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Their conversation was interrupted by the jangling sound of Cameron’s landline. Unlike so many who only had cell phones these days, she still preferred using it when she was at home.
“Excuse me. I’ll just be a minute.” She walked toward the kitchen where she kept the base station and one receiver. As promised, she returned quickly, holding the receiver to her ear. “Hold on a sec.”
She lowered the receiver to her side and said to the group, “This is Kim. I was surprised to see her calling so late. It must be ten-thirty her time. She said our conversation today triggered something in the back of her mind—something she remembered hearing but couldn’t totally recall, so she just ran it past her husband. I’m going to put her on speaker now.”
She punched the speaker button and turned up the volume, then placed the phone in the middle of the coffee table. Chairs were pulled closer to the table to be able to hear Kim better and for her to hear them.
“Hi, everyone. Kim Hartman here. For those of you who don’t know me, I’m the third member of the FraudBusters. Cami and I had quite a conversation this morning and the topic of the opioid crisis in the country came up. She previously told me that your HOA Vice President, Doctor Al Shady, was murdered and this morning added that it was discovered he was not only beaten and shot but injected with OxyContin. She also told me he offered to prescribe Oxy for you, Colonel Thompson. When she said that was without an exam and that he even offered to sell you some from the supply he kept at home, I realized his name sounded familiar, but I couldn’t put my finger on why I recognized it. I decided to run it past my husband Nathan. His answer cinched it. I have information for all of you.”
The members of the group all looked around at each other, anticipating what the wife of the Attorney General of the United States might have to tell them.
Garrett broke the silence. “Hi Kim. Welcome to our investigation. Danny Garrett, former FBI. The cops have been dragging their feet, so I guess Cami filled you in on just about everything we know so far. I’m anxious to hear what you have to say.”
Silence hung in the air. Clarence seemed to sense something was going on. He got up from his spot by the fireplace and ambled over to the coffee table, proceeded to sniff the telephone, discovered it wasn’t edible, and returned to his spot.
Kim cleared her throat. “What I’m about to tell you is highly confidential. If it hadn’t sounded like you are treading on some dangerous ground that could interfere with an investigation, Nathan would not have authorized me to tell you this. You must all acknowledge that it will go no further. Do I have your agreement?”
Garrett had already clicked into his past FBI persona, Cameron and Kate had been in situations like this before, and the Colonel’s military discipline came into play. They knew the importance of tight lips and agreed instantly. Then, all of them focused on Matt, waiting to hear what he had to say. His eyes sparkled with excitement, and it was easy to see that he was enjoying real life intrigue.
“Um, yeah, of course. This is Matt Darwin, Kim. Did Cameron tell you about me?”
“She sure did. By the way, I’m a fan, but this isn’t make believe, Matt. Can I count on you?”
“Absolutely. This whole thing has really been an eye-opener for me. Until now, every mystery or murder I’ve been involved in has been a scripted one played on the big or little screen. Just tell me what I have to do.”
“Easy. You have to keep your mouth shut about anything I tell you and be careful.”
“You’ve got it.”
“Okay, then. Let me give you a little background first. The flags originally went up in 2015 when an elderly, seemingly respectable Upper East Side New York doctor was busted by federal authorities for dealing in opioids. Since then, several more have been identified across the country. They were doing the same thing that doctor was accused of—acting like a Dr. Feelgood for his painkiller-craving patients, prescribing massive amounts of opioids. Colonel Thompson, that’s why the scenario Cami described about your encounter with Shady, stuck with me. The possible similarity.”
Margaret grabbed Garrett’s arm and gave it a squeeze. He gave her a return look that said to hold off saying anything until Kim finished what she was saying. Looking a bit disappointed, she fidgeted in her chair, but kept quiet. Cameron asked if this was going to take a long time, to which Kim replied that it probably would. She asked her friend to hold up for a minute while she put out some refreshments. Normally they would have been ordering dinner at this time.
Kim understood. They all made small talk while Cameron brought out a platter of cut-up fruit and crackers plus a pitcher of iced tea and glasses. Then she sat back on the sofa. “Okay, continue. Sorry about that but I know the Colonel has to eat at certain times and the rest of this pack all looked hungry.”
“No problem. According to accounts, authorities said this elderly retired doctor, Fred Greenway, prescribed a mixture of over two million Oxycodone and OxyContin pills to patients without a legitimate medical purpose—even including those he knew were addicted to the powerful drugs.”
Matt let out a low whistle. “Over two million? That’s almost unbelievable!”
“Yes. You heard right, and that’s only a small part of what’s happening. This one little old guy, Greenway, doled out these millions of pills by writing fourteen thousand illegal prescriptions in exchange for cash between 2012 and 2017. So don’t let the fact that someone is old fool you. Many doctors keep up their license after they retire from practice, and therefore can write prescriptions.”
Kate listened to her friend, then said, “So you think Shady might have been doing something like that? With all the frauds around these days, it would make sense.”
“Hold on, Kate. There’s more to tell. Then we can get into specifics. It’s almost eleven here but I’ll keep going as long as necessary. However, it would help to get through these preliminaries if all of you can hold questions and comments. It might even roll over to another call tomorrow night.”
The Colonel said, “Sorry, I need a bathroom break. That’s what making it almost to ninety is like young lady. I’ll make it as quick as I can.” He got up and headed for the powder room followed by the ever-loyal Clarence, who stationed himself outside the closed bathroom door.
The group carried on casual conversation while waiting for the Colonel to return. He limped back and settled into his chair, extending his bad leg and rubbing it.
Kim said, “Are we good to continue?”
Garrett replied, “Go for it.”
“Okay, so using Greenway as an example of what’s going on around the country, this eighty-one-year-old was allegedly aware that some of his patients were hooked on either of the Oxy’s or were using other drugs like heroin or cocaine. It didn’t matter. He continued writing the prescriptions anyway, authorities said.
“In one case, on a patient’s first visit, he prescribed fifteen Oxycodone pills a day. Looking at the thirty-day supply, that’s four hundred fifty pills a month without the slightest verification that the patient even had an injury or chronic pain.”
“Amazing,” Matt mumbled.
“Now try this on for size. He was hauled into Brooklyn federal court on the charges and they made him sign a waiver barring him from prescribing opioids like Oxycodone and OxyContin. He still can write scripts for antibiotics, which means they let him keep his license.”
“My God,” the Colonel said. “Why would they do that? He was breaking the law and should have lost his license, I would think.”
“That would seem logical, but Greenway told the judge he’s a hundred and fifty thousand in debt. Claimed he has to pay for a private nurse that cares for his sick wife. The judge fell for it and he was released on a Two Hundred Thousand Dollar bond secured by, get this, one of his patients.
“In a statement, the DEA Special Agent-in-Charge of the New York division was not happy with that judge’s decision. He said, ‘Doctor Greenway is nothing more than a drug dealer in a white coat. He acted like a multi-million-dollar heroin ring. The price tag on the opioids he distributed was more than Twenty Million Dollars.’”
Kim paused to let that sink in