Dr. Death (2001), a novel by Jonathan Kellerman: Summary

The 436-page was published by Ballantine Publishing Group in 2001 and this is original edition. Jonathan Kellerman is American bestselling author and well-known for psychological thriller. This book focuses on hunting of the killer of a dangerous murderer, Dr. Eldon H. Mate aka Dr. death. A psychologist-detective, Alex Delaware, and his old friend, homicide cop Milo Sturgis, crack the killer.

Dr. Death, a novel by Jonathan Kellerman: Summary

There were two hikers with dog that found the corpse in the van; Paul Ulrich and Tanya Stratton. Milo has interrogated them as the important witness. Milo Sturgis asked his friend a psychological consultant Dr. Alex Delaware to investigate the death of Dr. Eldon H. Mate. Dr. Death was found death in a rental van. Coroner said the potassium had kicked in for at least a few minutes, so Mate would’ve been dead from that. The head wound was serious and some others wounds too. It was deliberate cuts, eight of them, deep – abdomen, groin, and thighs. Squares, like the killer was playing around. The killer left the van in full sight look like wanting the body to be discovered. The killer left a note and tacked to Mate’s chest. Computer-typed: Happy Traveling, You sick Bastard.”

A woman named Alice Zoghbie, president of Socrates Club- right-to-die has rented the van and was out of the country, attending some sort of humanist convention in Amsterdam. The fiftyish woman, a former hospital personnel director is now engaged full-time running the Socrates Club, an organization devoted to legalizing assisted suicide. Alice hired Eldon as the keynote for the club convention. They began see each other-socially and Eldon was a psychological guide for Alice. He was planning to help another traveler and needed a van. It was a patient confidentiality and for covering their club tracks. Just in case some one got suspicious and refused to rent to them. She worshiped Mate, would want to punish his murder.

Dr. Eldon Mate was a legit doctor who did not do surgery. He spent most of his professional life as a bureaucrat, bouncing from public health department to public department. He has been doing some independent researches. His widow came to Milo. A brown lady, Guillerma Mate came to LA to knowing her husband and wanted to bury her husband. 

Eldon was sending her the pension he had. She got a job taking care of the elderly at a convalescent home in San Diego. Eldon left her when Donny Mate his son was four months. It was twenty- five years, the last time she saw him. He did not like his son and just sent the check every month and the he started in on that killing business. She only saw him on TV and it was making him got rich. His son Donny was real smart like his father. He had a good grade and he liked science but changed totally and stopped taking care of himself. Like one of those homeless people. His father abandoned and rejected him. Mate was getting famous wouldn’t help things.

Joanne Doss was brilliant, two PHDs. There was nothing physically wrong with her- its slow suicide. Toxicologic analysis of the blood of Joanne Doss indicated the presence of drugs used consistently by the self-styled euthanist – playing classical music on the radio and she had eaten a last meal. Her death was linked to Dr. Mates who encouraged his patients to listen to music. Ms. Doss married to a businessman, Richard Doss, and the mother of two teenagers, Eric and Stacy. Joanne was afraid of dying young. Her parents died young, cancer. She brought Becky Manitow, her neighbor’s daughter, from a D to a B in algebra. When Becky stopped seeing her, she dropped down to D again. Her daughter Stacy Doss was Becky’s friend.

Judy Manitow was good looking and wealthy woman as a court judge. Her daughter dated to Eric Doss. Eric and Alison were breaking up. Her daughter Becky was quit from math tutoring and was in therapy, eating disorder. Eric was dropping out, Joanne quitting as tutor, and Stacy losing focus. Bob enraged, Joanne got suicide and dead. Alex Delaware was asked as a psychological consultant for Stacy Doss. Doss has suffered through a troubled relationship. Mrs. Doss had sinned and Mr. Doss had refused to forgive her. Richard was a blamer.

