Free Sisters by Patricia MacDonald Page B

for murder.’
    ‘So you’re not here as a patient,’ he said.
    ‘No,’ she admitted. ‘I just wanted a chance to talk to you. I was afraid you might avoid me if I called looking for information.’
    ‘You know you could have handled this better. You didn’t need to take up valuable time in my practice.’
    ‘I gave your receptionist my co-pay,’ Alex said with a slight smile.
    He did not seem to be amused. ‘What do you want from me?’ he asked coldly.
    ‘I guess I want you to . . . fill in some blanks for me. If you would.’
    He did not agree, but he did not tell her to get out. Alex pressed on. ‘You and Dory were dating at the time of Lauren’s murder?’
    He leaned back against the examining table. ‘Yes. That’s right,’ he said.
    ‘How did you meet?’
    ‘I was one of her clients. She took care of Iago for me during the day.’ He looked at the photos on the wall and his eyes softened. ‘My dog is very highly strung. He needs to get out during the day. I answered Dory’s ad in the free paper. She had great references. It turned out that she was . . . excellent with dogs. And she was a great-looking woman. I got to know her over time. One thing led to another.’
    ‘So you and Dory were involved?’ Alex asked.
    ‘Well, why not?’ he asked defensively. ‘We were both single people. We both liked animals.’
    ‘I’m not criticizing,’ said Alex wearily. ‘I’m just trying to understand. Her parents don’t seem to have a shadow of a doubt that she is guilty. They are completely convinced that she killed her sister. And that you were the cause.’
    ‘That is just not true,’ he scoffed. ‘I spoke to her sister a few times, just because she was there when I came by to pick up Dory. And she had had surgery on her foot at Boston General. I knew her surgeon. He’s a colleague of mine. Anyway, she asked me a few questions. I answered her. It was nothing at all. It was common courtesy. It wasn’t even a flirtation.’
    ‘But Dory believed that it was,’ said Alex.
    The doctor shook his head. ‘Nothing I could say would convince her otherwise. She and her sister – it was a bad relationship. In fact, once the sister came home for her surgery, my relationship with Dory started to go downhill.’
    ‘Why?’ asked Alex.
    Rick Howland shrugged. ‘That was all she could talk about. Lauren this and Lauren that. She was obsessed with that sister. I told the cops this. She could hardly think about anything else. We went from being two people having a pretty good time together to an endless monologue from Dory about all the ways that she detested and distrusted Lauren. It was terrible.’
    Alex frowned at him. ‘And you’re sure you didn’t contribute to this?’
    He leaned forward and looked Alex in the eye. ‘There was nothing going on between me and Dory’s sister, Lauren. It was all in Dory’s mind.’
    Alex hesitated. ‘Do you ever see Dory anymore?’
    ‘No,’ he said firmly. ‘Never. She’s crazy. I don’t want to see her.’
    ‘So you think she did it. You think she killed Lauren.’
    Rick Howland shrugged. ‘She said she did.’
    ‘Were you surprised by that?’
    Rick considered the question. ‘Yes,’ he said at last. ‘Actually, I was. She wasn’t really warm and fuzzy, but she loved those animals so much. I couldn’t imagine her ever hurting an animal. I guess I assumed that she would never hurt another person. But when it came to her sister all bets were off.’
    ‘So you didn’t want to see her anymore?’
    ‘In prison?’ he asked. ‘I’m not a masochist.’
    ‘But if you cared for her . . .’
    ‘Not that much. There are other fish in the sea,’ he said brusquely.
    ‘The Justice Initiative is trying to get her a new trial,’ said Alex.
    ‘Good luck,’ said the doctor.
    ‘So even if she were exonerated, you still wouldn’t want anything to do with her?’
    The doctor looked at her, his eyes wide. ‘No,’ he said. ‘In fact, I’m seeing