Page 11 of Lone Star Witness

Slade latched right onto that. “Like the man he saw in the parking lot that you said wasn’t there? The man that Marise also saw?”

Oh, if looks could kill, Stephanie would have hurled Slade straight into the afterlife. “He might have seen a man,” she reluctantly admitted. “However, Vince had woven that into a fantasy about something he believes he witnessed. He didn’t. It’s all in his head.”

“What does he believe he saw?” Marise asked.

“A murder,” Stephanie flatly provided. “He didn’t,” she was quick to repeat.

“A murder?” Slade repeated. “Details, please.”

Stephanie’s expression went through the gambit of frustration and annoyance, but she did finally respond. “It was two weeks ago. He claims he saw a man being murdered in our house. He didn’t,” she repeated for the third time. “That’s all the details I have because his story kept changing.”

“Two weeks,” Marise said. “That’s the same time the colonel became a resident here.”

“Yes,” Stephanie verified in a snapping tone. “Because that’s also the day he attacked me. He became enraged when I tried to tell him he hadn’t seen anything, and he tried to kill me.”

“Enraged over you questioning him, or did he have a PTSD episode?” Slade questioned.

“I don’t know which, but Vince tried to kill me.” Stephanie stopped, huffed again. “Look, I didn’t want to put him here, but the alternative was having him locked up in a psychiatrist hospital. I know the founder, Sarah Eccleston. We’re on several foundation committees together, and she agreed that Vince being admitted here was a good temporary solution.” She looked at Marise. “Can he continue to stay, what with all these wild accusations he’s making?”

“He can stay if he wants,” Marise answered. “And the accusations aren’t all wild. Are you sure you don’t know the man calling himself Jack Smith who visited the colonel?”

“I’m sure,” she insisted. “I told you that when you called earlier and asked about him. That’s not my attorney’s name. And as for why the man was here? I have no idea. I’m sure Vince has a lot of unsavory people from his past.”

And, yeah, she went there by sliding another quick glance at Slade to let him know he fit into the unsavory category. As far as he was concerned, Stephanie was in the category right along with him. The difference was he cared about what happened to the colonel. He didn’t think his wife did.

Why?

Slade really wanted to find the answer to that, and he stepped to the side to send a text to Ruby to emphasize he badly needed a background check on the woman. He also added the part about the colonel maybe having witnessed a murder.

Stephanie shot him another of those “shit on the shoes” looks before she muttered a terse goodbye and headed for the elevator.

“Wow, all that empathy for her husband,” Marise muttered, the sarcasm dripping from her voice.

“I’m right there with you on that. Is it possible she drugged the colonel?” Slade asked. “Drugged him to obscure his actual memories or to trigger a Complex PTSD episode like the one he had tonight?”

She stayed quiet a moment, obviously considering that. “She couldn’t done it tonight because she hadn’t been here in days.”

“Could Smith have done it?” he pressed.

“Maybe,” she admitted. “There was a glass of water sitting on the table when the nurse called me up, and Rosa downed it after Smith left. I suppose Smith could have slipped something into it. I can have the glass tested,” Marise added.

Part of him wanted to bag it and use Maverick Ops’ lab to do the test. But if Rosa had been drugged, then the glass needed to be taken into evidence by the police.

“Text the detective who came here and have him collect it,” Slade advised. Though they were likely looking at weeks before they’d know for certain. “What about the initial episode that landed him here? Could Stephanie have drugged him to trigger that?”

“Again, I’ll have to go with a maybe. He had a physical on admission, and if there’d been anything in his blood, it would have popped.” Marise paused. “Well, many drugs would have shown up anyway. It’s possible the dutiful wife could have used something like LSD. That only shows on bloodwork for six to twelve hours, and it could have been administered orally in a drink or some food. She couldn’t have given him a drug intravenously since the clients are checked for needle marks during the admissions physical.”

“Six to twelve hours,” he repeated. “How long was the colonel admitted here after the episode where the wife says he tried to kill her?”

“Nearly eighteen hours,” Marise replied, and her expression said it all. She was as suspicious of Stephanie Rosa as he was.

Slade glanced at the door to the colonel’s room. “I’m guessing tonight won’t be a good time to question him about what he witnessed?”

“No, not a good time. The ambulance will be here soon to transport him to the hospital. I can request more thorough blood tox tests be done in case something is still lingering around.”

“Do that.” Though the odds were high that nothing would show after all this time.

Marise was right about the ambulance. He could already hear the approaching sirens.

---