Special Agent Leimert Fusco has contacted Alex Delaware for psychological insights. An emergency room physician who allegedly laced the drink of a former supervisor with poison is being sought by police. Michael Ferris Burke, 38, suspected of concocting a poison in attempt to murder Selwyn Rabinowitz, a chair of Department Emergency at a hospital in Rochester. The suspected doctor had left the town. Michael Ferris Burke was born Grant Huie Rushton. Burke was only child and his father was a tool-and-die maker and his mother, a house wife. When the boy was two, both of parents were killed in an accident. Grant was shipped of to Syracuse to be raised by his maternal grandmother, Irma Huie, a widow with a history of alcoholism.

He wasn’t a sociable child, his neighborhood remembered him clearly as bright mean- talented and major-league mean –‘malicious’ is the word that keeps cropping up. It was cruelty to animals, bullying other kids. After a girl was found, he graduated and joined the navy. During the time he was stationed, a prostitute named Kristen Strunk was chopped up and dumped a mile from the base. Another unsolved he never considered a suspect until his discharge.

Grant Huston died on a single-car crash- burned-up, charred corpse. The corpse was never examined closely. A body was switched. It wasn’t till years later, when a matched Rusthon’s navy prints to those of Michael Burke. Year passed. He lived in Denver and by the name of Mitchell Lee Sartin, a student at a Rocky Mountain Community College, majoring in Biology. He applied for a job as security guard. The Sartin ID was one of those graveyard switcheroos. Sartin got a job patrolling a pharmaceutical company at night.

He learned life sciences and got a course in human figure drawing. During at the college, two female students went missing. His grandma, a stay-at-home drinker, never went out at night drove her car into a tree on a rural road. Mitchell Sartin surfaced Michael Ferris Burke and enrolled in City University as a shopomore pre-med major. He presented a transcript-later shown to be forged. During the year between his grandma’s death and Mitchell Burke enrolment at CUNY, two clusters of mutilation murder occurred that bear marked the similarities to the particulars of Denver victim. Years passed. Five girls have gone missing during Burke’s two years at Unita Hospital.

Alex called Stanford located Eric’s dorm. Nine months since his mother died, but a week after Mates gets killed. Eric gets depressed now, he didn’t return his dorm for a couple of days and he has missed a big test. Eric was his golden boy. Dosses and the Manitows had been entangled beyond mere neighborliness. Joanne had been tutoring Becky Manitow. Her son Eric Doss has been dumping Allison Manitow. Becky Manitow and Stacy Doss were drifting apart. Judy and Bob Manitow were dealings with Becky’s problems.

Richard Doss was arrested by detective Korn and Demetri. A man named Quentin Goad locked up at County, waiting trial on an armed robbery beef. He has done a lot of work for Richard Doss like hire cons. Doss approached him and offered him five thousand bucks to kill Mate. He was claiming Richard gave him money.

Four killings, Fusco saw as consistent with Burke’s technique because the victims had been left propped against or near trees. The new victims was a girl, twenty-year old waitress named Marissa Bonpaine, found splayed in front of a fir in a remote part of national forest. No footprints near the scene; throat slash, abdominal mutilations, and sexual posturing. She was the last of the Washington victim. The killer was a high-IQ psychopath, lust-killer, and master euthanist.

Special Agent Mary Donovan came to Alex informed that Fusco was not with FBI any longer. He was asked to retire because of personnel issue. Dr. Fusco was a member of Behavioral Science and had PHD in psychology. Agent Fusco had an honorable career with the Bureau. His wife died-breast cancer- and he was left sole parent of his child. A daughter, fourteen years old, named Victoria. He was traumatic that Victoria also been diagnosed with cancer. The chemotherapy had weakened her immune system and she passed away in a hospital. Roger Sharveneau, a respiratory tech, was on duty during her final hospitalization.

There was no record of Burke caring for her. He was probably freelancing at E.R. Burke convinced that Sharveneau or Burke had killed his daughter. Fusco tried to interview Roger Sharveneau in jail without permission of the police. It was obviously a personal issue. After Sharveneau was released he committed suicide. FBI had been looking for Dr. Fusco and finally traced him to L.A.

