Janet McGiffinCHAPTER ONE
Death in the Emergency Room
It was midnight on a hot July Sunday in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Dr. Maxine Cassidy was still at work at Mercy Hospital Emergency Room. Most of the people she took care of in the ER lived nearby in the rough area of Milwaukee. After eight hours on her feet, Maxine was exhausted. Shirley, the emergency room nurse, handed her a cup of coffee.
"Are you sorry you left your research job at Marquette University?" asked Shirley. "You've only worked here six months and already you look beat."
Shirley sat down at the reception desk and watched the ER doors for new patients. Shirley was a big woman who could handle any kind of trouble. Maxine was small and slim with short brown curly hair.
"Coffee break is over, Doctor," said Shirley, nodding toward the woman who was coming through the doors. "Lavelle's here again."
Lavelle was a young woman who lived near Mercy Hospital. She often came into the ER. This evening, she had a deep cut on her arm where she had fallen on the sidewalk. Maxine sewed it up and put on a bandage.
"Come back in a few days, Lavelle, and I'll check it," Maxine said.
Suddenly, Shirley saw that a woman had just entered the ER. She looked very sick and as if she was about to fall. Shirley ran toward the woman. "Quick! Help!" she shouted to Maxine as the woman fell into her arms. Maxine ran to help and together they carried the woman toward the examination table.
The woman was wearing a red wig, a black leather miniskirt, and a thin pink sweater, and was holding a large black shoulder bag.
As Maxine and Shirley helped the woman onto the examination table, her red wig fell off. She had short black hair that was wet with sweat. The woman lifted her head. "Maxine," she whispered. "Where's Maxine?"
Maxine gasped. "It's Nanette Myer - Dr. Hank Myer's wife!"
Dr. Hank Myer was a busy surgeon with many patients. He did surgery in five different hospitals, including Mercy Hospital. He was also on the Board of Marquette University, and sat on the Research Review Committee at Marquette University. His clinic was in the richest part of Milwaukee, near his home. He and his wife, Nanette, lived in an huge white brick house next to Lake Michigan.