Page 20 of No Quarter

“That’s all anyone can do,” Saldana said, nodding politely and then disappearing back inside the building.

“Well, if the patients are half as colorful as the staff,” Will said. “This should be an interesting case.”

They crossed the threshold and entered into the embrace of Elmwood Psychiatric Retreat.

Valerie was instantly struck by the calm music that she heard and by the potted plants and pastoral colors of the lobby. In every way, it reminded her of where her sister Suzie spent her days and not of a place where a vicious murder had taken place.

Valerie knew to try and leave her baggage at the door, not to connect her personal life to her cases, but sometimes the parallels were undeniable. They could give insight at times, but they could also knock her off course and cloud her mind. She had to be wary of that.

Just as she and the others were about to approach the receptionist, the door to the left opened up and into the lobby stepped a man in a tweed suit. His hair was light brown, with a hint of gray about it. He wore thick glasses, and he looked exceedingly worried.

He stepped forward as soon as he laid eyes on Valerie.

“Are you Agent Law?” he asked, shaking her hand.

“Yes,” Valerie answered. “You must be Doctor Whitmore?”

“Yes, I’m the senior psychiatrist here. At your service,” he said kindly. “I’m so glad you could come. Gillian’s death has caused quite a stir among the patients and staff. People are frightened. And I’m worried about how this will affect everyone and their treatments.”

Doctor Whitmore looked over Valerie’s shoulder at Will.

“Pardon me, but you wouldn’t happen to be Doctor Will Cooper, would you?” he asked with an excited look in his eyes.

Will stepped forward and shook Doctor Whitmore’s hand. “I am indeed. Have we met before?”

“No, I haven’t had the pleasure,” Doctor Whitmore said. “But I’ve been to several of your symposiums. The talks you gave on the underlying mechanisms behind matricide were stunning. I had never looked at it that way before. I’ve actually been able to incorporate some of your theories here when dealing with patients who have resentment toward their parents.”

Will beamed with pride. “That’s very kind of you, Doctor Whitmore. When things are calmer, I’d be very interested to hear how you’ve implemented those ideas.”

“It would be an honor.”

Valerie looked at both men shaking each other’s hands. She smirked to herself. They could have been brothers. Both professorial. Intense, yet gentle.

Charlie had almost been ignored entirely. He then put himself into the conversation, regardless. “I’m Agent Carlson.”

They shook hands.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you Agent Carlson, Agent Law, and Doctor Cooper,” Doctor Whitmore said. “I wish it were under better circumstances. I really hope we can catch whoever did this terrible thing to poor Gillian. We’re all just sickened that it happened at Elmwood.”

“We’ll do our best to catch the killer,” Valerie said. “But time is of the essence in a case like this. Could you take us to where Gillian’s body was found?”

*

Valerie looked down the corridor with dread. Again, it struck her how similar Elmwood Psychiatric Retreat was to where her sister Suzie was being treated. The same pastoral colors. The same peaceful jazz music playing through speakers hidden out of view.

She was even convinced that some of the paintings on the walls were the same. Clearly the environment had been created to be a therapeutic and comforting one.

But the yellow police tape cordoning off the entire corridor quickly unraveled that soothing atmosphere. They telegraphed to anyone near that something terrible had happened. A stain against the otherwise peaceful surroundings.

“Did you remove the other patients from the rooms along this hallway?” Will asked.

Valerie always liked that Will thought of others first. It made her feel that even in the face of evil, there was some good in the world.

“It was extremely difficult to find space elsewhere in the building,” Doctor Whitmore said. “But it was the first thing we did after calling the police. I’m not sure what we will do now with these rooms. It’s going to be difficult to bring patients back to this part of the building, but we can’t afford to simply close down several rooms like this. The patients are going to be preoccupied with the terrible events that occurred here. And you know how much violent events can linger in the mind and affect well-being.”

“Perhaps only new admissions should be brought to stay in this hall?” Will suggested. “They would have the same emotionalconnection to these rooms as those who were here during the murder. New patients needn’t know what occurred here.”

“That’s a great idea, Doctor Cooper,” Doctor Whitmore said, the gratitude clear in his voice.

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