A notation made by the first Seattle officer on the Marissa Bonpine murder scene- a detective named Robert Elias, called in by the forest rangers who’d actually found the body. The victim, Elias wrote, was discovered by a hiker, walking with his dog. Hiker was a tourist from Michigan Mr. Ferris Grant, the dog had great. Alex heard it before from Paul Ulrich, the witness of victim Mate, described Duchess. Ferris Grant was possibly linked to Michael Ferris Burke, Grant Rushton. Alex tried to picture Ulrich’s face and it matched to Burke’s face. He has played with Milo Sturgis. It had been no coincidence that Ulrich and Tanya Stratton had chosen Mulholland for morning walk. In the investigation room, Stratton said to Milo that everything had been Paul’s idea, including the decision talk to Milo.

Stratton may be in danger. According to Tanya’s sister, Kris Lamper, it was Ulrich who found Mate’s body. Tanya had cancer and the doctor said it was curable. Tanya was in the hospital for her chemo and Ulrich was volunteering there. He ended up spending a lot of time with her. They were dating. Ulrich treated her well enough even Tanya’s dog, Duchess liked him. When Milo and Alex tried to find Paul and Tanya, her sister told they went to the Stratton’s cabin at the Malibu’s mountain. Milo found the cabin and Paul Ulrich showed himself. Milo shot him but his gun was still out. It took a while for the sheriff to arrive from the Malibu substation.

The deputies inspected the cabin and found potassium chloride, sterile-packed hollow needles, and some surgical tools. Tanya claimed she had never seen it. Paul Nelson Ulrich, a licensed physician under the name of Michael Ferris Burke, was shot several times. He was the prime suspect in the murder of “Dr. Death” Eldon Mate. Evidence recovered at the scene and in other location believed to be the murder weapons in the Mate case, indicate acted alone. Burke may have been mentally ill.

Alex visited the cheap motel where Joanne Doss killed herself to find her motives. Maribel, the cleaning girl told that it was two women but one of them just stayed a while. Judy confessed it was her. Mate had nothing to do with Joanne’s death. Joanne had made her decision and needed someone to be there with her at the end. Joanne’s motivation for destroying herself was chorusing guilt- some sin she couldn’t forgive herself for. Her husband never forgave her. Joanne has raped Becky, she was sixteen. Joanne claimed it was Becky did, too, but they both lying. Becky suddenly cried for no good reason, left the house – her grades started to drop. She didn’t talk to her mother Judy.

Bob Manitow hated Joanne because he thought she refused to keep on tutoring Becky. Both Bob Manitow and Richard Doss never knew it. Becky got the therapy and planning to study psychology. The Manitows put their house up for the sale and moved out. Judge Judy Manitow was quitting from her job and Dr. Bob Manitow was trying to find a new job. Becky was moving with them. Stacy Doss called Alex to thank him and said Eric and their father were back to their normal life.

*****

February 1, 2016

Sekapur Sirih

Novel psikologi thriller yang berfokus pada penyelidikan sebuah pembunuhan keji dan sadis pada Dr. Death alias Dr. Eldon H. Mate. Kelihaian detektif-psikolog Dr. Alex Delaware dan sahabat lamanya detektif pembunuhan Milo Sturgis dalam memecahkan pelakunya. Novel ini agak sulit dicerna karena banyak sekali aliran kejadian-kejadian dan sejumlah tokoh yang muncul tapi tidak terkait kuat dengan pembunuhan. Pada beberapa bagian, diperlukan melakukan pembacaan berulang demi memastikan maksud penulis. Namun dari segi bahasa bagus, gaya penulisan yang bagus pada penggambaran atau pelukisan kata benda yang rinci dan indah.

