Dead Wrong

“They?” Joa

Waller nodded. “Some of the bruises show actual shoe prints,” he said. “There was more than one pattern.”

“Will we be able to have photos of the shoe patterns?” Joa

Dr. Waller nodded grimly. “Eventually, I suppose,” he said.

“Was she raped?”

“That I don’t know,” Dr. Waller said. “We’ve been a little too busy saving her life to spend any time processing a rape kit.”

“If DNA evidence is available, I want it,” Joa

But Waller, having given a little, retreated back into the world of rules and procedures. “We’d need a signed consent form for that.”

“Jea

Waller shrugged. “That’s why we need to speak to her next of kin,” he said. “One of her relatives could probably give consent.”

“What if I speak to them first?” Joa

Dr. Waller sighed again. “I don’t really recommend that. Next-of-kin notifications are best left to the professionals.”

“I am a professional,” she reminded him. “A law enforcement professional. It turns out I, too, have had some experience with next-of-kin notifications.”

“Yes,” he agreed. “Of course.”

“So what can I tell them?” Joa

“Grave,” Waller said at last. “Her condition is grave but stable.”

With that, Dr. Waller walked away. Joa

On her way down in the elevator, Joa

When the elevator door opened, Joa

“Is it her?” the reporter asked.

“Yes.” The answer was out before Joa

“Is she going to be all right?”

Joa

“We’re not making any comment about her condition at this time.”

Nodding, Isabel looked slightly disappointed. “But you did promise me an exclusive,” she objected. “If we hurry, we can just make the deadline for the Noon News.”

So the story was part of it after all. Joa

“You’re right,” Joa

“He’s outside smoking a cigarette.”

“Let’s go do it then,” Joa

When summoned from his cigarette break, the cameraman grimaced, ground out the stub, and then grudgingly hefted the camera to his shoulder. Standing posed before the UMC logo, Joa

“Thank you,” Isabel said, when she came to retrieve her microphone.

“It wasn’t much,” Joa

Isabel smiled. “It’s more than anyone expects me to get,” she said. “The news director didn’t send me to the hospital in the middle of the night because he thought I’d actually come away with a story.”

“You think this will help show him what you can do?”

“Something like that.”

“But whatever made you think that there might be a co

The reporter shook her head. “I’m not sure,” she said. “I heard the police sca

“Good gut instinct,” Joa

Once Isabel and her cameraman had left, Joa

“How bad is it?” he asked.

“Very bad.”

“Is she going to live?” Frank asked after a pause.

“Too soon to tell.”

“Want me to contact her next of kin?” he asked.

“No,” Joa

“Okay,” Frank said. “Once it’s done, I’ll talk to the press. There’s a swarm of reporters out here, all of them clamoring for information.”

“Not all the reporters are there,” Joa

“The others are going to be bent out of shape,” Frank said.

“Too bad. She was on the ball, and they weren’t.”

“But you don’t usually talk to the press.” Frank sounded puzzled.

“I made an exception this time,” Joa

“Hello?” Millicent said anxiously when she picked up. “Joa

“Yes.”

“Have you found her?” Millicent demanded. “Is she all right?”

Joa

There was a long pause before Millicent Ross spoke again. “Oh my God! What happened?”

“Someone attacked her while she was sitting in her truck, pulled her out of the vehicle, and beat her up,” Joa

“It’s not strange at all,” Millicent returned. “She doesn’t want to have anything to do with those people, and I don’t blame her.”

“So she does have relatives?”

“Yes, of course she does.”

“Do you know who and where they are?” Joa

Joa

“She was born in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico,” Millicent said.

“Good,” Joa