She tsked. “How did you ever catch criminals in Ann Arbor with this kind of unimaginative thinking?”
I suppressed a smile and shrugged.
“He has no reason to tell us anything. For all we know he’s the murderer and he’ll lie to us to get us off the track,” Vi said.
I hadn’t considered this, but didn’t think he was a suspect. “He didn’t look like he was trying to kill Rafe. He worked really hard doing the CPR. Did you see him afterward? He was devastated.”
Violet tapped her fingers on her lips. “Yeah, he did seem to be trying to help. Still you can’t be too careful. Treat every witness like a suspect, isn’t that what they say?”
I shook my head. “No one says that.”
She huffed. “So your plan is to just go in there and ask him if he knows anything and shake his hand when he says he has nothing to offer?”
“What would you like to do?” I turned and looked her in the eye. Sometimes it’s easier to go along for the ride than to fight it out with Vi.
“I say we tell him there’s a suspect in custody—that will relax him if he’s hiding anything. Then we get him to describe everything he saw that night.” She nodded to herself.
“Okay.”
She swiveled her head in my direction. “Really?”
“Yup, we’ll do it your way. But I don’t think either one of us needs to be the bad guy.”
“Okay, but if it seems like things are getting out of hand, don’t be surprised if I start pushing him pretty hard.”
“Got it.”
I parked the Jeep and exited with some trepidation about Vi. At least she didn’t carry a weapon or handcuffs. The urgent care center was in a new building set back from the road. Everything about it was shiny. Inside, the waiting room chairs gleamed in bright colors, TVs flickered from the ceiling in two corners of the waiting room, and a young boy played with a bead-and-wire game that fascinated anyone who came within a few feet. He coughed, making a deep wet sound. Vi grabbed my elbow to pull me as far as we could get from the boy.
“Stay away from the little ones. They have the strongest germs,” she said.
We approached the front desk and a pretty young woman smiled at us over her computer monitor.
“Can I help you?”
“We’re here to see Daron Pagan,” I said. “Is he available?”
She nodded. “He told me to expect you. Let me call back there and see if he’s free.”
She mumbled into the phone and smiled brightly as she hung up. “He’ll be right out.” The monitor stole her attention and Vi and I took seats near the door to the exam rooms.
A few moments later, Daron poked his head through the door and scanned the room. He spotted us and waved.
“Ms. Fortune?” He put his hand out to shake.
I nodded and introduced Vi.
“Sorry, I know we met the other night, but it’s all become something of a blur.” He showed us through the door.
Daron was young. I hadn’t realized that in the darkness of the woods. He must have recently graduated from nursing school. No wonder the failed CPR had hit him so hard. His blond hair was cut short and his warm brown eyes were filled with concern. He gestured toward some plastic molded chairs in the small staff break room. We took a seat at a round table with sticky spots.
“Diana said you wanted to ask about Rafe Godwin?” he began, robbing Vi of the chance to accuse him of anything.
I sat back in my chair to avoid touching the table. “You may have heard the rumors that it wasn’t an accident. Diana and Rafe were close family friends, and she wants to find out whatever she can about his death.”
“She probably saw everything I did.” He spread his hands out in a helpless gesture. “I don’t know what I can do to help. I already told the police everything I know.”
Vi sighed loudly, and jabbed me in the ribs. I shot a glance in her direction.
“Did you see anyone near the food, or talking to Rafe?” I asked. “Was there anything about the allergic reaction that seemed strange to you?”
He lifted a shoulder and reminded me of Seth. “I already mentioned this to the police, but I did think it was strange that there was no click when Diana administered the EpiPen. Those things are spring-loaded to give the dose into the muscle. I saw her pull out the pen and swing it toward his leg, but there was no click.”
“Do you think there was something wrong with it?” I asked.
Vi had found a wet wipe and scrubbed at the table.
“I don’t know.” He watched Vi, and pointed to a trash can when she finished her cleaning. “It’s something I only thought about after the fact. At the time I was more concerned about why the epinephrine didn’t seem to be working and running the resuscitation procedure through my mind. I had never performed CPR out in the field like that. In fact, I had never done a code all on my own before.” He stared into space for a moment and then met my gaze. “I feel terrible about what happened. I wish I had been able to do more.”