Jonathan Kellerman adalah penulis Amerika yang dikenal dengan karya-karya dengan tokoh psikolognya Dr. Alex Delaware. Penulis berlatar-belakang seorang doktor bidang psikologi anak yang  juga menuliskan beberapa artikel ilmiah tentang keilmuannya. Banyak penuturan aspek dari sudut pandang keilmuannya dan sangat jelas buku fiksi ini merupakan sebuah tulisan intelektual.

Terjemahan versi Bahasa Indonesia: Dr. Death (2016), karya Jonathan Kellerman

Dr. Death yang dikenal sebagai Dr. Eldon H Mate ditemukan mati mengenaskan pada sebuah van sewaan. Dimutilasi dengan kejam dan sadis. Jasadnya ditemukan dua pendaki gunung pada Minggu pagi, namun dia juga seorang pembunuh yang tidak bisa ditangkap semasa hidupnya. Dari stiker rental van tertuju pada nama penyewa bernama Alice Zoghbie, seorang pendiri Klub Socrates, sebuah oraganisasi yang melegalkan bunuh diri dan membantu pasien mereka menuju kematian.

Alice sendiri terkejut mengetahui kematian sahabatnya sekaligus pembicara pada acara seminar-seminar mereka. Beberapa hari sebelum ia berangkat konggres ke Belanda, Mate meminta sebuah van rental untuk mengantar traveler sebutan bagi pasein mereka. Penyewaan dilakukan untuk menyembunyikan identitas mereka itu pun perusahaan rentalnya jauh dari tempat tinggal Alice.

Dr. Eldon Mate adalah seorang dokter legal yang tidak pernah melakukan operasi sekalipun selain penjadi pegawai negeri yang berkarir dalam birokrasi. Dia meninggalkan istri dan anaknya ketika anaknya masih berusia empat bulan. Bukan bercerai, tapi pensiunannya rutin dikirim setiap bulannya walau sangat kurang dan tidak layak disebut sebagai tanggung jawab pada anaknya Donny Mate. Sudah dua puluh lima tahun Guillerma Mate tidak pernah melihat suaminya. Eldon tidak menyukai anaknya sejak lahir.

Dia hanya menyaksikan Eldon di televisi. Menurutnya dia berubah menjadi monster, sungguh memalukan terkenal dan kaya dari uang bisnis kematian orang lain. Donny, putranya mewarisi kecerdasannya dan semula diimpikan mengikuti jejak ayahnya menjadi dokter. Tapi anak itu mendadak berubah dan sama sekali tidak merawat dirinya. Tampilannya seperti gembel di jalanan. Ketenaran ayahnya tidak membuatnya senang. Dia sangat kecewa karena penolakan dan pengabaian ayahnya. Dia memilih menjadi pelukis. Guillerma Mate mendatangi detektif Milo untuk mengetahui siapa pembunuh Eldon dan ingin menguburnya, walau dia sendiri tidak yakin Eldon seorang pemercaya. Menurutnya, daripada dikremasi, dikubur lebih cocok bagi kepribadian Eldon.

Walau Alice seolah memuji Mate tapi dia masuk dalam daftar kecurigaan Alex, demikian juga dengan pengacara Mate. Sebuah berita bunuh diri pun menyusul. Joanne Doss, ibu dari dua anak remaja: Eric dan Stacy, ditemukan bunuh diri di sebuah motel murah. Dia adalah istri pengusaha Richard Doss. Kehidupannya drastis berubah dan tidak peduli dengan dirinya. Cara bunuh dirinya mirip dengan cara-cara organisasi Klub Socrates. Sebelum meninggal dia juga ada berhubungan dengan Dr. Mate.

