Panic Attack Read Free Page B

bringing it up again, like he was trying to get to the bottom of something.
“I just wanted to make sure I . . .” Adam was going to say “killed him” but modified it to “—got him before he got me.”
Clements, shaking his head while looking at the pad, said, “It’s a good thing you’re not a cop, Doc. It’s a good thing you’re not a cop.”
Adam had had enough. He asked, “Is it okay if we pick this up later, or in the morning? I’m exhausted and my head’s killing me and I’ve been through a lot tonight, obviously.”
“I understand, but there’re still a few things I need to be clear about, okay?”
Adam breathed deeply, then said, “For instance?”
“For instance,” Clements said, “the issue of how exactly the intruders got into the house.”
They’d been through this already, too, at least a couple of times. The police had found no visible signs of a break- in, but both the back door in the kitchen and the front door had been unlocked, and the alarm system had been disarmed. Adam had told Clements that he was positive that he’d set the alarm before he went to bed, the way he did every night.
“Didn’t we cover all of this already?” Adam asked.
Acting like he didn’t hear this, Clements said, “Are you sure you locked and chained the front door before you went to sleep?”
“Yes,” Adam said.
“Is it possible you went out, or your wife or daughter went out, maybe to take out the garbage or something, and forgot to—”
“No, I was the last one to go to bed last night, and I chained the door. I always lock and chain it if I’m the last one to go to sleep, it’s part of my nightly routine. I make sure the gas is off in the kitchen, lock all the doors, set the alarm, and go to bed.”
“So assuming all this is correct, the other intruder must’ve unlatched the chain on the front door on his way out of the house.”
“That has to be what happened,” Adam said. “I heard the front door slam.”
“So that means the intruders likely entered the house through the back door.”
“Yes,” Adam said, squeezing the back of his neck, trying to relieve some of the tension.
“And are you positive you set the alarm and no one else disarmed it after you set it?”
“I’m positive.”
“But the alarm wasn’t set when we arrived, is that correct?”
“If the alarm was set the guy,”— Adam caught himself—“the person would’ve tripped it on the way out.”
“That seems to make sense,” Clements said. “So who—”
“I have no idea,” Adam said.
Clements glared at Adam, seeming irritated that he’d been cut off, then continued, a little louder, “So who except you and your family know the code to the alarm?”
“No one else knows it,” Adam said.
“Did you ever give anyone the code, on any occasion?”
“No.”
“Did you ask your wife or daughter—”
“You asked them directly, and they said no, didn’t they?”
“Now I’m asking you.”
“Asking me what? If my wife and daughter lied to you?”
“Or weren’t being entirely truthful.”
“What’s the difference?”
Clements was smiling sarcastically, like he was enjoying the exchange, but Adam stayed deadpan.
“They didn’t tell anyone the code,” Adam said. “No one told anyone the code.”
“Sorry to play devil’s advocate, Dr. Bloom, but unless Houdini robbed your house, somebody got ahold of that code.”
“Maybe it was stolen,” Adam said, “from the alarm company. Maybe they hacked into the system or something.”
“We’ll explore that possibility,” Clements said, “but nobody stole a set of keys from the alarm company. Did you or anyone in your family loan a set of keys to anyone?”
“I already told you, we only have three sets of keys to the house and one spare set, and the spare set is still where it always is.”
“Maybe someone got access to the keys. A worker in the house?”
Adam thought for a moment, then said, “We had some painting done a few weeks ago, but those guys had nothing to do with this.”
“Your wife gave me the name of the painters, the electrician, your maid, your gardener. Can you