“I’ve got to run too. I have my own meeting with Gabrielle’s bank manager,” he said.

Val’s stomach knotted. “Bank manager?”

“Yeah. We were going through a few of her statements and I have some questions about one of the charges on them. Catch up with you later?”

“Absolutely.” Val quickly added, “What kind of charges?” Her mind went to Gabrielle’s key she still had in her possession, the one she felt belonged to a safe deposit box.

“Not sure yet. I’ll let you know what I find out.”

“Okay.” Val hung up and ran down the hallway to Dr. Maddox’s office. Jesus, what is this about?

When she arrived he pointed to a chair for her to sit, which she quickly did. “The histology reports are back on the sections we took from Gabrielle Morgan’s organs,” he said.

Val held her breath. “And?” she asked.

“She had hepatocellular carcinoma, in other words liver cancer. So true liver cancer; this is not a metastasis.”

Val’s eyebrows shot up at the mention of the diagnosis. “I don’t think anyone would have guessed that.”

“This certainly is a big surprise, and I’ll get to more of that later. It hadn’t spread, all her other organs were negative. I can’t guess if she knew she had it. One of her physicians confirmed that he himself did not know. The last time she saw him she wasn’t exhibiting any symptoms and the last round of blood work he did was normal, but that was over a year ago.”

“One of her physicians?” Val questioned. “You found another?”

“Yes, I did locate another doctor she was seeing. I talked to him just this morning.”

“That’s fantastic. How did you find him? Did he come forward?”

“No. The crime scene techs discovered several medications in her home. They were all over the counter, vitamin supplements, but she had one prescription bottle and I followed up with the doctor who prescribed it. It took him a while to call me back.”

“What was she on?”

“Allopurinol,” Dr. Maddox said plainly.

“Allopurinol? She had gout?” Val said the words, stunned. “Isn’t she kind of young for that?” When Val practiced dentistry, several of her older patients suffered from gout, a type of arthritis that’s horribly painful when it flares up. The body produces elevated levels of uric acid that form urate crystals. These settle in the joints, particularly the big toe. It’s reported to be so excruciating that sufferers would do anything, even cut off the toe themselves to stop the pain.

“Gabrielle had kidney damage, likely influenced by a past chronic infection of some sort. Having kidney damage can lead to gout.” Dr. Maddox reclined in his chair. “But, Val, gout’s not my oddest finding with Gabrielle. That’s not why I brought you to my office.” Dr. Maddox sat forward. “Her type of cancer is the problem.”