She nodded.
“Okay, I'll take it with me tonight and bring it back tomorrow. Don't make any changes meanwhile. You haven't done that have you? Or rubbed anything out?”
“No . . . well I crossed out the appointments we cancelled this afternoon and tomorrow. But we don't rub them out usually, so we can keep track.”
“Good, good.”
The questions went on for at least another fifteen minutes more. Jaswinder didn't dare look down at her watch. What else was there to say, she thought more than once. Some of the questions seemed to be repeats, slightly different versions of the same question.
“Now about this protester . . .”
That she could tell him something about. Jas described everything she knew. “Dr. Parker has more details though and I think he gave them to the Mall security. He said he was going to talk to a lawyer about getting a court order but I don't know if he did that.”
“What can you tell me about Carl?”
“Carl?” What for? “He was working here when I came. He was here from before, with Dr. Atkinson, I mean. He does the lab work that we don't send out, like crowns and bridgework, you know. Oh, I guess you don't. What do you want to know about that?”
“I don't think I need to know those details right now. Where did Carl work before?”
“I only know what I've been told. He comes from Europe. I'm sure he's a legal immigrant. Dr. Atkinson hired him and Dr. Parker him took over when. . . a few months ago. I think he needed to have a job for immigration. That's how I've been told it works. Not by Carl. I mean, Carl didn't tell me that, it was my uncle who explained it to me once.”
“Sure, sure. Does Carl talk about his home or family ever?"
Jaswinder thought for a moment. “Carl doesn't talk that much. I don't think he has any family here. I mean, he's not married. Okay, I suppose he could be but Dr. Parker provides free dental, except for lab work, to all employees and their immediate family. He even lets my mom and Dad come since I'm single. Carl has never had anyone come in.”
"So he doesn't get letters here from his home country or phone calls?"
"Not that I've ever seen. I mean, he gets phone calls from the outside lab we use, SDL Laboratories. That's to do with work sent out."
"Okay, got it." The detective scribbled something in his book, impossible to read upside down.
Jaswinder was dying to ask what all the questions were about. What did it matter where Carl came from? What was the name of that country, anyway? Someplace where there had been a war or fighting. Was it near Afghanistan? Was this some kind of terrorist thing?
"Now, tell me who uses that treatment room, Operatory four it's called, correct?"
I hope he's not going to ask which patients have been treated in there because that's one thing we don't keep track of. And I certainly hope we won't be asked to do that in the future. "You mean which staff members?"
"Yeah."
"Everybody uses it. Okay, let me be specific. One person, one staff member uses it at a time, unless both Dr. Parker and Marnie are working together when she's assisting a procedure. Cheryl, our hygienist, sometimes uses it for overflow, if she has two patients going because she's backed up. I don't use it, except I clean up in there and set things up sometimes if we're busy. Bev, our office manager, never goes in there as far as I know. She says the smell makes her queasy." Jaswinder gave a nervous laugh. "Funny her working in a dental office." Detective Osborne didn't smile.
Jaswinder continued. "Bev's here Wednesday and Friday, so she would ordinarily be here tomorrow. Oh, I'd better call and tell her not to come in. Unless you want her to come in, to talk to her?"
"I'll leave that for now. Why does she only work two days a week? You don't need managing the rest of the time?"
Jaswinder gave him a quick look to see if that was his idea of a joke but he still looked serious.
"Dr. Parker is just starting out his practice. He was an associate at the mall clinic in Langley before this. It takes time for a practice to build up for dentists. After a while he'll probably have a full time office manager and another CDA."
The questions went on for another ten minutes. Jaswinder was sure that he spent longer questioning her than any of the others, although maybe Carl had walked off before he was finished. Perhaps Detective Osborne thought she knew everyone. Or maybe her alibi was better. Had she been in plain sight the whole time? She felt drained, completely washed out and her head was starting to pound.
"Okay, I think I'm finished with the staff for now. You can tell the others . . ." He looked down at his black notebook. " . . . that you can all go home. But don't leave the area. You're not planning a vacation tomorrow, are you?" Now he smiled, a little fake smile.
She shook her head.
"Okay, leave the front door key on the counter out there and we'll lock up. An officer will be staying overnight to safeguard the crime scene. You're all taking the day off tomorrow, Dr. Parker told me." No response seemed necessary and Jaswinder was beginning to think she wouldn't be able to answer any more questions coherently. "Okay, that's it. Good night."
She went out to the front, not looking back, and told Marnie and Cheryl that they could go. Neither needed encouragement. They grabbed their coats and Jas left the front door key that she kept in the top drawer of her desk on top of the counter and closed the door behind them.
