“You have to keep my name out of this,” Galvis says.

That is the same request that Connor Shawn made when he told me about his scrapbook. It was the last time I saw him with his head on his shoulders. Hopefully this will work out better for Galvis.

“I’ll do what I can,” I say. We’ve left the diner and pulled into an enormous parking lot in a mall called Paramus Park. We can sit in the car here and talk without anyone noticing us.

He shakes his head. “No, that’s not good enough. You have to promise me you won’t tell anyone about this conversation. Otherwise take me back to my car.”

“OK. Just between us.” Technically my promise has no meaning, since a recording of this meeting is being done, and therefore other people will learn about it without me having to tell them. Jessie and Nate are no doubt listening to us right now. But I’ll try to stick to the spirit of the agreement in any event.

I can see him relax with relief, and he takes a folder out of the briefcase. “First of all, these are the people that Rita worked with. Some of them are still with the hospital, some not. I included whatever contact information we have for the people that left.”

“What about people she dealt with at other places? Lewinsky said she was involved with dealing with outside companies, including drug manufacturers.”

He nods. “Whatever I know about is in there.”

“Great.”

He takes a deep breath and launches into his story. “There is something else, something that until now I’ve kept to myself. I know that was wrong, but what’s done is done.”

I don’t say anything; I think it’s best in these situations to interrupt as little as possible. When someone wants to talk, let them talk. I may have learned that at the police academy, or since, but I just don’t remember.

“There have been some … let’s call them irregularities … in the way the hospital buys drugs.”

He pauses, waiting for me to jump in, so I just ask what he means by “irregularities.”

“Over time the amount we’ve been buying has increased, but the usage hasn’t. And it’s not being reflected in our inventory. I’ve seen the orders, and the payment authorizations, but when I look in the system, the numbers are different. It’s happened too many times for it to be a mistake.”

“What kind of drugs?” I ask.

“Mostly opioids. The kind that would have a serious street value.”

“Who is in charge of this?”

“You made a promise, right? My name stays out.”

“Right.”

“It has to be Lewinsky … my boss. He’s the only one in a position to cover this up. I don’t know who he is working with inside the hospital. He’d need help, but nobody else could do it without him.”

“How much money is involved?”

“I don’t know; it depends when it started, and I don’t know the answer to that. But it’s got to be at least seven figures, and that’s not taking into account the street value of the drugs. That would be through the roof; I can’t even imagine how much. You’d probably know better than me.”

“Is this ongoing?”

“I think so, but I can’t be sure,” he says. “But they don’t know that anyone is on to them, so I can’t see why they’d stop.”

“Why are you coming forward now? And why to me?” I ask.

“Because of Rita, and the fact that you seem to have reopened her case. I know I should have thought of it earlier, but I never connected the possibility of Rita’s disappearing to the situation at the hospital. It just seemed like her boyfriend was guilty, and that was that.”

The words are coming easier to him as he’s getting more into the revelations. “Was she in a position to have been working with Lewinsky to get these drugs illegally?”

“I guess so, but I knew Rita, and I don’t believe it. She was a good, honest person. I was thinking maybe she discovered what was going on, and they silenced her. They could have killed her to prevent her from talking. Maybe that’s crazy … I hope it is … but…”

“Who’s ‘they,’ Mitchell?”

“What?”

“You said ‘they’ could have killed her. Who are ‘they’?”

He looks around, as if trying to confirm that we’re alone, even though we obviously are. “My name goes nowhere. Promise me again.”

“We’ve been through this twice, Mitchell.”

“I don’t care. I’ll deny everything, and I’ll never testify. You need to make the promise again.”

“I won’t reveal your name. Now who are the people that could have killed Rita Carlisle?”

He takes a deep breath. “I overheard a phone conversation that Lewinsky was having; he didn’t know I could hear it. He sounded like he was afraid of something, like he was doing damage control. I heard him say, ‘It will be fine; I can handle it. Please tell him that.’”

“Do you know who he was referring to?”

Galvis nods, pauses for a moment, and then says, “Lewinsky said, ‘Tell Mr. Silva not to worry.’”