Page 62 of Shattered Dreams

“She disappeared two days after New Year’s Day, but we haven’t spoken to the coroner for the official time of death.”

“I was in Boston at a conference all that week. I was the keynote speaker, and the hotel will have a record of my reservation.”

“Convenient.”

“True, nonetheless.”

“Say we believe you. What is there to be gained by anyone framing you for her death?”

“Why kill her in the first place?” Mallory shoots back, and I flinch. We don’t know why Ingrid Flannigan was tortured and murdered.

“That’s something we still haven’t figured out,” I admit, “but we were hoping we’d shed some light on the why if we could find the who.”

Mallory glares. “Keep looking.”

“You treated patients at Quiet Meadows during the time Zarah was there. She told me she remembers you.”

He pales, and if his face loses any more color, a corpse would look healthier. “She remembers me?”

I tilt my head, studying him. “Yes. She remembers you wheeling her down to the basement. She remembers what you did to her down there. I have a video of her reliving a ...session.”

Zane swears.

Mallory pours another drink, his hand trembling, and throws it back. “That wasn’t me! I knew they were testing drug effectiveness, but it wasn’t until after Quiet Meadows closed I learned of their methods. Martin Pederson was head of that project.”

“And what project was that?” Zane asks, his teeth clenched.

“They were testing a new dementia drug.”

“Why would Zarah have been a participant in that study?” I ask. “She doesn’t have dementia. Her memory issues are caused by the drugs Ashton Black forced on her to keep his secrets, and from what I understand, Dr. Pederson’s specialty is schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.”

He flicks a glance at me. “She must have met certain criteria to be considered as a subject.”

“What do you know about the other girls who passed away recently? JodiAnne Connelly, Savannah Mesa, Marci Greyson? Stacy Birmingham? They’re around the same age, and they were all patients at Quiet Meadows. You can’t tell me that’s a coincidence.”

“It’s not.” Mallory ages right in front of us, and I don’t feel an ounce of sympathy. “They were part of the same study. Someone is trying to hide the testing that went on at the facility. Look, I disagreed with what they were doing. It’s part of the reason why Jerricka and I broke our engagement. After Quiet Meadows closed, she treated some of those girls, and the ones she didn’t, she stalked and reported her findings to Pederson. I had no idea she had so little respect for our ethics as psychiatrists and doctors. First, do no harm. That’s our creed, and she wasn’t following that. Not to mention her total disregard for client/patient confidentiality.”

I look at Zane, and he blanches, knowing exactly what I’m about to say. “That’s why she approached you about Zarah’s therapy.” I turn my attention back to Mallory. “Why didn’t you report her?”

“Because I value my life too much.”

“You’re scared of Pederson?” I ask skeptically.

“What? No.”

“We spoke with Alan Guthrie. He told us Rourke Cook owned Quiet Meadows at that time.”

Mallory stills. “If he did, that’s news to me.”

I don’t believe him. Mallory might not be scared of Pederson, but he’s scared ofsomeone.

“Pederson was Quiet Meadows’ head psychiatrist. If Cook didn’t have knowledge of the studies, and that’s a big if because Iona Belsely stated she saw him there on several occasions over the years,” I say, twisting what Iona told us, “who was telling Pederson to run them?”

“For fuck’s sake. Who do you think? Who do you think was there almost every day? Who do you think kept an eye on Miss Maddox? Who do you thinkfundedthose studies? Drugs just don’t pop into a prescription bottle complete with a childproof cap. Labs, scientists, ingredients, mice, rats, fucking monkeys—that all has a very high cost.”

I’m on to him before he’s done ranting, but none of this makes sense. “Why would Ashton Black be interested in a dementia drug?”

“Hell if I know. Why did he sell women? Because he could? Because he wanted to? Because no one told that son of a bitch no in his entire life? Spoiled fucking brat. If you want to know what he and that asshole Pederson were doing, you’ll have to ask him, and good luck getting onto his visitors’ list. I’ve heard no one can get in to talk to him.”

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