Necessary as Blood

he‘d guided her into the room.
    ‘Congratulations.‘ Bryony hugged Gemma and Duncan, then gestured at her blue scrubs. ‘I‘m so sorry to turn up like this. I had afternoon clinic and couldn‘t reschedule. Wesley told me about the wedding at the start of the week, but Gavin‘s on holiday in Spain, so there was nobody to take over.‘ Gavin was Bryony‘s not particularly well-liked boss. ‘Have I missed all the fun?‘
    ‘No, nor all the champagne.‘ Gemma poured her a glass from the bottle still standing in a tub of ice.
    Bryony raised it to them before she drank. ‘To the happy couple.‘
    ‘Holidays in Spain must be the thing for vets,‘ Gemma said, sitting down and pouring herself another cup of tea. She told Bryony a bit about their investigation into John Truman‘s possible connection with Naz Malik‘s murder, leaving out Truman‘s name. ‘Would it be easy for a vet to set aside enough ketamine to stop a man breathing?‘ The vision of Naz Malik‘s body in the park brought the case back with a sickening jolt.
    ‘Well, as little as a gram can be fatal. You can dissolve it — that‘s one of the reasons it‘s a good date-rape drug — but you might taste that much in a drink.‘ Bryony swirled her champagne.
    ‘There was Valium in his system, too.‘
    ‘There you go, then. First you use the Valium as a relaxant, then you administer the ketamine as a dissociative. Same thing an anaesthetist does before you have surgery.‘
    ‘An anaesthetist?‘ Kincaid turned from the sink.
    ‘Yeah, sure,‘ said Bryony, looking a little surprised. ‘Ketamine is best known as a veterinary drug, but anaesthetists use it, too. It‘s just much easier for street dealers to steal the stuff from a vet‘s clinic than a hospital.‘
    Kincaid stood, hands dripping. ‘Anaesthetist. Shit!‘
    Betty turned, perhaps surprised by his language, but when Gemma saw his face, she held up a hand in a command for silence. She knew that expression all too well.
    Wordlessly, Betty handed him a tea towel.
    But Kincaid merely crumpled it, as if had he no clue as to what it was for, then tossed it away and wiped his hands on the trousers of his good suit. ‘Of bloody course. Why didn‘t I see it?‘
    ‘See what?‘ Gemma felt the world rock to a stop.
    He looked at her, focusing on her face. ‘There‘s an anaesthetist on the bloody list. Alexander. Doug and I met him at Ritchie‘s club. He came up and introduced himself. He was one of Sandra‘s patrons. And Ritchie said something about his sponsorship of a women‘s health clinic.‘
    ‘Rivington Street,‘ Gemma whispered. ‘Oh, my God! The clinic in Rivington Street.‘ In her mind, the pieces began to fall together with dreadful clarity. Alia talked about how involved Sandra had been with the work there, and then she said something about Mr Miles not actually seeing the patients, because they were only comfortable with women doctors, but I didn‘t make the connection.‘
    ‘Miles Alexander,‘ said Cullen. ‘That was his name.‘ Gemma felt the blood drain from her face. ‘He works at the London. Mr Alexander, the consultant. It must be the same man. He was the anaesthetist on my mum‘s procedure. Dear God.‘
    ‘We saw him the day of the post-mortem.‘ Kincaid started pacing, and the others shifted a bit to give him room. ‘In the corridor by the mortuary, as we went to Dr Kaleem‘s office. I knew he looked familiar. He must have been checking on Kaleem‘s results. Do you suppose there was something Kaleem missed?‘
    ‘Or maybe he was checking to see if there was anything he had missed,‘ Cullen suggested. ‘Kaleem said he thought he remembered Naz‘s mobile phone being in a different place in the evidence bag, remember? And that day when he spoke to us in the club, was he trying to find out what we knew?‘
    ‘Maybe,‘ Kincaid said. ‘Or maybe it was just plain bloody arrogance. Him deigning to play a little game with us.‘
    ‘Wait.‘ Melody had been listening intently, but now she shook her head. ‘You‘re making huge assumptions here.‘
    ‘No, it all fits,‘ Gemma said, with a certainty that made her feel cold. ‘He knew Sandra, and probably quite well, through their connection with the clinic. He bought her work. He had access to the drugs used to kill Naz, and the knowledge to use them. Lucas Ritchie‘s club would have provided a connection to Truman, and possibly others like him, if they shared an interest in little