Putrinya Stacy Doss telah dititip pada tetangganya keluarga Manitow. Dr. Bob Manitow dan istrinya Judy, serorang hakim pengadilan, adalah keluarga berada sama dengan keluarga Doss. Kedua keluarga itu tadinya sangat dekat. Joanne memberi les matematika pada Becky. Stacy dan Becky adalah dua sahabat dan Eric Doss dan Alison Manitow sempat menjalin hubungan. Tapi keadaan berubah; Joanne tidak mengajari Becky lagi. Akibatnya nilai Becky jatuh di sekolah, gadis itu pun depresi, tidak mau makan dan tidak mau bicara pada ibunya Judy Manitow. Becky pun akhirnya menjalani terapi pada psikolog. Kepribadian Eric berubah sejak putus hubungan dengan Alison. Persahabatan Becky dan Stacy retak. Bob Manitow marah pada Joanne karena berhenti memberi les putrinya. Keadaan semakin runyam dengan kematian Joanne. Memutuskan bunuh diri di sebuah motel.

Eric terpukul dan depresi sudah berhari-hari tidak pulang ke asrama kampus dan tidak mengikuti ujian penting. Stacy juga goncang. Suaminya Richard sedih dengan putusan istrinya. Richard pun meminta Dr. Alex Delaware memberi konsultasi psikologi pada putrinya Stacy. Alex pun terlibat dalam kedua keluarga bertetangga itu. Namun mengejutkan  ketika Richard ditangkap dan dibawa ke kantor polisi atas pembunuhan Dr. Death tanpa sepengetahuan detektif Milo Sturgis. Diduga sebagai balas dendam terhadap Dr. Mate yang dianggap memengaruhi istrinya melakukan bunuh diri. Seorang kriminal yang baru saja ditangkap mengaku telah dibayar Richard untuk membunuh Mate. Alex sebenarnya sulit memercayainya, begitu juga dengan Milo. Karena tidak ada bukti kuat, Richard pun dibebaskan.

Kecurigaan pun masih tertuju pada Donny Mate, Alice, pengacara Mate, Haiselden, namun semuanya tidak memiliki motif kuat. Suatu ketika seorang agen khusus FBI bernama Fusco mendatangi Alex dan Milo. Menceritakan sebuah berita pembunuhan berantai yang belum terungkap. Seorang kepala ruang ICU telah diracun oleh rekannya dokter. Beruntung, sang dokter selamat. Sianida dalam mesin kopi. Michael Ferris Burke yang ternyata adalah Grant Huei Rusthon.

Agen khusus FBI Mary Donovan mendatangi Alex dan Milo mengatakan bahwa Dr. Fusco adalah agent yang sudah diberhentikan karena masalah pribadi. Keberadaannya terlacak di LA. Namun Alex tidak pernah mau memberi nomor telepon Fusco walau sudah didesak mereka. Fusco seorang mantan agen yang labil setelah kehilangan istrinya akibat kanker. Traumanya ditambah lagi ketika putri satu-satunya, berusia empat belas tahun, divonis kanker juga. Sebelum meninggal putrinya dirawat di sebuah rumah sakit. Seorang teknisi pernafasan dituduh membunuh putrinya.

Tanpa seijin kepolisian Fusco telah menginterogasi tersangka di tahanan dan beberapa hari setelah keluar dari tahanan, sang teknisi didapati bunuh diri. Fusco  menjadi buron semenjak itu, dia sangat percaya Burke, psikopat yang kerap berganti nama. Walau dia bukan dokter jaga saat itu, mantan agen FBI itu yakin Burke adalah pembunuh putrinya.

Sebuah laporan dari seorang  detektif bernama Elias pun membeberkan pada beberapa pembunuhan yang masih belum terpecahkan. Namun ada kesamaan, setiap korban yang dibunuh di dekat pohon dan penemu korban adalah pendaki yang memiliki anjing. Alex pun teringat pada pasangan Tanya Stratton dan Paul Ulrich saksi utama penemu mayat Dr. Death. Keduanya pendaki dan memiliki anjing. Penuturan Fusco dan laporan Elias memperkuat dugaan Alex apalagi setelah melihat foto diri Paul dan Michael Burke, dan adalah mirip. Milo dan dirinya kembali ke tempat kejadian terbunuhnya Mate. Mereka mendapati bahwa ternyata Tanya tinggal tidak jauh dari situ.

