Killer Calories

ecstasy. “Heaven,” she said. “Pure heaven. What do you want?”
    “To bounce a theory off you.”
    “Bounce away.”
    “Could Kat Valentina’s death have been a physician-assisted suicide?”
    Rather than reply immediately, Jennifer pushed away from her desk and rolled her chair over to some gray metal file cabinets nearby. There she retrieved a file from the drawer, then rolled back to the desk.
    Savannah saw it was Kat’s folder as the doctor thumbed through it, glancing over each form while she chewed thought’ fully.
    “Nope,” she said, slamming it closed.
    “No... just like that?” Savannah wanted more bang for her chocolate buck.
    “That’s right. No. At least, there’s no indication of anything like that. Maybe you should tell me why you think it’s a possibility.”
    “First of all, Kat Valentina had breast cancer, and—”
    “I know. Left breast, upper/outer quadrant.”
    “That’s right. How did you know?”
    Jennifer gave her a withering look and another piece of candy. “I did an autopsy on her body. And I’m thorough. You said so yourself, remember? That’s why I get chocolate from my adoring fans.”
    Savannah felt a bit deflated. She had intended to trump Jennifer with that one. So much for the old “I Know Something You Don’t Know” routine. You had to get up pretty early in the morning to put one over on Dr. Liu, and Savannah had never claimed to be an early riser.
    “I believe she may have wanted to commit suicide because of the cancer,” Savannah offered.
    “I doubt it. The disease could probably have been arrested at that point. None of the surrounding lymph glands were involved. There was no reason for her to take her own life .“
    “If she was afraid of the surgery, of possible mutilation?” Jennifer scowled. “Was she that vain?”
    “Maybe.”
    Sitting back in her chair, the doctor crossed her arms over her chest. “No. I can’t see it. Without more corroborating evidence it’s too great a stretch.”
    “Her physician was in love with her, would probably do anything she asked. He was seen sneaking some strange-looking equipment into his trunk and driving away with it.”
    “What sort of equipment?”
    “A metal rack with bottles and tubes hanging from it.”
    “Like an IV drip to administer lethal drugs?”
    “Exactly.” Savannah tried to hide her enthusiasm; Dr. Jenny seemed to be getting the picture.
    “Nope.”
    “No? Again? Why not?”
    “No punctures of any kind, from an IV or anything else .“
    “Oh.” Yes, Savannah decided, deflated was the word for the way she was feeling.
    “Besides, anything like that, given in a deadly dose, would have probably shown up on my toxicology screen.”
    “Probably?” Savannah was grasping for a straw and she knew it. But she was far past caring, too hard-up for pride.
    “Yes, probably. And with no more than you have to go on, Savannah , that’s close enough.”
    Savannah could hear the metaphorical book slam closed. And she knew Dr. Jenny well enough not to waste time trying to pry it open again... at least, not right now.
    “Have another,” Jennifer said, holding out the gold box to her. “You’ll feel better.”
    “I doubt it. This case is like walking on a treadmill— you’re going through the motions, but you’re getting nowhere.” She chose a mocha and bit into it. The bittersweet flavor filled her mouth and soothed her soul.
    “See there,” Dr. Liu said, giving her a companionable smile. “There’s no situation on earth that can’t be improved by chocolate.”

    Savannah ’s strategy had been: get from the parking area to the dormitory without Princess Eagle Eye spying her. And at the time, it had seemed like a good plan.
    So far, she had managed to avoid Tammy’s aerobics class and had hoped to leave Royal Palms with her record intact.
    But Tammy was beginning to take the rejection personally, so she supposed she would have to make the obligatory appearance soon, in the interest of preserving domestic tranquility .
    Not today. Ple -e- ase , not today, she thought as she skirted the group’s perimeter.
    Like a welcome answer to the less-than-noble prayer, Tammy spotted her, but rather than trying to recruit her, dismissed the group.
    “That’s it for this afternoon, ladies... gentleman,” she told the four red-faced women and one fellow who had actually worked up a sweat in their infamous Royal Palms sweat suits. “I’m so proud of you all. You did faaaan-tastic !