“So if we checked your inventory, it would all be accounted for?” Trent asked.
“It should be. It’s locked in a cabinet in a room that also requires a passcode. The drugs are more Isaac’s responsibility—that’s my husband.” Amanda nodded, and Bethany went on. “He never mentioned any inventory discrepancies to me, but…” Her voice trailed off.
Amanda leaned forward. “What is it?”
Bethany met Amanda’s gaze. “Isaac and I don’t really talk much anymore.”
They were married and business partners. “I don’t understand.”
“We’re currently separated and going through a divorce.”
That would explain why Bethany had so much heat to infuse into the topic of divorce. “Sorry to hear that.”
“Whatever. I keep telling myself people go through it every day. It’s no big deal. Except that it is.”
“Again, I’m sorry.” And in this moment, Amanda truly was.
Bethany’s face softened, and for the first time, Amanda caught a glimpse of the young girl she’d known. “Thank you.”
Amanda pinched her eyes shut for a second. “Can you find out if there is any pentobarbital missing?”
“Yeah.” Bethany took Amanda and Trent down the hall. She unlocked a room and went directly to a caged cabinet with a refrigerated unit next to it. “Both have ten-digit access codes—different by two digits. Only Isaac and I know what they are. If you turn around…” She twirled her finger to mime the movement she wanted them to make.
Once their backs were to her, the machine beeped and the door on the metal cage clankedopen.
“Okay,” Bethany said, and Amanda and Trent turned back around. She was holding a ledger. “Every time we take anything out, we record it in here, then it hits the computer.” She pointed to a small table in the corner with a laptop.
“Who enters it?” Trent asked.
“Isaac. The inventory is checked weekly and verified. But we’re a couple weeks behind. I was going to do it later today. Isaac always has some excuse not to get his work done.” She flipped pages and dragged her finger down one of them, tapping on a few lines. “Let me just check what the computer says. One minute.” She walked to the laptop and looked at some numbers. “Now let me check actual inventory of pentobarbital that we have on hand.” She returned to the cabinet and pulled out a black, metal drawer. “This particular drug does best kept at room temperature and out of the light.” She opened the lid and did a quick check. “Huh.” She glanced back at the computer. “Comparing the written log to what the computer shows, it looks like we’re out about fifteen grams.”
Amanda looked at Trent. From their conversation with Rideout, it would take anywhere from two to ten grams to be lethal for a human. Hypothetically, there was enough missing to kill more people. Would the killing stop with Eve Kelley?
“No, this can’t be right,” Bethany muttered, her body quivering.
“Bethany.” Amanda put her hands on the woman’s shoulders. “Please, tell us. Is there any way someone other than you or Isaac accessed the pentobarbital?”
“I don’t see how. I’ll have to speak with Isaac.”
“We’ll wait,” Amanda said, tingles running over her entire body. Had she and Trent found the killer’s source of pentobarbital?
“He’s not in today.” Bethany was shaking her head and raking a hand through her hair. “I’ll call him.” She proceeded to do that on her cell phone, and from the sound of it, she had to leave a message. She lowered her arm, and her eyes were wet when she looked at Amanda. “I’ll need to get back to you.” She swallowed roughly.
“Okay, as soon as you hear from him.” Amanda handed Bethany her business card, and she and Trent left the clinic.
Amanda’s steps were slow heading back to the car.
“Missing pentobarbital,” Trent said, getting behind the wheel while she slipped into the passenger seat. “Tony did his best to shut down conversation about Bethany. Was it because he was afraid we’d make this discovery?”
“There could be another explanation,” she spat and glared at Trent.
“Sure, the nanny, but how do we tie her to the pentobarbital? Bethany said she was never at the clinic.”
“All we know is Bethany never saw the woman here. Doesn’t mean she wasn’t.”
“Suppose so.”
“And what’s to say the inventory discrepancy here has anything to do with the deaths of Gordon or Kelley?”
“Come on, Amanda. Even you must see how this looks.”
She most certainly did. Tony Bishop was looking guilty as hell, but she couldn’t give herself over to that just yet. “Before we storm into Tony’s place, let’s build a case against him, make sure we have everything in order first.” She felt her expression soften, her words logical and reasonable, but also an appeal.
“Fine. I can get behind that. So the nanny… She could have been privy to what was going on, Alicia’s desire to sell, the multiple offers, the bidders’ identities. She could have wanted to ensure job security.”
“Sure, but that wouldn’t explain why she’d kill Eve Kelley or send threats to the other bidders after Alicia’s death.”
“True. We could probably rule her out as a suspect, but she might be able to give more insights into Tony. You said you wanted to build the case against him.”
She hated it when her own words were being used against her. “I do,” she pushed out. “Fine, you know what? We’ll speak to the nanny, but we still need to talk to Tony again.”
Trent scanned her eyes, and if he was good at mind reading, he’d see that she was pissed. Not at him but at Tony for putting her in this position—even if inadvertently. Tony owed her a good explanation as to why he’d withheld mention of the nanny and also why he never brought up the custody struggles over Leo with Seth Rossi.