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  “Why did you quit doing it, might I ask?” Michelle queried.

  “I don’t think I rightly know, but we only just quit. This license is from Indiana. It looks like he’s still practicing, he’s renewed the thing here, and it looks like it was paid on time. What else can I tell you?”

  “Does it say where Dr. Bellows trained?” Michelle asked.

  “Sure it does. Says he was in Scotland for his first training and then on to London, England. Was at the Woman’s Waiting Hospital. They got such strange names there in England. Woman’s Waiting Hospital, what kind of name is that?”

  “Yeah, kinda odd. So your license was issued a couple of years ago, and you used the license in Indiana. So I need to talk to Indiana to learn where he was before that?” Michelle asked.

  “Oh no, I have his list for where he trained clear back to medical school in Scotland. I could send you that, I suppose. It’s supposed to be public record. We used to just pass the license on if they had good standing in Indiana. Now we interview them and all that.”

  “So Dr. Bellows received his license even without an interview?”

  “Back then, yeah, if they sent the paperwork from Indiana we did.”

  “OK, please fax me that list, and I’ll be calling Indiana.”

  “Talk to Becky West, she’s a good gal, and she’ll tell you what you need to know. What’s your fax number?”

  “Let me fax it to your number, who do I fax it attention to? It will be on the LAPD letterhead that way.”

  “Attention Bertle. Ain’t that a silly name? That’s my name. Bertle Johanson.”

  “OK, Bertle, I’ll tell Becky you sent me. Thanks.”

  Michelle faxed Bertle her request and called Indiana. She got a very interesting story there.

  “Becky, I’m from the Los Angeles Police Department, and I’d like to ask you some questions on a physician you evidently had licensed there in Indiana.”

  “Hey, Bertle called me and told me you’d be calling, so I pulled his chart. What’d he do?” Becky asked.

  “Well, right now I am not certain he did anything. May I get some information from you?”

  “Sure, what I can tell you, I will. He’s not current here anymore, didn’t pay his license fee last year. So I had to fetch his chart from the basement. That’ll cost you extra,” Becky said.

  “I’ll have to pay for the information?” Michelle asked, becoming somewhat wary.

  “Kidding you. What do you need?”

  “Did your state board of examiners interview Dr. Ballows?”

  “No, we didn’t have to. We brought him in under his interviews in Missouri.”

  Michelle paused for just a second, then continued, “I see. So you brought Dr. Ballows into Indiana on reciprocity?”

  “Yes, he was licensed there in Missouri for ten years, so at the time, we just pulled him into our system and had him do our forms, pay our fees. We shared reciprocity with Illinois, Missouri, and Ohio then. Now we’re all independent. Now we all have to do the work ourselves.”

  “Did Dr. Ballows have any problems while he was there in Indiana?” Michelle asked.

  “No, he closed a clean chart. Only one incident, but I’d need more from you to provide any information. He was not disciplined, and his license was not modified. He was cleared. Was a sexual impropriety accusation, and he cleared it. Complaint by some husband that he did an exam without a chaperone, but I’m not supposed to be telling you these things, am I?” Becky asked in a conspiratorial tone.

  “No, and I never heard it from you. Can I get a picture of Dr. Ballows?”

  “You’ll have to purchase the yearbook, and we may not have one for the year he was here. Seems like we’re all sold out, but I can check.”

  “Do you have the ability to copy and e-mail me the picture of one of your old yearbook pictures?”

  “Oh, I’d have to ask Sandra that. She’s the computer specialist here. She’s always unlocking my machine here because I get it screwed up. She’ll know what to do with it. Can you send me a letter asking for it or something? I can have my boss sign off that it’s OK to send you his photo.”

  “Sure. Becky, I’ll fax it to you now. I’ve got the fax number from your Web site. You’ve been a lot of help.”

  “Sure, hope everything’s OK.”

  “It looks OK, good day.”

  Michelle faxed the letters. She asked for dates of original licensure and duration of active license. The medical boards did not maintain where the physician had worked. That would require more sleuthing.

