Chapter 366

“Dr. Mancini, do you mind repeating what you told me while I record it?”

Something insidious was happening, and Marlee’s life depended on me to expose it.

“Not at all,” he replied.

Dr. Mancini repeated what he told me about Lexi dying from MMA. He confirmed he sent the report to the DA and spoke to the coroner, who agreed with him that the baby girl died from natural causes.

He then told the camera how his report and test results disappeared from Lexi’s medical records.

“Can we try to find the hard copy in the storage room?” I asked. “If you tell me where it is, I’ll look for it.”

Dr. Mancini shook his head.“Due to medical confidentiality laws, no unauthorized persons can enter the medical records storage room. I’ll request copies and let you know when I get them.”

“Unless they are gone from the paper file, too,” I said.

“I hope not.” He shrugged. “But it’s possible. I’ve never had files go missing before.”

I needed that report. If the DA has a copy, why was he still charging Marlee with murder?

The only way I’d find out was to ask him. I thanked Dr. Mancini before leaving the hospital and headed uptown toward the courthouse.

My cell rang while I was parking two blocks from the DA’s office. It was Amy.

“Hey, what’s up?” I answered.

“Are you coming into the city again today?” Amy asked.

“I’m still in the city,” I replied. “Why?”

“I need to talk to you, and it can’t wait until I see you at school,” Amy informed me. She sounded excited. “Stop by the shelter on your way home, okay?”

“Sure,” I said, checking my watch. “I should be heading home in an hour or two. I’ll see you then.”

“Sounds good,” Amy chirped and disconnected the call.

I grinned as I wondered what was making my bestie so happy.

Leaving Marlee’s file under my seat, I locked my truck and hurried to the four-story office building next to the courthouse. I checked the directory inside the front doors before going upstairs.

The DA’s offices took up all of the second floor. There were three assistant district attorneys and their staff who also had offices there.

There was a hum of activity as everyone tried to finish their work before it was time to go home for the day.

I found the door marked with DA Martin Houser’s name and entered his secretary’s office. Nobody was at the desk, so I went to the other door and peered inside.

“Can I help you?” a man with short steel-gray hair said as he sat behind a colossal walnut desk.

I stepped into the room. “Hello, sir. I need to speak to you briefly.”

He glared at me over the tip of his reading glasses. “You’re Daisy Wilson,” he grumbled.

“I am,” I admitted and stepped In front of his desk.

“What do you want?”

“I’d like to talk to you about Marlee Krebs,” I replied.

“What about her?” Martin Hauser pretended to be studying a form in front of him. But I could tell he was waiting for me to speak.

“I spoke to the doctor who treated Lexi Krebs,” I said. “He told me Lexi died of natural causes and that he sent you a report and test results stating this.”

The DA picked up a pen and began signing papers. “I’m afraid that the doctor you spoke to is mistaken. The coroner’s report states Lexi Krebs died from ethylene glycol poisoning.”

“Dr. Mancini told me the coroner agreed with him that Lexi died of natural causes,” I insisted.

“Dr. Mancini is mistaken,” the DA said through grit teeth. “Now, if you excuse me, I have work to do.”

I was getting nowhere, so I decided to go back to my truck to think and check some things inside Marlee’s file.

“Thank you for your time,” I said and began to walk out the door.

I sensed he was being less than honest and turned to a split second after leaving the room.

As I peeked around the door frame, I saw him take a file from the left side of his desk and hurry to lock it inside the top drawer.

The name on the file was Lexi Krebs.

“How suspicious,” I mumbled.

After going outside, I decided to go across the street to the city morgue and talk to the coroner. Perhaps his memory would be better than DA’s.

The ancient tomb beneath The Association Complex was creepier than the morgue, but I couldn’t wait to get out of the somber place with its disinfectant smell and harsh fluorescent lighting.

The coroner was leaving for the day and wasn’t happy about speaking with me.

“I remember the Lexi Krebs case very well,” he said. “It’s hard to forget an autopsy of a murdered child.”

“Are you sure it was murder?” I asked. “The physician who treated Lexi told me she died of natural causes, a disease called MMA, and that you agreed with him.”

“Michael Mancini is mistaken,” the coroner insisted and began to walk toward the elevator.

I followed him. “I didn’t mention Dr. Mancini‘s name.”

“Dr. Mancini frequently gets confused. It had to be him you spoke with,” he said. “Now, excuse me, Miss Wilson, but I’m late.”

I let him go, walked outside, and returned to my truck. I climbed inside and fished the file from underneath my seat.

Was Dr. Mancini right about Lexi Krebs dying from MMA and not Ethylene glycol poisoning? If so, why did the DA want Marlee Krebs to go to prison?

And what was in the file the DA locked inside his desk drawer when I was leaving his office?

I was studying the file to determine my next move when I spotted the DA getting into a black Lexus sedan parked two spaces in front of me.

That meant his office was empty, and the file I desperately wanted to see was in that office. Watching the DA pull away from the curb, I knew I had to try to get it.

I returned to the office building and marched inside as if I belonged there. A security guard was peeking into offices, but he didn’t see me, so I went upstairs to the now-empty second floor.

The flimsy lock on the DA’s office door was no match for one of my credit cards. I slipped inside and closed the door silently behind me.

Now, how was I going to get into his desk drawer?

I sat in the DA’s office chair and tried to pull it open, but it wouldn’t budge. Could I pick the lock?

“Hold on!” I whispered when I spotted a small set of keys lying next to a man’s wallet on the right-hand corner of the desk.

I grabbed the key ring and tried a small silver key in the desk drawer’s lock.

It opened!

I grabbed the file. Inside was Dr. Mancini’s report and the test results that confirmed his diagnosis that Lexi Krebs died from MMA!

I took out my phone and took photos of the report and test results. I could print them at home, and the DA would never know I was here.

“This totally exonerates Marlee,” I whispered. “But why were they framing the Omega woman for the murder of her baby?

I had to get a copy of the report to the public defender. Allen Cross could secure Marlee’s freedom with the report and Dr. Mancini’s testimony.

I returned the file and locked the desk drawer before replacing the keys next to the wallet.

It was odd that the DA would leave his wallet lying there. Maybe he forgot it.

“Daisy, hide,” Diana said. “He’s coming back.”

I heard the sound of footsteps in the outer office and dove beneath the large walnut desk.

“Be silent and still,” Diana advised. “There’s a reason he is framing Marlee Krebs. He may be desperate enough to hurt you if he finds you in his office.”

The office door opened, and I watched a pair of men’s black dress shoes cross the floor toward the desk I was hiding under.

I curled into a ball and held my breath as the DA began to mutter under his breath. “I’d better get everything I was promised. That Daisy Wilson is nothing but trouble.”

“The boss will get rid of her eventually,” another man said from the doorway. “Hurry up. I don’t have all day.”

“Just let me get into my desk,” the DA said. “I locked the doctor’s report in it.”

“Get that file and get rid of it,” the other man ordered.

I tried to control my ragged breathing when the DA sat in the chair, his feet and legs inches from my quivering body.

“Stay still and silent,” Diana said. “Don’t move a muscle.”