Murder at the Clinic: A Midwest Cozy Mystery

by Dianne Harman

She was sure Dr. Nguyen was the one who had written the anonymous note. Other than him, she couldn’t think of anyone who would even remotely qualify as an enemy of hers. The problem was she had no idea how to combat the effect the note might have on Dr. Warren. Even if he didn’t believe it, there would always be a shadow of doubt hanging over her that might make him think there was some truth to it.

  Her phone rang, and she looked at the monitor. It was Dr. Warren. Swell. I have no desire to talk to him, and if I did, I might say something I’d regret. She let the call go to her voicemail, and after a few minutes she listened to the message he’d left on it.

  “Dr. Green, I apologize for what happened this afternoon. I hope you know I wasn’t accusing you of anything, I was simply trying to get to the bottom of a troubling situation. Obviously, it didn’t go well. I want you to know I won’t be making a decision regarding the assistant dean position for a few days. I’ve decided to not let the note enter into my decision or have any effect on it. Again, I’m sorry if I caused you pain. I’m quite aware I didn’t handle it well. Have a pleasant evening.”

  Right, have a pleasant evening, she thought, throwing her shoe into the closet where it thudded against the back wall. It wasn’t much, but the resounding thud made her feel better. Again, her phone rang. This time it was her fiancé.

  “Oh, Rex, I’m so glad you called. I’ve just had the most horrible thing happen.”

  “Mitzi, are you all right?”

  “Yes, I’m fine, but my professional reputation may not be.”

  “What are you talking about? You’re one of the best, if not the best, acupuncturist this town has ever seen. I hear it all the time from patients of mine.”

  “Thanks, I needed that, but let me tell you what happened.” She spent the next ten minutes filling him in on her conversation with Dr. Warren.

  “Oh, honey, that is just so wrong. What a cowardly thing to do. I can’t believe Dr. Nguyen would do something like that.”

  “I can. You’ve met him. Tell me you don’t think he could do that.”

  Rex was quiet for a few moments and then said, “Yes, as arrogant and as filled with himself as he is, he could have done something like that, but surely someone would have seen him.”

  “You’d think so,” Mitzi answered. “The problem is now I don’t know what to do. Remember that book, Don Quixote, and how he tilted at windmills, his imaginary enemies? I feel that’s what I’m doing. I have no idea who the enemy is, other than Dr. Nguyen. I know I’m starting to doubt myself, but what if it wasn’t him? What if people do feel worse after I treat them?”

  “Stop it, Mitzi. Quit feeling sorry for yourself. Someone at the university could be jealous of you, and it’s not exactly a secret that you and Dr. Nguyen are both being considered for the position of assistant dean. The problem with the higher up you go, there’s more people who are jealous you’re at the top of the mountain, and they’re not. For a lot of people, it’s easier to throw stones than to try to make it to the top of that mountain.”

  She was quiet for a moment, absorbing what he’d said. “You’re probably right, Rex, but it doesn’t feel very good. I have no idea what to do now, and I certainly don’t know what I can do to refute something like this baseless allegation that’s been made against me.”

  “I don’t think there’s anything you can do about the note, but I have an off-the-wall idea. What if you circulated a petition among your patients and your students asking that you be named as the assistant dean? Dr. Warren would have to pay attention to something like that, and even if Binh got wind of it, if you sewed up the majority of the students, interns, and patients, he couldn’t combat it. What do you think?”

  “I think it’s a fabulous idea, Rex. I’ve got all week to get the signatures. If I could get enough of them to sign it, I could present it to Dr. Warren late Friday afternoon. I’ll get started on it when we finish talking.”

  “Good. By the way, I also want to tell you how much I love you, and that I can’t wait until we’re married.”

  “Oh, Rex, that’s so sweet of you to say. I’m glad you feel that way, but that’s not something I hear from you very often.”

