it."
"And you think you can spot these murderers?"
"I think they often reveal themselves if you know what to look for. I advise hospitals to keep track of who dies and who is the last person with the patient. If Nurse Ratched always seems to be the one around when people die, it may not be a coincidence. Watch the numbers. If there's a jump in death rates, go back and see if that occurred during certain shifts, then see if there's one doctor, nurse, or orderly who is always on that shift."
"Nurse Ratched again," Steve said.
"Or it may be the nicest, most giving nurse on the ward, the one who always shows up to help once the crisis occurs."
"Because she gets off, one way or another, on the rush of excitement and the race against death."
"You're catching on," Dr. Hudson said.
"I'm a quick study when it comes to murder."
"Watch nurses or doctors who receive complaints from patients for being rude, abusive, or uncaring. Pay close attention to inexplicable shortages of epinephrine or other drugs in the hospital. It could mean someone is hoarding them to inject into patients."
"Those seem like pretty obvious signals."
"You'd be surprised how often they are ignored. When it comes to missing drugs, the assumption is they were stolen for sale or recreational use. Rarely do people consider that the drugs were taken to kill patients," she said. "But there are more subtle indications, too. I warn hospital administrators to be suspicious of anyone who has frequently moved from one hospital to another, is overly interested in death, or has a very difficult time with personal relationships."
"Based on those last two criteria, I could be a medical murderer."
"You don't strike me as someone who has difficulty with personal relationships."
"Ask my ex-girlfriends," Steve said.
She met his gaze and smiled. "Maybe I will."
He was pretty sure she was flirting with him, but he was terrible at judging women. Still, he made a mental note to give her a call if his current relationship fizzled.
Or when, given his romantic history.
Steve thanked Dr. Hudson for her help and gave her his card, asking her to call him if she thought of anything else that might be helpful.
"I'll do that," she said, in a way that sounded full of erotic possibility to him. Then again, he could read erotic possibility into just about anything any woman said to him.
She gave him her card and returned to her office, but Steve remained at the inverted fountain.
He called Dr. Barnes, the epidemiologist, and discovered after talking to him that Mark might have been onto something after all. Statistically speaking, too many patients were dying for it to be simply bad luck.
Someone was killing people. A lot of people.
But Steve didn't have enough evidence to convince his superiors to assign a task force. At least not yet.
He marveled at his father's instincts and wished, not for the first time, that he shared the trait. Steve knew he was a good detective, but it was a learned skill and he worked hard to get results. He didn't have his father's gift for deduction or his sixth sense for murder.
Once Mark's instincts were confirmed by the epidemiologist, his dad had taken a crash course in profiling medical murderers from Dr. Hudson and set out to unmask a serial killer.
Now Steve would do the same. But he was troubled by something else.
How did the killer find out that Mark was on the case?
Steve was pondering that question, and many others, when he got the page from Community General, where he now sat in the waiting room, worrying about his father and trying to figure out what to do next.
He was making an investigative To Do list in his little leather-bound notebook when the elevator doors opened and Jesse came out.
C HAPTER E LEVEN
Jesse limped over, looking beaten and exhausted. There were dark circles under his bloodshot eyes and he winced with each step, trying to keep weight off his left knee, which he'd hurt while tackling Mark.
Steve rose to
"And you think you can spot these murderers?"
"I think they often reveal themselves if you know what to look for. I advise hospitals to keep track of who dies and who is the last person with the patient. If Nurse Ratched always seems to be the one around when people die, it may not be a coincidence. Watch the numbers. If there's a jump in death rates, go back and see if that occurred during certain shifts, then see if there's one doctor, nurse, or orderly who is always on that shift."
"Nurse Ratched again," Steve said.
"Or it may be the nicest, most giving nurse on the ward, the one who always shows up to help once the crisis occurs."
"Because she gets off, one way or another, on the rush of excitement and the race against death."
"You're catching on," Dr. Hudson said.
"I'm a quick study when it comes to murder."
"Watch nurses or doctors who receive complaints from patients for being rude, abusive, or uncaring. Pay close attention to inexplicable shortages of epinephrine or other drugs in the hospital. It could mean someone is hoarding them to inject into patients."
"Those seem like pretty obvious signals."
"You'd be surprised how often they are ignored. When it comes to missing drugs, the assumption is they were stolen for sale or recreational use. Rarely do people consider that the drugs were taken to kill patients," she said. "But there are more subtle indications, too. I warn hospital administrators to be suspicious of anyone who has frequently moved from one hospital to another, is overly interested in death, or has a very difficult time with personal relationships."
"Based on those last two criteria, I could be a medical murderer."
"You don't strike me as someone who has difficulty with personal relationships."
"Ask my ex-girlfriends," Steve said.
She met his gaze and smiled. "Maybe I will."
He was pretty sure she was flirting with him, but he was terrible at judging women. Still, he made a mental note to give her a call if his current relationship fizzled.
Or when, given his romantic history.
Steve thanked Dr. Hudson for her help and gave her his card, asking her to call him if she thought of anything else that might be helpful.
"I'll do that," she said, in a way that sounded full of erotic possibility to him. Then again, he could read erotic possibility into just about anything any woman said to him.
She gave him her card and returned to her office, but Steve remained at the inverted fountain.
He called Dr. Barnes, the epidemiologist, and discovered after talking to him that Mark might have been onto something after all. Statistically speaking, too many patients were dying for it to be simply bad luck.
Someone was killing people. A lot of people.
But Steve didn't have enough evidence to convince his superiors to assign a task force. At least not yet.
He marveled at his father's instincts and wished, not for the first time, that he shared the trait. Steve knew he was a good detective, but it was a learned skill and he worked hard to get results. He didn't have his father's gift for deduction or his sixth sense for murder.
Once Mark's instincts were confirmed by the epidemiologist, his dad had taken a crash course in profiling medical murderers from Dr. Hudson and set out to unmask a serial killer.
Now Steve would do the same. But he was troubled by something else.
How did the killer find out that Mark was on the case?
Steve was pondering that question, and many others, when he got the page from Community General, where he now sat in the waiting room, worrying about his father and trying to figure out what to do next.
He was making an investigative To Do list in his little leather-bound notebook when the elevator doors opened and Jesse came out.
C HAPTER E LEVEN
Jesse limped over, looking beaten and exhausted. There were dark circles under his bloodshot eyes and he winced with each step, trying to keep weight off his left knee, which he'd hurt while tackling Mark.
Steve rose to
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