FLASHBACK Read Online Free PDF

CommCare.”
    “What’s that?”
    “CommunityCare. It’s a pharmacy that provides medications to patients at nursing homes and rehabilitation centers. It’s a federal regulation that a pharmacist reviews all patients’ charts. And that’s what I do—visit nursing homes once or twice a month to review charts and look for possible medication-related problems. If problems are seen, I’ll make recommendations for changes to the patient’s doctor.”
    “Interesting. And what if the doctor doesn’t agree with your recommendations?”
    “She or he has that right, but they’re obligated to respond to the recommendation in order to comply with federal regulations.”
    “Uh-huh. So how well do you get to know the patients personally?”
    “Well, I mostly get my information about them from their medical records and talking with the nursing home staff. But I’m getting to know some of them.”
    “And when was the last time you visited Broadview?”

    “I guess about three weeks ago.”
    “And you’re saying you didn’t know the perpetrator.”
    Perpetrator. It was hard to think of that elderly woman in the photo as a perpetrator—a term she associated with thuggy males in T-shirts. “I don’t know her.”
    “But she’s one of your patients.” It sounded like an accusation.
    “She’s on my list. Officer, you say this happened in the CVS. Where were the nurse and aides at the time? When patients go on outings, they’re heavily chaperoned.”
    Menard looked up at her. “She was alone.”
    “Alone? How could she be alone?”
    “There were no staffers from the home with her.”
    “But residents never leave the ward without staffers. How did she get there? How did she leave the home?”
    “That’s what we’d like to know.”
    René’s mouth made an O of comprehension. “You mean she eloped, she escaped?”
    “Our guess.”
    “But … that’s impossible.”
    “Well, that’s what happened.” Menard flipped a few pages on the clipboard. “I’m wondering if you could check your records. According to the Broadview nursing staff, Mrs. Devine was not taking any antipsychotic medications. Is that your understanding?”
    René scrolled through Clara Devine’s file. The woman had mild heart problems, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and had been diagnosed with depression and moderate dementia. She had been admitted to Broadview by her sister a year ago at age seventy-two. The sister, Cassandra Gould from Dudley, N.H., was the listed sole survivor. Clara was also designated a ward of the state, which meant that her sister had not been willing to assume power of attorney. “As you know, without a search warrant I’m bound by patient confidentiality not to reveal details, including the medications she was on.”
    “Of course, but that can be taken care of if something comes up.” And he gave her a look that said, Don’t play Polly Protocol, lady.
    They both knew that he could have the records subpoenaed; but that would take time, and he wanted to know if the woman was on any medications that might have made her nutty. She scrolled down the list: Atorvastatin for high cholesterol, hydrochlorothiazide, Atenolol, Captopril, and a baby aspirin daily for her heart disease and high blood pressure; paroxetine for depression;
donepezil for dementia. It was a pretty standard menu of medications for an elderly nursing home patient. And while some of the drugs had the potential to affect mental status, none could account for a volcanic urge to kill. According to her medication profile, Clara Devine had been on these same medications at the same doses for months, also decreasing the likelihood that any had caused her sudden homicidal behavior. “Looks like the standard laundry list for elderly patients.”
    “No smoking gun?”
    “No smoking gun.” Then she moved ahead toward the present. Suddenly René hit a blank. She went back and double-checked. “That’s odd,” she said.
    “What’s odd?”
    Clara