  Chapter 27

  Pictures Seldom Lie

  “Hey, Marvin, you know anyone that will do composite work for facial reconstruction from two pictures?” Colin asked, standing in the doorway of the Diamond Mine.

  Marvin looked up and smiled, “So, he lives. How have you two been?”

  “Doing well. We’re doing fine. Got two kids, they’re cute as they can be, and I’m only working part time now. That’s what it is supposed to be, but what it turns out is more than half time at a lot less money. We’re almost to the point that I might start job sharing with Michelle, but she’s so much smoother at getting so much from her work. That’s why she sent me to talk with you. I’m supposed to sweet talk you into getting us composite time.”

  Marvin smiled and asked, “How long has it been, Colin? Seems like it has been a few years.”

  “We have been together for six years. Been working out in the line for those years. Like it better than we thought, but sometimes I miss the simplicity of analytics.”

  “You are doing real well, now. Yes, there is someone that can help you. Do you have a couple photos for us?” Marvin asked.

  Colin pulled out a memory stick, “Yup, all on here.”

  Marvin reached for the stick and plugged it into his computer. He expertly brought the programs up and began working on selecting pictures to match. He placed the old pictures of Dr. Bishell into one box, and the new pictures taken from the license bureau books into another. He ran the program and said, “This may be tough. This dude looks a lot older than six years, and he’s too dark.”

  The machine failed to make a guess that the two were connected. Marvin then superimposed one picture onto another. The program rendered the images into different colors, orange and gray. These then were sided and alignments were made of the eyes. When the eyes were aligned it was fairly obvious the remaining structures were not well matched.

  Marvin pulled the stick out of the computer and handed it to Colin. “I’d say no, not your man. Sorry.”

  Colin pocketed the memory stick. “Not mine, Michelle’s. She’s still a bit burned by this case, even though it’s old. Your call sparked the flame again.”

  “Well, this might put it out. Sorry. Say, what are you guys doing next month, 18th, evening?” Marvin asked.

  “Don’t recall any plans. Why?”

  “I’ve got tickets to the Plantation Jazz group, doing Hollywood. Want to go, you’ll have to claim them quick. Tell your lovely wife I’m sorry to have gotten things rolling again.”

  “We’re not married yet. I guess we ought to do that soon. No matter, she’ll keep her old name, kids are under my name and hers, so … no big deal. I’ll call tomorrow. Thanks, Miner, see you,” Colin said as he turned and left.

  Colin pulled his cell phone from his pocket and called Michelle. “Said it’s not the same dude, honey. Sorry.” Colin said into the phone as he left the building.

  “Thanks, I thought it was a tough make. Who did the composites?” Michelle asked.

  “Marvin did it. You got to figure he’s got the originals of all the programs in the department. Can’t believe he knows his way around them so well. Anyway, not the same guy.”

  “That’s OK. See you soon,” Michelle said.

  Yeah, soon. Hey, Marvin’s got tickets to something. I’ll fill you in. Some jazz group doing Hollywood.”

  “OK, we’ll see. Drive carefully, see you soon.”

  Coli
n left for the day.

  Chapter 28

  Pitching The Door

  Michelle walked the halls of the main administrative branch. She had never been down these halls before. The door she was looking for read, “Senior Detective Derek Doreveck.” It also read, “Acting Director, Criminal Investigation Division,” when she eventually found it. She knocked and went in.

  The secretary looked up and smiled, “What can I do for you?”

  “Hi, I am Michelle Lumen, and I’m supposed to meet with The Door.”

  “You must go back a long way with him, then. Most folks don’t risk calling him that anymore. He’s expecting you, but on the phone. Can you wait for a minute?”

  “Yeah, we go back a good ways, and yup, I can wait,” Michelle said.

  The wait went on past ten minutes, but she felt relaxed and enjoyed the opportunity to sit. Colin had the kids, and she was only behind a day or two at work. The inner door opened, and Derek Doreveck looked around the corner at Michelle and said, “Hey, Michelle, you look great. Come on in.”

  Michelle gave Derek a quick hug after they were inside the office, and settled into a chair.

