Chapter 2

Mike ignored the voice that seemed to be distant and calling his name. Instead he concentrated on the files in front of him. The other thing that all these girls had in common outside of their profession was that they had all recently, within the last six months, had an abortion. They may have hidden it from their friends, neighbors, family members, but their medical records told all. He had searched Candi’s medical records to find out if she had been pregnant and found out that she had indeed been, past tense pregnant. He also found out, that about a month before her murder she’d had an abortion. So he decided to check them all and there it was in black and white, a cold hard fact. So he needed to find out how this played into the overall puzzle. He really needed to find out what and how these girls were tied to each other. Mike was just about to call his captain to show him what he had found, when the desk phone rang, startling him. Mike answered the phone “Hammond speaking, how can I help you?”

“Hammond I need you in my office immediately!”

“On my way sir,” was all Mike said. He picked up the stack of papers he had lying on the desk. Then headed towards the captain’s office. After working on this case for 3 months he finally had something positive to report.

Andrea arrived at Texas State University Hospital. She was scheduled to meet with Dr. Nathan Danielson, one foremost cardiologists in the United States and also a friend of her mother. Mean while Mike was going to check on a few other leads that they were looking at.

“Andrea it’s nice to see you. Nathan stated as he gave her a kiss on the cheek.

“How is you mother?”

“Mom is fine. Thank you for asking, how is Betty?”

“She is still telling me that I can’t retire yet”. Nathan said laughingly. “No seriously Betty is doing very well, thank you. Now, what I do you for?”

“Well, I am in the middle of very interesting murder case. And I need some answers.”

“I see, what seems to be the trouble?”

“Well simply put, the victims are all young, healthy but are all dying from heart attacks.”

“Hmm, I see and how young are they?” He asked as if he were trying to diagnose a disease.

“So far, between the ages of 22 and 25. Have you got any idea, what can cause a heart attack in such a young healthy 20 some-year-old female?”

“Sure, there are several reasons. For example, hereditary tendencies drug overdose, diabetes, obesity, or the like. But I’m assuming that, that these are not what you’re talking about”

“Correct! That is why I bought along the copies of the autopsy reports for each of the girls. I was hoping you could take a look at them, and see if anything stands out in your mind as the cause of heart attacks. We are really baffled, and we need a break. These are all victims of the Murder by Numbers Killer.” She hated doing that, all it did was sensationalize the killer and trivialize the victims.

“Oh, why didn’t you say so.”? Nathan replied.

“I think, I have been trying to.” she remarked.

“Well leave them here with me, and I’ll see what I can find. But be warned, I may not find anything at all.”

“Thank you.” Andrea answered, passing the entire second copies onto his desk. “Remember next time we meet lunch is on me.” She said Well then you had better bring your gold card. He jokingly said. You’re going to need it. This is a biggie!

Nathan spent about twenty-five minutes of studying the results, he came to a conclusion rather simply, there was one thing that he found, but it was confirmed when he did a medical record search of the victims. They all had used medications that contained a MAOI. And these could produce a heart attack under the right conditions.

“There was more than meets the eye with these girls. Andrea stated as she called Mike. “They all had one other thing in common, one thing that at first glance you might miss, it was that they all used the prescription drugs for Depression that contained Monoamine oxidase Inhibitors.”

“Mona-what?” Mike asked trying to wrap his tongue around the world.

“Monoamine oxidase Inhibitors,” she said again slower so he could hear the whole thing. “Or MAO inhibitors”. She stated using the shortened version that the doctor had.

“They are anti-depressants drugs, they have very strict guidelines and usage. But they have severe, fatal side effects” she was reading out loud from a brochure that she had picked up at the hospital’s pharmacy.

She continued, “MAO Inhibitors react with certain foods and alcoholic beverages, and some medications, to produce a severe reaction. The reaction, which often does not appear for several hours after taking the medication, may include a dangerous rise in blood pressure, as well as headache, nausea, vomiting, rapid heartbeat, possible confusion, psychotic symptoms, seizures, stroke and coma. They also could lead to heart attack. The foods that interact with MAO Inhibitors include aged cheeses; smoked, pickled, fermented and otherwise processed meats, fish and soy products; Chianti and other red wines; Chocolate and ripe figs; and foods containing monosodium glutamate (MSG). These foods all contain large amounts of the amino acid tyramine, which, when it interacts with MAO Inhibitors, dramatically raises blood pressure.”

All this meant to Mike was it would make a heart attack in a young person much easier to explain. The doctor also told her that this type of drug would also interact with Ephedrine, which was a common asthma medication, as well as many other drugs.

Mike decided he would need to talk to the coroner again could he have missed this? Could the victims all been given something that might have had a severe, fatal reaction? How would someone know that these drugs had these side effects, was the murderer a medical professional, or did they also take these types of drugs? He felt as if he hadn’t solved anything, just opened a bigger can of worms. The case had taken a twist and it made his day much harder then he had wanted.