How the hell could I have missed this? A killer in this hospital? Not just any killer! The serial killer I've been after for seven months.
I felt the disappointment churning within me. Who is this little prick?
I placed a call to Patrick in which I explained the situation and told him to get here ASAP.
I had the green paper in my hand, made no sense I handled it with a glove, it was undoubtedly clean; just like the others. The good nurse was rushed into an emergency room where two doctors were trying to revive her. The heart monitor let out a harsh loud beep, another one, then another. One for every heartbeat of Davia Mitchum.
A man barged into the room.
Patrick pushed out both his hands, "Sorry sir you can't be in here at the moment."
The man eyes were wild, they kept darting over the room. He was also breathless like he ran to the room. "I'm her husband and a doctor."
" Let him in." I said.
He ran over to her side and knelt down beside her bed, clasping her hands and weeping.
We waited uncomfortably in the room, the only sound was the periodic sound of the heart monitor with the low sobbing of Mr Mitchum.
After about a half an hour we asked him the standards questions. Then we brought up the serial killer case and mentioned that his wife was a potential victim who was spared at the last minute due to an interruption.
"She's in a coma. The doctors don't know when she will come out." I said adding, "if she'll ever come out."
The doctor sat and hid his face in his hands crying.
The worst part of the job was not discovering the bodies but comforting love ones.
"What now?" Patrick whispered to me.
Our mystery killer wanted her dead and that's what he will get.
****************
"You sure this is a good idea?" Patrick asked as he stood beside me waiting patiently.
"No," I did have my doubts but what else are we supposed to do? This case felt like I was running in circles; repeating the same procedures over and over again and my patience was wearing thin.
I asked for a big favor from the higher ups. A funeral. Instead of waiting for the killer to finish the job we did it ourselves. The nurse was moved to an undisclosed room in a different hospital, only a handful of persons knew. We then made a formal death certificate and a report to the press. One particular headline read "Murder in hospital, Are we truly safe?"
We then planned a funeral with a casket complete with a mannequin inside. Majority of the persons there knew that the nurse wasn't actually dead since her husband only invited family members. The others were watched carefully.
The police that were present wore black suits and acted as ushers, at least one was present at each exit of the church.
If the killer was here, he wasn't getting out that easy.
We also invited the nurse who saw the attempted murder at the hospital just in case she could recognize the man who has been antagonizing the city. We made it to the cemetery with no incident, the grave was dug the day before.
The preacher started preaching over the closed casket and several family members started weeping. They each deserved an Oscar for the acting. I looked to the officer near the pastor but all he did was shake his head.
No one present seemed suspicious to any of the officers and neither did I see anybody worth harassing. If I killed someone I wouldn't go to their funeral either so I couldn't blame the criminal. But if we didn't find him soon those tears would become real.
**********************
Luckily the funeral was at very little cost to us. The chief spoke to the mayor who pulled some strings which got us the things we needed.
"I'm sorry," I said as I shook the widower's hand. Everyone still played their roles even though the funeral had finished a long time ago.
"Thank you. Any luck?"
"No, but we're not giving up." My brows furrowed.
"I'm actually heading back to the hospital right now." The man was distraught. He spent every second with his life and only left her side when he went home to eat and bathe. When your wife wakes up, lock the door from the inside and call me. Don't let anyone else in the room apart from me or Detective Sutherland. We can't afford anything to happen to her."
The man agreed and left. My phone ran shortly after.
"Hello, is this detective Anderson?" A female voice asked.
When I said yes, I heard something that made me doubt everything I've been thinking for the past year.