Chapter 86

Their next stop was Travis’s office.

Patricia was already there when they arrived. She hugged all three and while sad, she was also relieved. When they sat down, Travis informed them that he had some news.

“Colonel Rodriguez called me this morning. Due to the high profile of the people involved, the coroner started the autopsies yesterday. Since Frank wasn’t a local, they completed his first. I have the report and the death certificate already.”

“The report states Frank had a small aneurysm near his hypothalamus. It had started bleeding several hours before he died. There was also evidence of scarring from a previous aneurysm.”

“The coroner believed that the stress of sudden changes in gravity while travelling from the space station to Luna had aggravated the aneurysm. He suspects the trip to Mars twenty years before caused the previous bleed. It would have affected his moods.”

“The increasing pressure caused by the bleed led to Frank losing his balance. He would have been in a lot of pain. While he struck the back of his head when he fell, it wasn’t the cause of death.”

“Frank also had acute coronary artery disease. The change in blood pressure caused his heart to stop. The coroner was surprised Frank hadn’t died of a heart attack sooner. He said the man was a walking time bomb.”

“The report also states that Frank had developed insulin-dependent diabetes and had suffered from high blood pressure for many years. Apparently, his doctor on Mars had told him several years ago not to leave the planet.”

“Frank told me the doctor had given him permission to go on the trip with me,” Patricia said.

Travis shook his head, “No, he didn’t. The coroner included Frank’s doctor’s report from three months ago. Frank wouldn’t have been allowed on a commercial flight. How did you get to Armstrong Station?”

“We came in one of Zeke’s runners. Actually, it was a very smooth flight. We could have got here faster but the computer wouldn’t let us travel at high gees. It simply stated that it wasn’t in the best interest of its passengers.”

“Frank was grumpy at the slightly longer flight, but he didn’t seem to be in pain. The micro-jumps didn’t seem to bother him, either. The computer even increased the oxygen content for him.”

“Hum, I’ll pass that on to the coroner. It backs up that it wasn’t until Frank travelled to Luna that he started having trouble. Some of those military pilots that Sol Security hires are very rough.”

“Anyway, I was able to obtain a copy of his will from the Repository since I had the death certificate. Mildred was able to squirt me Frank’s current holdings. He might have hated you, Zeke, but for some reason, he trusted Mildred to look after his finances.”

“I’m sorry to say, Patricia, that your husband was damn near penniless. Other than the pitiful allowance he gave you each month from his wage, he either drank or gambled the rest, or he gave it to Ms Penelope Morgan.”

“He did still have four thousand shares in Mars Minerals. Mildred told him that if he sold them, Zeke would sack him the minute he knew. His taxes were also up-to-date since Mildred made sure of it.”

“Mildred told me that Frank was ropeable when he found out he couldn’t mortgage the house a couple of months ago. He believed Patricia had tricked him into selling the house to the company. She had to remind him that he had agreed with Patricia that it was better if the company owned it.”

“Mildred said she and Oliver Jackson, Frank’s assistant, were getting very worried about Frank. In the last three months, he had forgotten meetings, and every so often, he seemed disoriented. He would explode over the littlest thing. They were waiting for Zeke to get back to talk to him.”

Patricia said sadly, “I didn’t know. Since the boys left, Frank and I have hardly talked. After a couple of fights, he put his minders on me. Unless something came up, he wished to question, he ignored me.”

“He started spending most nights elsewhere. In the last six months he adopted the pattern of only spending Monday nights at home. That was until he found out I was planning to leave, and he cancelled my tickets.”

“He wouldn’t let me leave with Dallas either. He stayed home with me all week, pretending to be a lovable father to Dallas. Then he got a call the day after Dallas had left.”

“The next thing I knew, I was helping him find a way to get to Armstrong station so we could have Christmas with Dallas. Zeke, I think he faked our abduction. I’m now fairly certain it was Vance who sprayed me.”

Zeke replied, “Dusty called me earlier. She found out that Sharon’s personal shuttle did come to Armstrong Station that morning. It was only here for an hour before going back to Luna. However, two men were seen loading a crate onto it before boarding.”