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Morgan nodded glumly
“How old was the guy?”
“Sixty”
“Any history of heart disease?”
“You’d have ood police interrogator Vetter had a paceo”
“I thought the whole idea of the pacemaker was to prevent a heart attack”
“Me, too,” he said, “so I called and asked Dr Garcia that same question Garcia told me that if your heart stops, the pace up, a pace a new battery for your car-if the fuel line clogs, the battery’s no help”
“Did Dr Vetter have partners?”
Morgan shook his head “Solo practice,” he said “A hygienist and a receptionist, that was it”
“Couldn’t one of those get the records for you?”
“Not there to get,” he said “They couldn’t find the file”
“Hel-lo,” said Miranda, looking up from her sandbox, “how convenient is that? The dentist codes just before you co, and the crucial records vanish into the ether?”
I didn’t like the sound of that much myself “Did Garcia do an autopsy?”
“No,” said Morgan “Theobjected She said he wouldn’t eat right and he wouldn’t exercise She tried telling him he was headed for a heart attack, but he wouldn’t listen Sounds like she thinks he got what he had co to him”
“Sounds likeprocess,” I said
“Sounds like irlfriend,” said Miranda “Isn’t that what tends to send you old codgers over the edge, ? That would explain the heart attack and the ’s anger”
“Hey, he wasn’t old,” I squawked “Sixty is the new fifty-nine”
“He didn’t die in the heat of passion,” said Morgan “Not unless the hygienist was under the desk while he was dictating records The receptionist found him slumped over his desk, microphone in his hand”
“But he wasn’t slumped over Garland Hamilton’s chart?”
Morgan shook his head again
“And Hamilton’s dental records are nowhere to be found?”
“Nowhere”
“Da to make it hard to match these teeth Can you check for otherfor? Any cranial X-rays that ht show us some teeth?”
“I already left afor a list of his doctors I’ll try her again later this afternoon Sorry for the delay”
I sighed “Well, it’s not like we’re sitting here twiddling our thuot about a thousand ether”