“Why?”

Dr. Rossi shakes her head again. “Frankly, I think they were both mad, him and Megan. And no, before you ask, of course I didn’t let him see the records.”

“Did he say anything else?”

“He didn’t have time to say anything else, to be honest. As soon as I figured out who he was, I told him to leave but he wouldn’t, he kept asking to see Grace’s medical records. He became quite aggressive, kept on saying again and again that he had to tell me something, something important about Grace. He grabbed hold of my wrist, which is when I called for help.”

“Did he mention anything else? Maybe something about Grace’s age, her birth certificate?”

Dr. Rossi shakes her head. “No, he just kept rambling on about her medical records even as my colleague called the police to have him removed. I really don’t see why any of this is important—”

“Do you think Simon killed her?”

Dr. Rossi’s eyes dart away from my face.

“Who knows? It’s the most likely conclusion. Megan was an addict, she probably abused him for years, drove him mad until he snapped. Or perhaps they were both taking the drugs. I wouldn’t put it past them.”

“What about Grace? How was she with Grace?”

Dr. Rossi shakes her head emphatically. “That’s the only thing I couldn’t fault her on. Even though she was screwed up, taking God knows what, she always seemed to be an impeccable mother. She’d research Grace’s illnesses, find out about new treatments, that sort of thing. She’d never miss an appointment. Dr. Marsh said Megan was always alert and completely present in their appointments. She’d even take notes sometimes. He said he felt she’d lay down her life for that little girl. I thought the drugs were probably her way of coping.”

“So what happened? Why did she leave when she had two senior doctors on the hook?”

Dr. Rossi stretches out her fingers and then makes fists again.

“A few of the nurses reported some of their meds and supplies were going missing. We had a meeting about it. Jeremy and I knew it was Megan, of course, pocketing what she could find when rooms were left empty; thought she was selling it on. Then things escalated when the daughter of an elderly patient with dementia claimed her mother’s watch had gone missing during an examination with Dr. Marsh. I’d seen Megan talking to this patient, so I immediately had my suspicions. There was no way we could prove anything, of course. The daughter couldn’t even prove her mother had lost the watch at the office and not somewhere else so it never came to anything. Still, with the meds disappearing and the accusation from the patient, Jeremy and I thought we’d found a way to get rid of her, but then she just disappeared without a word, without warning. Dr. Marsh was worried—he felt it was out of character—but Jeremy and I convinced him not to pursue it. We were just so relieved to have our lives back.”