Case development
Who: House, Chase (NPC)
Where: House's office
What: Further development on the case
When: Wednesday 17th May, early afternoon.
“Hey.”
House looked up from the letter he was reading, to Chase, who was standing in the doorway of his office, holding the door open. “What is it?”
“Just had a talk to the dad,” Chase began as he stepped into the office.
House sat back in his seat. “What’d he say?”
Chase held the file out towards House as he approached the desk. “I got talking to him while the mum was out of the room. He told me that the whole family had been down to the beach a few hours prior to the kid falling unconscious.”
House took the file from Chase and opened it, though kept his eyes on Chase.
Chase set his hands onto his hips. “He said he saw his son drinking seawater.”
“What, a taste, or actually drinking?”
“Drinking.”
House frowned curiously at Chase and then looked down to the file. “Stating the obvious here, but seawater has an average salinity of 35 psu. Even drinking a whole bucket of the stuff wouldn’t give the kid hypernatremia.”
“That’s what I told the father,” Chase replied.
“Not even salt water near-drowning victims have salt levels as high as this kid had.” House looked back up to Chase. “What’d the dad say?”
Chase shrugged. “He said he didn’t think anything of it. Just that his son was perhaps thirsty, or--”
“Wait,” House interrupted. “The dad told you this while the mom wasn’t in the room?”
Chase nodded. “Yeah.”
“He give a reason why he or the mom didn’t tell any of you lot this sooner?”
“He said he thought it wasn’t important.”
“And yet he chose to tell you that while the mom wasn’t there.”
“He said something about his wife has a handle on the situation, that she knows more about what was going on than he does.”
“I bet she does.” House snapped the file shut. “Fifty bucks the mom’s been spoon feeding her kid salt.”
Chase gave House a look that as somewhere between sceptical and believing. “You don’t think…”
“Explains the kid’s underdevelopment, explains the hypernatremia, explains the fact that the kid was drinking seawater.” House swung his chair around and pushed himself up as he grabbed his cane. “Means he was thirsty, which means he not only was being withheld fluids but the excess salt in his diet was dehydrating him. No kid drinks seawater. They taste it and then wish they hadn’t.”
Chase sighed in resignation and dropped his hands to his side. “How can you prove something like that, though?”
“Simple,” House replied as he walked around his desk. “Leave the mom alone in the room with the kid and a bottle of salt.”
“You can’t do that!”
“Why not? She does something, we caught her red-handed.”
“Even if we did and you’re right, we’d be putting the kid’s life at risk,” Chase argued.
House stopped in front of Chase and peered down at him. “No pain, no gain, right? Kid’s awake now, which is an improvement. Mom’s not going to see it that way if the kid keeps on improving, though. Put some mushy food on a dinner tray with a few extra sachets of salt at dinner time, see what the mom does.”
Chase gave him an even look. “You can’t be serious.”
“I’m very serious.”
“The kid’s not well enough to eat.”
House rolled his eyes. “You can’t just slap some salt on the dinner tray and say, ‘Here, have some fun with this’. You put the food there, it looks less suspicious.”
“The mother will think it’s suspicious if one of us puts the dinner there.”
“Not if the dinner lady does it. What would the dinner lady know? All dinner ladies are morons who know nothing about medicine or whether the kid can eat or not.”
“The food would’ve had to have been ordered for that room,” Chase said pointedly.
House thought for a moment, and then shrugged. “Pretend it's a mix-up. Mistakes happen. My mail gets sent to the wrong mailbox sometimes, so it’s not a huge deal if someone’s dinner ends up in the wrong room.”
Chase gave him a conflicted look. “House--”
“Look, you can’t accuse someone of child abuse unless you have the evidence. So, go and get some.”
He watched Chase watching him, before Chase shook his head and took a step back. He opened his mouth like he wanted to say something more, but changed his mind and headed out of the office.
Where: House's office
What: Further development on the case
When: Wednesday 17th May, early afternoon.
“Hey.”
House looked up from the letter he was reading, to Chase, who was standing in the doorway of his office, holding the door open. “What is it?”
“Just had a talk to the dad,” Chase began as he stepped into the office.
House sat back in his seat. “What’d he say?”
Chase held the file out towards House as he approached the desk. “I got talking to him while the mum was out of the room. He told me that the whole family had been down to the beach a few hours prior to the kid falling unconscious.”
House took the file from Chase and opened it, though kept his eyes on Chase.
Chase set his hands onto his hips. “He said he saw his son drinking seawater.”
“What, a taste, or actually drinking?”
“Drinking.”
House frowned curiously at Chase and then looked down to the file. “Stating the obvious here, but seawater has an average salinity of 35 psu. Even drinking a whole bucket of the stuff wouldn’t give the kid hypernatremia.”
“That’s what I told the father,” Chase replied.
“Not even salt water near-drowning victims have salt levels as high as this kid had.” House looked back up to Chase. “What’d the dad say?”
Chase shrugged. “He said he didn’t think anything of it. Just that his son was perhaps thirsty, or--”
“Wait,” House interrupted. “The dad told you this while the mom wasn’t in the room?”
Chase nodded. “Yeah.”
“He give a reason why he or the mom didn’t tell any of you lot this sooner?”
“He said he thought it wasn’t important.”
“And yet he chose to tell you that while the mom wasn’t there.”
“He said something about his wife has a handle on the situation, that she knows more about what was going on than he does.”
“I bet she does.” House snapped the file shut. “Fifty bucks the mom’s been spoon feeding her kid salt.”
Chase gave House a look that as somewhere between sceptical and believing. “You don’t think…”
“Explains the kid’s underdevelopment, explains the hypernatremia, explains the fact that the kid was drinking seawater.” House swung his chair around and pushed himself up as he grabbed his cane. “Means he was thirsty, which means he not only was being withheld fluids but the excess salt in his diet was dehydrating him. No kid drinks seawater. They taste it and then wish they hadn’t.”
Chase sighed in resignation and dropped his hands to his side. “How can you prove something like that, though?”
“Simple,” House replied as he walked around his desk. “Leave the mom alone in the room with the kid and a bottle of salt.”
“You can’t do that!”
“Why not? She does something, we caught her red-handed.”
“Even if we did and you’re right, we’d be putting the kid’s life at risk,” Chase argued.
House stopped in front of Chase and peered down at him. “No pain, no gain, right? Kid’s awake now, which is an improvement. Mom’s not going to see it that way if the kid keeps on improving, though. Put some mushy food on a dinner tray with a few extra sachets of salt at dinner time, see what the mom does.”
Chase gave him an even look. “You can’t be serious.”
“I’m very serious.”
“The kid’s not well enough to eat.”
House rolled his eyes. “You can’t just slap some salt on the dinner tray and say, ‘Here, have some fun with this’. You put the food there, it looks less suspicious.”
“The mother will think it’s suspicious if one of us puts the dinner there.”
“Not if the dinner lady does it. What would the dinner lady know? All dinner ladies are morons who know nothing about medicine or whether the kid can eat or not.”
“The food would’ve had to have been ordered for that room,” Chase said pointedly.
House thought for a moment, and then shrugged. “Pretend it's a mix-up. Mistakes happen. My mail gets sent to the wrong mailbox sometimes, so it’s not a huge deal if someone’s dinner ends up in the wrong room.”
Chase gave him a conflicted look. “House--”
“Look, you can’t accuse someone of child abuse unless you have the evidence. So, go and get some.”
He watched Chase watching him, before Chase shook his head and took a step back. He opened his mouth like he wanted to say something more, but changed his mind and headed out of the office.