The Cover Up Novel Part Twenty-One

New Chapter:

Dick Meyers had just got out of his beige Chrysler 300. He made sure to park it at least a block away from The House of Hope. Dick wanted to make sure that there wouldn't be any damage to his car after he had finished his meeting with Lisa Harrison. When he was last here he indignantly watched a sniffer urinating on the tires of his car.

Dick Meyers was the North End Coordinator of Housing Services for Mental Health Consumers. As part of his duties he had weekly in person meetings with Lisa Harrison. Dick worked hard for his money and was very proud of his car. He could not bare to see any damage to his prized vehicle. His Chrysler 300 was a big car for a big man. At least, Dick Meyers thought of himself as being a big man, and not only in the physical meaning of the word.

Dick was six foot two and weighed close to three hundred pounds, but at this point in his life, Dick liked to think of himself as a big man in terms of having a very important job. After all, he was the guy that made sure that all the mental health facilities in his territory ran well and more importantly stuck to their individual budgets. Dick Meyers prided himself on managing efficient, low cost rehabilitation facilities.

Dick also wanted nothing but good PR for any group home that was under his jurisdiction. When Lisa Harrison had called to tell Dick about Bret Daniel's death, he knew it was time to go into damage control mode. He wanted this incident forgotten as quickly as possible.

When Dick arrived at Lisa's office she already had his coffee prepared for him. He didn't waste any time on small talk. Dick Meyers believed in getting straight to the point.

“Okay, Lisa I need to get all the facts straight about the Bret Daniel's incident,” said Meyers reaching for his coffee. “I''ll need to ask you a few questions so that I can get some clarification on things.”

“Okay, Dick I'll tell you everything that I know about Bret's death. What's your first question?”

“Do we know for sure what Bret died from?”

“Yes and no. The medical examiner reported that Bret had a cardiac arrest but wasn't certain what caused it?” answered Lisa.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, for one thing there was a significant amount of methamphetamine found in Bret's body as well as traces of marijuana and cocaine.”

“So the kid died of a heart attack caused by an overdose of drugs.”

“That's a possibility but there were other factors involved. Bret didn't have a history of heart trouble and he was in good physical condition,” said Lisa.

“What else?” asked Myers.

“Bret may have been pushed down the stairs and he may have been beaten,” answered Lisa. “The ME found welts on Bret's back and numerous contusions.”

“So he could have been in a fight and got beaten up?”

“That's very possible.”

“Were there any witnesses? Anyone who saw Bret before he landed in the stairwell ?”

“The police have an on going investigation. I'm sure that they are still trying to find out if there were any witnesses,” said Lisa.

“Have Bret's parents been informed?”

Yes, Mr. Daniels has already met with Rick Jennings. Rick told me that Mr. Daniels wants a meeting with The House of Hope administration as soon as possible. We will probably need to meet with him tomorrow.”

“What does Mr. Daniels do for a living?”

“He's a lecturer at The University of Winnipeg. He wants to know why we only had one staff on duty the night of Bret's death,” added Lisa.

“This could turn out to be a very unpleasant meeting,” said Dick Meyers.

“That is only one of our problems. Do you remember Bill James?”

“The editor of that communist rag?”

“The one and only. He called me on the phone yesterday.”