  “No, and for that I apologize. I’ll try to do better in the future. I guess what’s behind it is a conversation I had with Dani, you know, my ex-fiancée. She still can’t believe our relationship is over, and it was really an unpleasant conversation. She asked me what I saw in you that she didn’t have. I told her I really couldn’t answer that, I had just fallen totally in love with you and wanted to spend the rest of my life with you. I never realized what a small, mean-spirited woman she is.”

  “Rex, I have a feeling from the anger in your voice there was more to it than that. If you remember, we talked once about how important honesty is in a marriage. Don’t think you’re being totally honest with me at the moment. What else did she have to say?”

  Rex took a deep breath and said, “She made some references to your past physical appearance. Evidently she’d looked you up on the Internet and found some old photos of you taken at some library appreciation dinner. She said once we were married, you’d revert back to your old appearance. She said all fat people did that. She told me she’d called the library and talked to someone who knew you when you worked there and learned they called you ‘Fat Mitzi’ behind your back. I’m sorry, honey, but you asked me to be candid.”

  “Rex, I’d be less than honest if I didn’t tell you how much it hurts when I hear things like that, but I have to stay in the present, and presently, I am not fat, nor will I ever be again. Did your ex have anything else to say about me or our relationship?”

  “Yes, she said she wished something bad would happen to you, so she and I could get married.”

  “How did you respond to that?”

  “I told her that since nothing bad was going to happen to you, her wish was irrelevant. I also emphatically told her that she and I were never going to get married, and she better accept it.”

  “Thanks. Okay, enough of Dani. Let’s go on to something else. How was your late patient today?”

  “Very interesting, and she definitely will pay for our honeymoon. The woman was severely burned in a fire that broke out while she was in the barn at her cattle ranch. Evidently there were a bunch of oily rags in there that had been used for cleaning and then stored in a glass container. Unfortunately, whoever put them there didn’t realize that linseed oil had been used in the cleaning process. They were tightly packed, which is a definite no-no.”

  “Why is that a no-no?” Mitzi asked.

  “Because if they’re in the sun, they get hot, and then you have a case of what’s called spontaneous combustion, which is when a fire starts on its own without any obvious source of ignition like a match. The sun came in through a window in the loft. The glass intensified the sun’s heat, and it was a perfect storm. A fire broke out, and my patient couldn’t get out in time.

  “Not only is she badly burned, but she fell from the loft and needs immediate surgery on her hip and her leg. Rather than have her undergo a number of operations, I need to call some orthopedic doctors tonight and schedule surgery for her as soon as possible. I’m going to be doing a large skin graft on her. She’ll be fine when it’s over, but it’s a very painful procedure. When she called, she didn’t tell me how badly she was injured. She had her nurse with her, and she was in a wheelchair.

  “After her surgery, she’s going to recuperate at the house I keep for post-surgery patients. It’s the one you stayed at for a couple of days after your surgery. As you know, it’s near my office, and the other doctors and I will be able to closely monitor her recovery. Anyway, that’s a long roundabout way to tell you I won’t be able to come over tonight. This is one of the few times since meeting you that business supersedes pleasure. Trust me, I’d much rather be with you, but I need to do this. I hope you understand.”

  “Of course, Rex. I’m just glad she had the foresight to call you. Let me know what happens. I thi
nk I’ll get started on my petition, and Rex, thanks for listening to me. I guess I was a little frantic when we started this conversation, but I feel much better now.”

  “Mitzi, one of the reasons I love you is because of the fine human being you are. Don’t ever doubt yourself again.” He paused for a moment and then laughed, “Of course, the package isn’t too bad either.”

  “Good-bye Rex, go make someone beautiful. Love you!”

  CHAPTER 6

  When Kat returned home after her lunch with Mitzi, Jazz, her white West Highland terrier, and Rudy, the big Rottweiler Blaine had bought for her when she was investigating Nancy’s death, were both eagerly waiting by the door to the garage to greet her.