Menurut saudarinya Tanya, sesungguhnya yang menemukan mayat Dr. Death bukan Tanya akan tetapi kekasihnya Ulrich. Saudarinya menggambarkan jikalau Ulrich sangat baik dan sayang pada Tanya. Tanya pengidap kanker dan dokter mengatakan masih bisa disembuhkan. Dia bertemu Ulrich saat kemoterapi di rumah sakit dimana Ulrich bekerja. Keduanya dekat dan akirnya saling jatuh cinta. Akhirnya  mereka tinggal serumah dan Ulrich keluar dari pekerjaannya. Tanya dan Ulrich sedang berlibur ke kabin keluarga Stratton di pegunungan Malibu. Alex dan Milo sengaja menutupi betapa bahayanya Ulrich tapi mereka tidak ingin sang kakak kuatir dan di samping itu ini adalah kasus pembunuhan besar.

Sesuai arahan kakaknya Tanya, kabin pun ditemukan dan Ulrich menampakkan diri. Dengan segera Milo menembak pembunuhan sadis itu. Namun ia sempat lolos dan melarikan diri dan bantuan sheriff  lokal akhirnya dia berhasil dilumpuhkan dengan sejumlah peluru bersarang tubuhnya. Paul Nelson Ulrich adalah Grant Huei Ruston, Michael Ferris Burke, Ferris Grant, dan sejumlah nama samaran lain dihubungkan dengan sederetan pembunuhan keji. Beberapa bukti kuat mengarah padanya dari jenis alat yang ditemukan di tempat kejadian dan cara pembunuhannya, dia diduga juga menjadi pembunuh Dr. Death tanpa motif kuat dan pelaku tunggal. Laporan menyatakan dia adalah psikopat dan euthanis.

Alex mencoba mencari motif bunuh diri Joanne dengan mendatangi motel murah tempat kejadian. Seorang wanita tukang bersih-bersih hotel yang bertugas malam itu mengakui ada dua wanita namun satu dari keduanya hanya sebentar saja dan pergi dengan wajah menangis. Judy Manitow akhirnya mengakui wanita itu adalah dirinya. Tetangga dan sahabatnya itu ingin ditemani pada saat-saat terakhirnya. Judy mengatakan bahwa bunuh diri itu tidak ada hubungannya dengan Dr. Mate. Itu adalah murni keputusannya.

Sebuah keputuasaan menghadapi hidup dan penolakan dari suaminya Richard. Joanne telah menyentuh Becky dan bagi Judy keduanya sulit dipercaya. Joanne mengaku jikalau Becky yang mulai duluan. Namun bagi Judy sahabatnya itu telah memerkosa putrinya yang masih di bawah umur, enam belas tahun. Gadis baik, semenjak les matematika berubah penyendiri, menangis tanpa alasan, susah makan hingga kurus, nilai di kelas jatuh, dan tidak mau bicara dengannya. Joanne merasa bersalah dan malu pada anak-anaknya, dia pun memilih mengakhiri hidupnya. Di satu sisi dia sedih kehilangan Joanne, namun sisi lain putrinya juga berharga. Masa depan gadis yang kemungkinan rentan. Becky pun dikirim pada seorang psikolog dan keadaan gadis membaik dan malah ia bercita-cita ingin menjadi seorang psikolog.

Kejadian ini tidak pernah diketahui oleh suaminya ataupun suami Joanne apalagi anak-anak mereka. Judy ingin menyembuhkan trauma putrinya. Stacy menghubungi  Dr. Alex mengucapkan terima kasih dan menceritakan bahwa saudaranya Eric dan ayahnya baik-baik saja dan telah kembali normal. Dia bercerita bahwa keluarga Manitow menjual rumahnya dan pindah. Mereka menyewa sebuah rumah. Judy keluar dari pekerjaannya dan suaminya mencari pekerjaan baru lagi.

*****

1 Februari 2016