  “So you want to open Clinker back up. This may be difficult from the stuff you e-mailed me on the case. He’s out of our hands if you’re tracking him in Illinois and Indiana. That’s federal now. What do you plan, Michelle?” Derek asked as he leafed through the pages he had printed from the e-mail.

  “Derek, I told you the outline of the data I have now. If this is Bishell, we’re going to have to figure out how he hoodwinked Missouri into thinking he was licensed in Indiana and then got a license in Indiana. I did some extra searches on him and found that he’s listed in several commercial Web sites, but none of them contain the practice address. I’m figuring he may be dormant, but there is the one entry in discipline in a small community in North Dakota. Their medical examiner’s branch has been nothing but trouble to get information out of, and I would like to get the authority to open their books. Then I would like to get the documents from all three states and try to reconstruct the application and practice pattern. We may have to go international and get Manitoba into the investigation because Ballows was licensed there first from data he had from England. And finally, I may need data from England, and maybe go there, too,” Michelle said in one breath.

  “Michelle, this is out of our jurisdiction. California taxpayers cannot support you on a wild goose chase through three states and Canada. I’ll pass your information on to the FBI medical fraud division, and they will follow it up if they have time. Frankly, I suspect they do not have much interest in this. You have a plausible theory here and a gap in data that suggests he did something wrong. That’s all I can do. If the feds contact me and want help, I may be able to arrange a brief tour with them, but that’s wide open. It happens rarely. Case is cold and closed here, Michelle. I can’t authorize any more time or money unless you show footprints in California.”

  “I need a couple of weeks, that’s all. Not now, I’m stacked up pretty good, but in a few months, I can get this down. I have to go through freedom of information stuff to get everything the license agencies have. Then I’ll reconstruct it as best I can and come back. I’ll take my own vacation if I get close enough to think we’re in contact again, but Derek, this smells of him. He’s just arrogant enough to use Clinker in his name. I just can’t track him now and keep up with the fraud work I have on my desk.”

  “Get your data together and get it tight. Then come see me. I’ll give you administrative leave for a week or two if you get the case tight enough to hold my interest. Better than that, you may get to go work with the federals on this one. No hurry, Michelle. It is good that you are tracking it. I might suggest something, too. Can you do a search on all the other states and see if he comes up?” Derek said as he passed the hard copies across the desk.

  Michelle felt a cold chill and said, “Derek, why didn’t I think of that. If I get something, will you let Geech come with me for a week? I’m known to Clinker, Bishell I mean, or at least I was until he tried to kill me. I may need someone unknown to go in for pictures,” Michelle asked as she gathered Derek’s papers.

  Derek smiled, “Geech is busy at the moment. I happen to have taken somewhat of a shine to that young lad, and he’s presently luring middle-aged sexual predators into traps for seeking young prey. His hit ratio is one in ten, and he’s even getting predators. I need him there for the time being, but he could train an alternate, I suppose. I’ll get him busy with a replacement, will be awhile.”

  “Somehow that seems like something Geech would be good at, and I’m not sure that’s a compliment, but I’m glad someone’s doing it. I’ll do the homework. See you in a couple months.”

  Michelle had to work her caseload for a few weeks, and then had time to gather her data in a box. She did a search of the remaining forty-seven states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. She hit pay dirt in Alaska, Puerto Rico, and Idaho. She then began the long process of access to information through each state’s privacy laws, and over the next several months, she had a file full of data, but no time to work it.

  “Colin, what am I going to do? I’ve got a file drawer full of stuff now, and no time to work it. My caseload is getting harder all the time, but it’s tracking check handlers and counterfeiters with hidden ink. Not the stuff my heart goes a-flitter with, but it keeps me so busy,” Michelle said as they drove home through the neighborhoods far enough to miss the bigger traffic clogging intersections on the freeway.

  “Michelle, you may need to drop it for awhile. Derek said there’s no hurry, and you’ve not come up with anything real substantial,” Colin said as he slid out of traffic at a grocery store.

  “I’ll be right back,” Michelle said as she turned and tweaked the noses on two kids in the back. “Mommy will be back,” she said as she jumped from her car.