  “Hi guys! Think it’s time you both spent a little time outdoors. I’ve been gone a couple of hours, and I’m sure you can find things to do out there,” she said as she let them out the back door. Rudy was a big dog and several months earlier he’d inadvertently walked through the screen door that led to the back yard. The side and bottom had torn loose from the screen door, and even though it wasn’t particularly aesthetically appealing, it worked quite well as a doggie door during the warm spring days when Kat liked to keep the sliding glass door open. She looked at it for a moment, debating whether she should get it fixed before the wedding.

  I have a feeling I’m going to be looking at everything through the eyes of the upcoming wedding. There are probably all kinds of things I need to do that I’ve ignored. Next time I talk to Lacie, I’ll ask her. Daughters can sometimes be critical of their mothers, but I have to admit, she has a good eye.

  Kat walked upstairs, changed clothes, and sat down at her computer. A few minutes later she was joined by Jazz and Rudy, who laid down on the dog beds she’d put in her office for them. She spent the next three hours on the Internet researching everything she could about acupuncturists, second chances, mid-life crises, and home weddings.

  Kat even found one article that said baby boomers who rejected conventional marriages in their youth now wanted to reinvent old age by being a partner in a conventional marriage. This was one of the reasons cited for the upsurge in mid-life marriages it said. She knew Mitzi didn’t technically qualify as a baby boomer, but maybe Rex did. In any event, she was glad her friend had found happiness and had made some mid-life changes that seemed to be working for her.

  Thinking of Barbara and what she had said regarding Kat writing a book about Mitzi, she opened a new file on her computer and began to type in some ideas. The more she thought about it, the more interested she became in writing it. The one thing that bothered her was that there didn’t seem to be much meat in the proposed book. Woman goes through mid-life crisis and becomes an acupuncturist. Woman loses weight. Woman becomes beautiful. Woman meets doctor, falls in love, and lives happily ever after.

  She liked it so far, but it needed to have some tension built into it. Maybe she could have one of the doctor’s ex-girlfriend’s create problems. It was just too gooey sweet the way it was. Kat decided she’d start writing it in the morning. If it was anything like the other books she’d written, after a while the book would take on a life of its own, and it would dictate what was going to happen. It was as if Kat was reading the book while she was writing it.

  Lost in reverie, it took a moment for her to realize her cell phone was ringing. She picked it up, looked at the monitor, and said, “Lacie, darling, how are you? How did the exam go this morning?”

  “I think I did fine. I only have two more to go, and then I’m on summer break, well, not exactly because I’m going to summer school, but it will be nice to have this semester out of the way. What’s new with you, Mom?”

  Kat told her about Mitzi and the upcoming wedding. “Lacie, since the wedding and the reception are going to be here at the house, I’m wondering if you think I need to do anything to get it looking really good for the big event.”

  Lacie was quiet for a moment and then said, “Mom, are you sure this won’t hurt your feelings?”

  “What do you mean?” Kat asked.

  “Well, it’s kind of something I’ve noticed in a lot of my friend’s parents’ homes. They don’t realize that some of the things in the house have become dated, because they live with them every day.”

  “I’m assuming you have something specific in mind.”

  “Yes. The door handles all look like they’ve been there ever since the house was built, which was before I was even born. I think it would make a world of difference if you updated those.”

  Kat was silent for a moment and then said with a sigh of resignation, “You’re probably right. I’d just never thought about it. Is there anything else you can think of?”

  “Mom, don’t get mad at me, but I think you need to update the bathrooms and the kitchen with some new fixtures and appliances. It would be pretty easy to do, and since you only have a couple of months, there isn’t time for a complete construction type of remodel.”

  “I’m not getting mad, Lacie, but I’d like to ask you a question. Do you think I need to completely redo the bathrooms and the kitchen?”

  There was a pause before Lacie answered. “Mom, I think new fixtures and appliances would be all you’d need. That, along with new doorknobs, and you’d have the house looking spectacular. You could also pick up some fresh plants, maybe some of those orchids you love, and a couple of pillows for the couches and chairs, you know, accent kinds of things,” she said as her voice speeded up. “It’s going to just be great. I’d like to go with you when you shop for them. This is going to be fun.”

