A Vignette
An Angel of Death
It was more than the night shift that gripped the hospital staff in such a somber mood. Hallway lighting seemed to carve out a few more shadows, or anything might leap from behind a shuttered supply room door. An atmosphere palpable with fear and stress hung heavy in the hallways of Crowly General Hospital.
After the second death, the doctors and nurses had taken special notice, after the third they knew. These deaths had become connected. They had become a crime. Now crime scene tape draped across the door to 301 in the geriatrics ward. But initially 310 and 323 had not been suspected crime scenes so the cleaning staff had already gone over them more than once. The forensics unit had inspected both but to little avail at that point.
The coroner suspected a serial killer, an idea the police resisted, and the press wanted to run with. Was an Angel of Mercy haunting the halls? While the police assessment might show more caution than the coroner’s office, the press wanted to sell papers. And death sells.
Dr. Elizabeth Kenny followed her rounds of sleeping patients and nurse station check-ins. Conversation exchanges were limited mostly to necessary information and muted small talk since the death of Mr…