Chapter 7
Her mother, Ranjot, was making dinner when Jaswinder got home, exhausted. She'd parked her car a few houses away on her street and sat there, stunned, for ten minutes at least, as everything sank in. This had been the worst day of her life, no doubt. When she trudged in, her mother was humming in the kitchen. It smelled like chicken curry, one of her favourites but Jas didn't think she'd be able to eat. Should she tell her parents? They'd find out soon enough; her Dad always watched the six o'clock news. Maybe he wouldn't realize it was her clinic.
She walked into the kitchen and her plans crumbled. She ran to her mother and threw her arms around her. "Mom, something terrible happened today." She stopped at that, her throat choked.
"He fired you? How dare he! I thought you were supposed to have three months to show how good you are." Her mother was indignant.
Jas stepped back and sat down in one of the chairs and put her head in her hands. "No, mom, it's nothing like that."
"Oh. Oh, well of course not. You were one of the top students in your class."
Her mother knew that she'd been in the top half, not one of the top students. She conveniently forgot that whenever she was talking to one of her friends.
"You've had a bad day. I know, it's not easy in being with people in pain. They're not pleasant, I'm sure." Her mother had her own ideas of what a typical day in a dental office was like. "You can tell me all about it over dinner; it's almost ready. Help me set the table, would you?"
Her younger brother and sister were visiting their cousins for the day. That should make it easier. Jaswinder stirred the food around on her plate until they were half way through the meal. She'd been thinking of how best to bring up the subject. Her father had looked over at her a few times as he ate. There was no easy way. "Mom, about today . . ." Her mother looked up with the pleasant and sympathetic look she used in situations like this. That would change soon, Jas thought. "Mom, somebody died, somebody was killed at work today."
"What is this, Jaswinder? You're talking about your work?"
"That's right, Dad. But you could wait to find out all about it on the news tonight."
"The news? Oh, Jazzy, what's going on?"
Jaswinder started out by saying that she wasn't really supposed to talk to anyone about it but then she told her parents almost everything. She could see her father looked more and more stern as she went on and her mother gave a little cry when she got to the part about the scalpel in the eye. She got up and put her arms around Jaswinder and drew her in close. "My poor, poor girl. What a terrible experience! Who would do such a thing? In a dentist's office!"
"You had nothing to do with this. You were just doing your job."
"I know that but I don't know if the police do, Dad."
"But who did this terrible thing, Jaswinder?"
"If I knew, Mom, I'd be a police detective instead of a dental receptionist. I'm just glad Dr. Parker gave us all tomorrow off so I don't have to go back to work until Monday."
"Maybe it will over be solved by then.” Jaswinder knew her mother was trying to be consoling but somehow, she doubted it would all be over so easily.
"Why don't we all go watch the news on television, and meantime, let's try to keep this from your brother and sister
"Okay, Dad, I think that's probably a good idea."
Jaswinder found it strange to see her place of work on the evening news. Quite a lot of people seemed to be standing around. Fortunately, the body of Mr. Plinsky had already been taken away by the time the cameras arrived. The owner of the fried chicken take-out place was interviewed.
He went on about Mr. Buckle protesting there, describing his scruffy appearance and the sign he carried. He was able to tell something about Dr. Atkinson and at least he did tell the reporter that the dentist working in the clinic now was a different one, a Dr. Parker. The reporter started speculating that the murder was somehow related to Mr. Buckle.
"It has nothing to do with that protester. I told you about him, didn't I, Dad?"
"Yes, you did but I could never understand why Dr. Parker hadn't gotten rid of him. Perhaps the protester thought this would be a revenge for him. You know, ruin Dr. Atkinson's reputation."
"Dr. Atkinson is gone and his reputation probably wasn't that great, anyway. It's not that easy to make somehow leave if they don't want to. What if someone was marching back and forth on our sidewalk? Could you make him go away?"
"Oh, I could, never you worry." Her father had definite opinions about law and order matters.
"Dad, if you touched a protester in any way, you would be charged with something, like assault, I think."
"I predict it was that protester who did it, you wait and see."
"Well, the fact is, he barged into the clinic to use the washroom just a little while before we found . . . before the body was discovered. Actually, it was almost at the same time, so you might be right, Dad."
"If you see that misfit, you make sure you call the police right away, Jaswinder, and lock the front door."
"Your father's right, Jazzy. You can't take any chances. I won't be able to sleep if I thought anything could happen to you."
"Don't worry, Mom." I shouldn't have said anything, now she'll be hovering over me from now on. "I'll keep you posted."
The news program continued to something about an economic crisis in a European country and after a look between her parents, Jaswinder was glad to let the subject drop.
Chapter 8
Jaswinder invited her best friend, Manisha, to come over on Friday evening. Manisha had listened to the news reports, of course, and was dying of curiousity to hear everything. They went down to the family room, away from her mother's prying ears.
"This is so weird, Jas. And scary. How can you go back there on Monday with a murderer on the loose?"
"Even if I wanted to quit or had another job, the police are going to expect me to show up. They might suspect me, otherwise."
