Page 150 of State of Denial

When they were outside, Freddie said, “I have no idea what to think about any of this.”

“Right there with you. There’s no way four women would make up a story like that and go public with it if it didn’t actually happen.”

“I mean, it is possible they made it up, but what I can’t see no matter where I look iswhythey would’ve done it. After what just happened to us, Elin barely wanted to talk to me about it. Sam was the same after she suffered fertility setbacks. I can’t see them deciding to take out their disappointment on the doctor by accusing him of such an egregious thing.”

“They never would have unless it happened,” Gonzo said. “I get that Nancy Lee was a devoted friend and employee of Blanchet’s, but she’s not objective in this matter. Like his mother, of course she’s going to defend him, especially now that he’s dead. They want to protect his legacy.”

“I hate this case,” Freddie said.

“I do, too. More than I hate most of them. Most of all, I hate that whatever happened, four innocent kids were killed.”

“Yeah, me, too. Where do we go from here?”

“Let’s go back to the house and regroup. We’ve still got the Cortez angle to further explore, so don’t lose hope yet.”

“I’m trying not to, but this is going nowhere fast.”

“We’ll catch a break. Eventually.”

“Any time now.”

When Freddieand Gonzo got back to HQ, Gonzo went to check in with Green and O’Brien while Freddie closed the door to the conference room to call Sam.

“How’s it going?”

“I’m extremely frustrated.” He updated her on the conversation with Nancy Lee.

“I agree with you and Gonzo. There’s no way those women would’ve gone to the police with something like that unless it actually happened. Take a closer look at Ramsey’s report on his investigation. It might shed some light.”

“I will.”

“Keep pulling the threads and doing what we do. Something will pop.”

“It would be good if it could pop soon.”

“I have full faith in you and the rest of our team.”

“That helps. How are the kids?”

“They’re doing okay, and so far no fever for me or Nick, thankfully. I’m still working my way through Liliana’s emails, texts, social media posts, work stuff. I’ll let you know if anything stands out.”

“Thanks for the help.”

“I’ll see you in the morning.”

“See you then.”

Cameron and Matt returned to HQ with Pascal and Gia Cortez at six o’clock.

“What a charming pair,” Matt said after he’d deposited them in interview one with a Patrol officer keeping an eye on them.

“They fought us every step of the way,” Cam added. “Her mother said she was calling a lawyer to sue us for harassment. We told her to please go right ahead.”

“Thanks for taking one for the team, you guys,” Freddie said. “Did they ask for an attorney at any point?”

“Nope,” Cam said. “The only mention of lawyers was by her mother about suing us for harassment. And we advised them of their rights—twice.”

“Great job,” Freddie said. “We’ll take it from here. I’m just waiting for one of the Millers to come in before we proceed.”

---