  Michelle thought about what Colin had said. The data required her to study it and make a flow chart. She knew there would be a week’s work in it. She already felt out of touch with the kids. Colin could rattle off immunization schedules, appointments, and milestones that were only distant recollections to her. The future did not bode well for her being a mother. She walked past the magazine rack and laughed as she noticed titles touting the working mother. She thought that was an oxymoron. Mothers work all the time, and working outside of the job as a mother was tough.

  When she arrived back at the car, the kids were screaming and Colin was working the issue of dietary supplementation, feeding them from stores he’d placed in a cooler. Michelle looked at their minivan and thought she was going to cry.

  “Got it, you want me to drive, looks like you’ve got the food going pretty well.”

  “They’ll be quiet as soon as the car starts up. What’s for dinner?” Colin asked as he started the car.

  “Chinese takeout. I called Chop Stix on the way out of the store. By the time we’re in the neighborhood, it will be ready. Let’s go,” Michelle said as she leaned back.

  “Oh yeah, got a call on your cell phone while you were out. It was Geech, he said he was free, so I asked him to come on over. Been about a year since he’s visited. That OK?” Colin asked.

  “Tonight?” Michelle screeched. “The place is a mess.”

  “So’s Geech. He’ll be fine. We’ll push the kid stuff into the corner. Geech will end up playing with most of it, you watch,” Colin said as they hit an open part of the road.

  “Won’t take that bet. I’d suggest we count the toys when he leaves,” Michelle laughed. “Chinese takeout usually has plenty, so he’ll be welcome.”

  Geech arrived with food as well. It supplemented dinner well, as it was a pizza.

  “Look at those kids,” Geech said as he sat down on the floor and began dismantling the toy workbench.

  Michelle winked at Colin, who smiled and said to Geech, “You keep them busy while we put on the dinner. How long can you stay tonight?”

  “Until
you kick me out. I’m still free and single. No one worries about where I am. Got a girlfriend, though. She’s not a cop, either. She thinks I’m the whole force, too.”

  “Great. When do we meet her?” Michelle asked.

  Colin smiled and Michelle wrinkled her brow at him. “What’s the joke?” she asked.

  Colin smiled again and said, “It just tickled me. My first thought is if she’s got a body, and your first thought is if she has a mind.”

  Michelle nodded, smiling and said, “So what’s new there?”

  “I met her when I was doing some work on computer baiting. Needed a legal wipe on it, and she’s a paralegal. I’ll bring her around sometime.”

  Dinner and wine followed, and then the kids’ routine got them readied for bed. Finally they sat around a table still littered with Chinese and Italian standard carriers and a good California wine.

  “So what do you have, Michelle? Where’s Clinker?” Geech asked.

  “Here’s the scoop. Marvin Whistler set up a trip wire when he did some routine searches. The trip wire got activated, and he gave it to me, and I’ve tripped several more, but The Door’s right, it is all at the federal level, and I can’t really do much. I’ve gathered a pretty good pile of data through the FOI Act, but have no time to go through it. Need a week or better with a computer spreadsheet. Now is just the worst time. There’s so much to do, and I’ve somehow been tracked into counterfeit and bank fraud, far from where we envisioned so many years when we decided to leave the lab. I guess I’m just not sure it’s worth the effort and time to track the guy, and Derek says we should just turn it over to the FBI’s medical fraud group. I checked into that outfit through a friend. Before 9/11 they had hundreds of agents in Medicare fraud, now they have ten,” Michelle said as she swirled her wine glass.

  “Maybe that’s a good thing. I mean, that it’s on federal turf, not that the FBI has only ten agents on medical fraud. You’re blown with him, he almost killed you once, and now he’s deep. You haven’t come up with anything. I’m now a department of three and do very little on the entrapment end of things. We hired a couple of Valley Girls that are real talented at the job, so I’m almost a manager. How about I go through your data for you, one run and one look? If I catch anything, I’ll let you know, and we can go from there. I mean, if you want to look at the stuff later, you can, but at least someone will have looked it over.”