Darn key didn't fit. Aliss was bound and determined to find what was behind that little door. So far, no luck. She was tempted to force it open, but what good would that really do? Her husband would only figure out she had been poking around and then explanations would need to be had. Until she knew all there was to know, she would wait before asking him anything.

She had made several trips out, all with sweating palms and nervous hands, making copies of all of the files in the drawer. Now that she had them all, she was going to take the time to examine them. She had no medical background other than the first aid she took to get her babysitting license when she was 12, but that probably wouldn't help here.

Mark, away again on one of his somewhat unexplainable trips. This one, he says, to be a medical consult for a special case in Seattle. His trips seemed to be getting more frequent and further away.

Aliss found herself in a bit of a conundrum. She loved her husband and truly believed he was trustworthy, but she was faced with curious facts about his life outside of the home. Why all this secrecy from her? Why are there locked rooms inside her own home? What is with this little office and all its special hand written files? Where was he really going on his trips away? Sometimes with Manuel and sometimes not.

Today, Mac was on a field trip with his school. A full day and now she had it to herself. Time to sleuth a little more. It just occurred to her that she could call a locksmith to open that door. But then again, the lock would be changed and Mark would see that too. Maybe a little google research would help.

So, this day she took all of the copied files and her laptop and spread it out on the kitchen table. First, she sorted by the dates of the first clinic visits as shown in the files, to check to see if it matched any dates in Mark's day planner. Then she sorted them by patient and by gender. Here she confirmed what she thought she knew - all female. Except one. A young boy. She took a little extra time with this file and read what she could.

'June 16th, pt came in for information on transgenderism. Pt starting with complaints of headaches. Px for Naproxen. Offered pt standard literature and recommendation to Kael Fry 'psychologist for initial psychological treatment.'

There were over 30 files to go through and from what she could read, they were general malaise or common illnesses, like the flu, headaches, aches and pains. There were a few more serious notes of testing for cancer and other illnesses. And some fertility and also some pregnancy tests. The general cases appeared to be about female issues or related to the same. Fertility, menopause, birth control and the likes. Even the cancer tests were for cervical, uterine and ovarian. This didn't make sense to Aliss, her husband was an emergency room physician with hopes of training to be a forensic pathologist. These didn't have anything to do with her husband's usual field or work or study. Again, perplexed Aliss sat back and scratched her forehead. She really needed to get inside that closet even more now.

Aliss turned on her laptop. She started searching the words she didn't understand in her husband's notes.

Clomiphene Citrate " estrogen blocking drugs " used to release gonadotropin releasing hormones " encourages ovulation

Novarel, Ovidrel, Pregnyl and Profasi " all similar in its use to cause ovulation.
Estradiol, Climera, Divigel and Elestin " for menopause symptoms
Alesse, Apri, Leostrin and Indayo " birth control pills

Spironolacone, Aldactone, & Cyproterone acetate " injections used by transgender mtf patients
Hmm, curiouser and curiouser. As she was plunking in these medications, prescriptions and symptoms she thought briefly about that little door. She clicked on 'incognito' and searched for lock picks. Sure enough a little website called 'SpyShop' popped up. One of the first things it offered was a lock pick set. Did she really want to do this? Was she really going this far. Heck yes, she was. This was the most exciting thing in her life. She felt alive! Every nerve in her body was tingling and she loved it. The only hesitation was that all of this was about her husband. Other than that, she was all in and ready to go. She clicked the order button and selected to have it sent to her old work. She knew Don would help her out. After all, she just might come back to work. Maybe.

Later that day, Aliss was about to walk into a coffee shop and was so distracted by her musings that she didn't see the extremely tall man that she ran into in the doorframe.

"Pardon me, ma'am." Said the deliciously deep timbre of the voice above her head.

"Oh no! I'm so sorry! I was so distracted I didn't see you there!" Aliss said flustered and a little embarrassed.

"It's ok. But I am going to have to get fresh coffee inside now that mine are all over your shoes." He looked down and the wet pavement and saw his purchase all over both of their shoes.

"Oh no, please let me get them for you. It was my mistake." Aliss offered.

They both turned to reenter the store and somehow both got stuck in the frame. After a few seconds of 'you first, no you first'. They sorted out that Aliss would enter first but not without both chuckling about the entire situation.

At the counter, Terry was looking seriously towards the two of them. However, Warren knew that slight lift of her lips was her form of joviality. Aliss, did not and stopped dead in her tracks.
"I'm so sorry. It wasn't his fault. I crashed into him. Aliss offered.

"Oh no, you don't understand. Warren is always a little distracted himself and I am sure that he played an equal part in this little debacle." Said Terry with a now obvious half smile on her face.

The three of them reordered and ordered coffees and at Aliss's insistence, she paid. Terry noticed that the credit card Aliss used showed the name Dr. Mark Conners and Mrs. Aliss Conners. Not common to see both names on a credit card, but some spouses prefer it that way. Terry was ever observant and tucked that little piece of information away. You just never know when you are going to need it.

By the time the three headed out, Terry went ahead and opened the door for them all. Ushering them through one at a time, something all three found amusing.

As Aliss walked away, Warren said, "Do you come here often? So I can watch for you and make sure we don't get into another collision in the future!"

To which an amused Aliss responded, "Its ok I have Allstate, we are in good hands!"

Terry and Warren continued on to the precinct while Aliss headed to see Don her old boss. Both teams somehow on similar paths, without really knowing it.