"You?! That's a laugh. You don't even like to step on spiders." She gave a shiver.
Manisha had a phobia about spiders, Jaswinder remembered. Arachnophobia, was that what it was called? "I liked my job, before all this happened, I mean."
"Why don't we try to see if we can figure out who is the most likely suspect. That way, you can at least avoid being alone with them. The newspaper articles didn't really have any information about suspects."
Jaswinder agreed it was a good idea. "And let's make a list of where everyone was, as best I can remember. I mean the person would need at least a few minutes to . . . to do it."
"What I can't figure out is why the guy didn't fight back. You said he was just sitting in the chair with the scalpel in his eye, right?"
"I didn't actually see him, Manisha. But that was what Mrs. Harrington said. She's a patient and she walked into the room by mistake. She didn't say he was sitting in the treatment chair so he could have been lying on the floor, I guess. I had him sit in the chair and he was leaning back with his eyes closed when I let the room."
"I suppose the murderer could have come at him from behind and if he had his eyes closed, he wouldn't have noticed as the knife came near his eye. He wouldn't have had a chance to fight back."
"I guess, Manisha. It’s kind of creepy to think I was the last person, besides the murderer, to see him alive."
Manisha shook her head. "Let's deal with that later. First, we'll think about who the perpetrator could be. Isn't that what they call the murderer on T.V., the perpetrator?"
Manisha thinks this is like a television show. She wasn't there. No one could know what it was like to have been present when someone was killed in such a horrible way. She looked up at Manisha. Okay, she's just trying to help. "I'll make a list of everyone who was there that day, at that time and we can think about where they were and who they were with and so on, okay?"
"You don't need to include yourself, Jas."
Jaswinder managed a small laugh. "I wasn't going to. Thanks for the vote of confidence. I'll put them in alphabetical order, to be fair: Carl, Cheryl, Dr. Parker . . . maybe I should have put him at the beginning. His first name is Al. Oh, never mind, let's keep going. Mrs. Harrington, her first name is Hortense. The girl with the braces, Krystal, she was there but Dr. Parker sent her home. We haven't even mentioned her to Detective Osborne. Then Marnie. Oh, the protester, his first name is Jim."
She ripped up the page and started again. “Okay, here's the list in alphabetical order. She pushed back her short dark hair behind her ears and put her feet up on the coffee table. Dr. Al Parker, Carl, Cheryl, Hortense Harrington, Jaswinder, Jim Buckle, Krystal, Marnie. Anybody else?"
"You don't need to include yourself, Jas." Manisha repeated.
"I know that and you know that but does everybody else? Anyway, let's keep going. Do you want a snack first?"
"Okay, that's a good idea." The girls ran upstairs, filled a bowl with chips, dumped some baby carrots on a plate and grabbed a juice box each. They hurried back downstairs.
"Back to the list, Manisha. How about if I draw a map of the clinic for you so we can place everybody. You haven't seen where I work."
"No, I've been waiting for you to invite me for a free cleaning. Just kidding! Maybe we could get little magnets or game board pieces to represent everyone."
"Okay, maybe later. I'll describe the clinic to you as you come from the parking lot. Walking towards it, there are the two giant cement planters -- the plants are dead now, of course. The protester would have been walking back and forth between them, maybe heading over by the parking spaces sometimes. Two steps to the front door and inside the waiting room is on the right, with, let's say. . . seven chairs. I can check the exact number tomorrow. The reception area, that's where I sit, is to the left. There's a counter between me and patients and behind the counter, two work chairs and two computers. Behind where I am is the printer for the computer and a filing cabinet and a file cabinet and a small desk and chair that Bev, the office manager, uses."
"She wasn't there that day, was she?"
"No, she comes in on Wednesdays and Fridays. Lucky her. Now, when you stand facing forward after coming in the front door, about two meters ahead and after the waiting room, to the right is the coat closet."
"Could someone hide in there?"
"I never thought of that. I guess somebody could hide in there. It's always kept closed, unless someone is using it. That's creepy, to think someone might have been lurking in there." Jaswinder made a face. "Okay, let's not think about that now. Going s
traight there are three operatories, one after the other on the right side of that hallway. Number one, two and then three. The hallway is kind of narrow. And to the left, that is, across from the operatories, there is a supply room first, then Dr. Parker's office. The hallway goes past the third operatory and you turn left and about a meter or two on is Carl's dental lab, on the right. He keeps his door closed usually. You continue around and the hall circles left and there's a staff lunchroom on the right. Oh, between the Carl's Lab and the lunchroom is the back door. As I was saying, after the staff lunchroom there is the darkroom for developing x-rays and there's a bit of an indentation or a recess where some equipment is kept."
"Could someone hide in there?"
"I don't think so. The sedation equipment is usually stored there on a stand. You can see the wall behind it."
Operatory of Death: A Jaswinder Mystery Page 5