A jolt of energy surged through Jason’s body. “How do you know that?”
“Because I was the circulator for the procedure. I could hear them talking back and forth. They were whispering, but I heard one part for sure.”
“What was that?”
“When she told him that he had to make a choice between her or Ms. Waters.”
“And what did he say?”
“He said, ‘You know I can’t do anything now.’”
“Did he appear distracted during the operation?”
“Yes. But he performed a good surgery.” She looked down at the ground. “I think he was distracted afterward.”
Jason thought back to what Knox Rogers had told him. About the failure to order antibiotics for the infection. “Did you take care of Trey in the hospital?”
“Only in the OR. Once he was out, we were on to the next patient.”
“Thank you, Bev. Is there anything else?”
She took a step closer to him and spoke in a low tone, looking behind her before she did. “There was a board of nursing investigation against Maples. She was suspended for three months and put on probation for a year. Don’t get me wrong. I’ve never liked her, and I loved Dr. Waters. But I . . . and a lot of us . . . thought that was unfair. Dr. Waters got off scot-free and Maples got hammered for her role. And I have to say this, Maples has been better since she returned. Still a bitch, but not near as bad as before. I think the investigation against her mellowed her out. I’ve heard her in staff meetings express deep regret for how she behaved during Cowan’s surgery.”
Jason also looked down at the ground. That was interesting, and the nursing investigation and discipline along with her being a jilted lover would give Maples ample motive to want to hurt Dr. Waters. But he knew a lot of this already, and there was still no connection to Waylon Pike.
“I almost hate to ask you anything else,” he said.
“But you want to know if I might know one more thing, right?”
“Do you?”
“Well . . . I’m not sure I should say.”
“Please, Bev, anything you think might be important could be very significant to my sister’s defense.”
“All right, about two years ago, I was working at the office on a Friday and I caught Dr. Waters in his office with another woman. Not Maples and not his wife.”
“Were they . . . doing the nasty?” Jason asked.
“Not at that moment, but he was groping her pretty good, and her shirt was off.”
“Can you identify this woman?”
She snapped her fingers. “That’s just it. I remember that I recognized her, but I can’t think of the name right now. I’m old and don’t remember things like I used to.”
So Braxton was messing around with more than one woman, Jason thought. He held out a business card, which she clasped in her hand. “If you remember, will you call me?” Jason asked.
“Sure thing. I’ve enjoyed talking to you, Mr. Rich. You aren’t near the asshole I thought you’d be.”
Jason snickered. “Well, thanks. I guess.”
She started to walk away, her gait wobbly and leaning a bit to the right as if there might be something wrong with her left hip or knee. After a few steps, she glanced back at him. “Can I tell you one more thing that I just remembered?”
“Sure.”
“I worked on July 5. Maples was on the schedule, but she didn’t show. That wasn’t like her. She never missed a procedure. I thought that was strange before I heard about Dr. Waters’s death. Now it seems more strange.”
Jason tried not to look too excited, but adrenaline was flooding his system. “Yes,” he agreed. “Strange.”
49
He was on the phone with Harry the second he got back on Highway 69. “It’s a lead,” he said.
“Jason, I agree that it’s more than we had before you talked to this nurse, but there’s still no connection to Pike.”
“We’re missing something,” Jason said.
Silence and then, finally, acknowledgment. “OK, yes.”
“You know what I’m going to want.”
“Twenty-four seven surveillance of Maples?”
“Damn right. I think she’s hiding something, Harry. And I have a feeling it’s something big.”
“On it, J. R.”
As he passed Fire by the Lake, Jason saw the strip mall where Jana said she’d met one of Tyson Cade’s men. He turned on his right-turn blinker and pulled into the lot. There was a Laundromat, a Little Caesars, and a boutique clothing store in the small strip mall. He parked and got out of the car, snapping photographs on his iPhone from every angle. The mall was about a hundred yards from a stoplight, and Jason wondered whether there was any video surveillance from the light.