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Marc was on the verge of bringing the conversation to a close when Jacob Casper’s door opened, and he walked stiffly out to greet them He didn’t look too happy

“Ms Hedgleigh, Mr Devereaux, please come in”

“It was so nice to meet you” Janet smiled, stepped aside and crossed over to talk to the receptionist

As they started following Casper, Claire murmured to Marc, “Overapplied makeup Hair down Check out her left cheek Someone hit her”

“I know,” Marc replied “I saw”

“File it away for later so we can talk”

“Done”

Casper led them into his office, which was a lot less antiseptic than the rest of the hospital and a whole lot nicer than either Marc or Claire had expected

Across from the door, there was a walnut desk, kitty-cornered by a fully equipped computer table Across the top of the office periphery was a se walnut overhead cabinets Casper’s desk was neat as a pin with only a telephone, a family photo, some office supplies and a neatly stacked bunch of files on it The walls were clean and sparse, as well, with a few scattered paintings and a hospital calendar hanging on them

Across froestured toward

“Please sit” He settled himself behind his desk, hands folded in front of him

Defensive, Marc thought Placing a definitive barrier between theid, like a watchful German shepherd who’d heard an intruder come in

“Can I have ? Coffee? Tea? Water?” Jacob asked

“Thank you, no,” Claire replied “We’re fine And we don’t want to take up too much of your time”

“Then why don’t you tell me what this is about? Why do you want to talk about Conrad Westfield? What is there about hiiverude, but how do you even know him?”