Chapter 1 –
When Logan returned from lunch, a man was sitting beside his desk. It was normal. When people came in asking to see a detective, the desk sergeant always put them at an empty desk. They had found out long ago that an extra minute or two calmed people and made talking to an officer less stressful. And too, we didn’t advertise it, but often, sitting alone in a busy squad room worked on the nut cases and half of them would just get up and leave. It sounded cruel, but it cut down considerably on the people who had seen Elvis and the ones who knew what happened to Kennedy.
“Yes Sir, can I help you?”
“Are you a detective?”
“Yes Sir, Frank Logan, Sergeant Frank Logan. What can I help you with?”
“I want to report a murder.”
“A murder?” asks Logan as he pulls a report from his desk and threads it into his typewriter.
“Can you tell me your name?”
“Yes, Harry Lacy.”
“And the victim’s name, Mr. Lacy.”
“My wife, Frances Lacy.”
“When did this murder occur?”
“Over the last six months, we buried her yesterday.”
This wasn’t making any sense, thought Logan.
“Exactly how did your wife die, Mr. Lacy?”
“She had cancer,” answered the man.
“I thought you said it was a murder.”
“It was.”
Logan leaned back in his chair. There was nothing more to type.
“Maybe you better tell me what happened, Mr. Lacy.” The man had just lost his wife. It was normal after a death for people to blame something, somebody. A few minutes to let him talk it out wouldn’t hurt.
“No, Detective Logan, nobody broke in. Nobody held a gun to her head, but it would be better if they had. That way it would have been quick. At least she wouldn’t have suffered.”
“Tell me what happened.”
“About a year ago, my wife had a cough and some pain in her back. She went to the doctor and come to find, she had lung cancer. God, she worked for it. She smoked for years. Well, a day or two later they operated on her and removed a part of her lung. It looked like everything went okay. The doctor said they thought they got it all, but he wanted her to take some chemotherapy just to be safe.”
Logan felt he knew what would be coming. They didn’t get it all and she died. The doctor killed her. Still, let the man talk it out.
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