  “Lacie, I think you need to change your major from psychology to pre-law. You’re very convincing, but then again, maybe that’s part of psychology too. Get your exams out of the way, and then we’ll do some shopping. Okay?”

  “Okay. I may have some more ideas by then.”

  “Somehow I never doubted that, darling. Talk to you in a day or so. Study hard. Love you.”

  “Love you too, Mom.”

  CHAPTER 7

  Kat had just ended her call with Lacie when her phone rang again. This time it was Blaine, the newly elected district attorney she’d begun a relationship with several months earlier.

  “How is Sexy Cissy this beautiful spring evening?” he asked using the pen name she used when she wrote her steamy romance novels.

  “Very well, thank you. Actually Sexy Cissy is thinking about having Kat Denham write a cozy mystery. I’ve spent several hours researching it and making notes.”

  “I’ve never even heard that term. What’s a cozy mystery?”

  “Well, from what I understand the basic premise is that someone gets murdered and the main character, usually a woman who’s an amateur sleuth, solves the murder. Often she has a relative, husband, or boyfriend who has something to do with law enforcement, so she can use his contacts when she needs help solving the case. Cozy mysteries generally don’t have gore, overt sex, or swearing in them. They’re usually not very long, and they tend to be in a series, because the readers become involved with the characters and want them to continue from one adventure to another.”

  “Interesting. Maybe I’m missing something, but why would you want to fool around with success? You’ve got a huge following, and your books are very popular. Why do you feel you need to try something new?”

  “Truthfully, I’m getting a little bored. Let’s face it, there are only so many ways you can write a steamy novel without getting into some areas I’m a little reluctant to research.”

  “Tell you what. Why don’t I help with the research? Sounds like a good time to me,” he said laughing.

  “Blaine, I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that last remark and attempt to keep this relationship on a platonic basis, or at least a semi-platonic relationship.”

  His voice became serious, and he said, “Kat, I’d really like to make our relationship into something more than a get together for dinner and sharing a goodnight kiss and a hug. I think that’s gone on long enough. I’d like to c
ommit to a relationship with you, and I’d like it to be mutual. What do you say?”

  “Blaine, you know how much I care for you, but I still need a little more time.”

  “Sweetheart, at our age the one thing we don’t have the luxury of knowing is how much time we have left.”

  “You’re probably right. What do you have in mind?”

  She listened for a minute and said, “So you really would like me to consider having you move in here with me? Is that what you’re saying? What would your straight-laced constituency think?”

  His somewhat crude and descriptive answer made her laugh. “Blaine, you’re getting very close to convincing me. Give me just a couple more days. If I said yes, what time frame are you looking at?”

  Again she listened. “No, yesterday does not work for me. If I agreed, I think we’d need a few weeks to work out the details and yes, I’m very close to agreeing to it, if that’s any consolation.”

  “Having never been married before, it scares me to even think about living with a woman, but Kat, I really would like to live with you.”

  “I don’t recall hearing anything about marriage being included in your proposal,” she said.

  “Well, I probably haven’t mentioned it, but maybe it’s time. When you’re taking all of this under consideration, consider that as well. Now I want to hear about your day.”

  She told him about her lunch with Mitzi and how she’d agreed to have the wedding and the reception at her home. “I understand you’ve played golf with Rex, her fiancé. What do you think of him?”

  “He’s a great guy. She couldn’t do better. I’m kind of surprised to hear he’s getting married, because he’s completely devoted to his medical practice, probably too much. I know he was engaged to someone, but I wasn’t at all surprised to hear he’d broken that off. When is the wedding going to take place?”

  “In late July. I have about eight weeks to get everything ready. Lacie’s going to help me update the house. We’re going shopping for some new fixtures and appliances as well as some decorative items when she finishes her final exams.”