Chapter 12 - The Pharmacist's Debt
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While Pamela was busy packing for our trip to La Jolla, Lincoln and I met with Detective Miller of the Phoenix Police Department Homicide Division in a private conference room at the station.
Detective Miller was a veteran investigator with cold blue eyes and a no-nonsense demeanor. He listened intently as Lincoln played the audio recording recovered from Pamela’s secondary phone and presented the toxicology report from Phoenix Children’s Hospital.
When the audio file finished playing, Miller leaned back in his chair, his jaw clenched tightly.
“This isn't just child abuse and fraud,” Miller said grimly. “This is a conspiracy to commit capital murder.”
“We need the medical examiner to reopen Beatrice Mercer’s autopsy,” I said, my voice tight with grief and rage. “They need to test her preserved tissue samples for synthetic digitalis analogs.”
“I’m already submitting the court order to exhumed tissue archives,” Miller replied. “Targeting synthetic digitalis requires specialized forensic mass spectrometry, but with this audio recording, a judge will sign off in an hour.”
“What about the liquid dextroamphetamine Pamela used on my daughter?” I asked. “Where did she get a controlled prescription liquid without a doctor’s record?”
Lincoln opened his laptop. “I tracked the batch number on the dropper bottle photo Gregory took. It originated from a compounding pharmacy in Mesa owned by a man named Arthur Pendelton. Pendelton’s personal financial records show three large cash transfers from Spencer Vance over the last six months.”
Miller stood up, grabbing his coat. “I’m taking a tactical squad to Mr. Pendelton’s pharmacy right now. If we break the pharmacist, he’ll testify that Spencer and Pamela paid him for the illicit compound.”
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“What do you want me to do?” I asked.
“Proceed with the trip to La Jolla on Friday as planned,” Detective Miller instructed me sternly. “Let them think their scheme is going according to plan. We will have federal agents and state police tracking your every move. When Pamela and Spencer meet with Dr. Aris to sign those fraudulent documents, we hit them all at once.”
