I'd set it off. I didn't though. It slid free of my pants. My finger found the trigger. I pointed it forward and braced myself.

          Time seemed to slow. My heart drummed an up tempo in my ears.

          Ba-dum, ba-dum, ba-dum...