The Imposter Read Free

replied.  "Remember, we never had an ID
for the case in 2009.  I'll handle the autopsies personally.  There could be
another cause of death, but it is unlikely with the two of them and the fact
that they are young and healthy....."
    "Yeah,
I know," Jack replied, while checking a text message that had just come
in.  "I've got to go.  I just got a 911 from CCMC.  I hope there’s nothing
major gone wrong over there," he groaned, as he hugged Maddy and left her
office.  But, he knew better.  He knew something bad had happened.  Whenever he
got called to Crescent Center Medical Center, it was always something bad.
    "Oh,
Jack," Maddy called after him, "The vics had a receipt on them for
$116.  From Howl. ”
    Jack
turned around, looked at her, and shook his head.  "Great, this day just
keeps getting better, " he said sarcastically.

Chapter 4
     
    It
was a little after midnight and Angela Richlieu was just finishing her nursing
shift report when the red light went on in the corner of the nursing station at
Crescent City Psychiatric Pavilion signaling an All Staff Alert. 
"Damn!" she muttered under her breath.  Flashing red meant all hell
had broken out somewhere on the unit.  She sadly knew what that meant for her
and picking up her daughter on time.  Her shift had ended at 11, but paperwork
had taken her an hour after that.  Now who knew when she would get out of
there.
    Cursing
under her breath, she unlocked a small metal cabinet and took out a syringe
filled with Vitamin G.  She laughed a bit as she thought about the Vitamin G -
a nickname for Geodon. A powerful anti-psychotic agent, it could settle down a
horse almost immediately.  G for good night!  She placed the syringe in the
pocket of her blue uniform top and cautiously opened the security door that led
onto the Psych unit.  Never knew who was hanging around, just waiting to get
into the office.
    Now
the coast was  clear.  Angela saw everybody heading toward the east corridor. 
She heard an angry "Get the hell off of  me!  I'm a policeman!"
coming from that hallway.  Big Jim! she thought to herself. 
    She
was surprised and not surprised at the same time.  James McMurty, the former
NOPD cop, had been a model patient up until now, so she was surprised that he
was involved.  She was not surprised because that she had almost seen something
coming earlier in the evening.
    It
had been a great shift on the unit until that new administrator, Lester Whats-his-name,
had shown up.   He wasn't even a real employee. Don Montgomery, the CEO, had
contracted with him to run the Psych Pavilion.  Lester was weird, just as weird
as some of the patients.   The patients had been quiet until he came onto the
unit.   Once the patients saw him, a sort of agitation had set in like a wolf
walking into a field of tasty sheep. 
    Plus
he was creepy.  Angie shook off a chill when she thought about the way he had looked
at her.   He was gross and struck her as a real letch.   He'd stayed most of
the evening on the unit. He was working in his office between the general psych
and the prison units when he wasn't on the units talking with the patients.   She
remembered how the other nurses had said how inappropriate it was that he talked
so much with the patients.   He had spent a lot of time talking with Jim in the
dayroom.  A lot of time....
    Angela
hurried past the shuffling patients and when she turned the corner and looked
down the corridor, she saw a sight that was both tragic and comical.  Jason,
the lone security guard, whose best asset was his enormous weight, was lying on
top of Jim in the hallway.  Ben the orderly had control of Jim's right arm and
Amy, a petite Asian-American patient care assistant was trying to control his
left arm.  Amy was wrapped around the arm like a python as he threw her up and
down  as if she were weightless and he tireless.  Amy grunted each time Jim
slammed her onto the dirty green tile floor.
    Ben
looked up as Angela