Sicilian Murder

by Alec Peche

  “Two earthquakes? I don't recall hearing about that,” Marie said.

  “Yeah, it was divine providence. We were walking up the slope to the crater and an earthquake hit which rather freaked me out. Jill here, our resident volcanologist, assured me we wouldn't soon be covered in dust and suffocate like Pompeii. So perhaps twenty minutes later, while she was on the inside slope of the crater sprinkling rocks looking for blood, a second earthquake hit that caused her to slide down the slope. She quickly regained her traction and rushed to the top before a third quake hit, but her hands were scraped in the slide and the cops agreed that as Mr. Chen had no defensive wounds on his hands, it was unlikely that he'd had an accident causing him to fall into the crater.”

  “Wow! How are your hands this morning? What an adventure!”

  Jill held her palms up and they could see some scratches on the palm, but it didn't look bad.

  “My hands are fine, and yes I don't know what to call it other than divine providence when the quake hit and it served to make my point. As to what the police say, I haven't told them yet. I emailed Melissa first, then I wanted to hear what Marie had found yesterday, and now I'm composing an email to Tenete Rosso and Vice Questore Cavallaro. I don't know what time they start work in Sicily, but I would expect to hear from them shortly after they open the email. Depending on their criminal justice procedures in Italy, they may need to follow the body to the United States and get additional blood samples and send it to a police lab there or here so they have the results for a trial. My technique didn't follow the rules of evidence custody.”

  “Can they do that? Test after a person has been dead for several days? Doesn't it dissipate?”

  “No, we could dig Randy Chen back out of the ground a year from now and we would find the chloroform in his liver. I informed Melissa to wait on letting anyone prepare Randy's body for burial as the Italian Police might request further testing. I expect an answer today, so this shouldn't delay things too much.”

  Angela looked sad at the thought of digging Randy out of the ground a year after his death, while Marie looked grimly fascinated.

  “It seems like I've heard of some famous people being exhumed and tested to see what killed them – like prior kings or something.”

  “Yes, one recent case was Simon Bolivar, the revolutionary from Venezuela. The ex-President, Hugo Chavez had him dug up seeking to prove he died by arsenic poisoning rather than tuberculosis. The autopsy was inconclusive, but I don't remember who conducted it to tell me if I would have trusted their methods, but there have been a variety of famous people exhumed.”

  Jill's cell phone rang and she noted that Melissa was calling. She must be between planes in Atlanta. She had a short conversation with her explaining where she was with the case and next steps. She no sooner ended the call with Melissa than she noted an Italian phone number was calling. She wondered if this was Rosso or Cavallaro, or perhaps they had robot-callers in this part of the world too.

  “Hello.”

  “Is this Dr. Jill Quint?” asked an Italian accented voice?

  “Yes.”

  “This is Pubblico Ministero Lombardo. I have Tenete Rosso and Vice Questore Cavallaro here with me. Are you familiar with the Italian justice system Dr. Quint?”

  “I looked it up before leaving for Italy so I have a vague idea. I believe that when officers have some evidence of a crime that needs further investigation, a prosecutor enters the case to direct the investigation. I believe that must be you. Is that correct?”

  “Yes, that's a nice summary. I visited the location where the American Mr. Randy Chen was found by hikers four days ago. After discussing the case with my associates I agreed there were enough unexplained circumstances to Mr. Chen's death. As I was meeting this morning with Tenete Rosso and Vice Questore Cavallaro, they received the communication from you that Chloroform was recorded in his blood. Is that correct?”

  Jill had placed her phone on speaker mode and now Marie and Angela were sitting in silence following the conversation.

  “Yes, that's correct. As a forensic pathologist, I can tell you that there's no medical reason for that substance to be in his blood other than for him to have inhaled it. If he voluntarily inhaled it, we would have found evidence of a bottle of chloroform near him along with a cloth, as he would immediately crumple to the ground within a few inhalations. According to the first responders, this was not the case. So at this point, I would conclude that Mr. Chen involuntarily inhaled the anesthetic.”

  “I see, Dr. Quint. Can you tell me where Mr. Chen's remains are at this time? I am sure I can contact the family, but I would like to avoid unnecessary contact at this time of grieving for them.”

  “I spoke with the daughter just a few minutes ago as she was changing planes in Atlanta in the United States. I asked her to avoid making any funeral preparations for twenty-four hours as the Italian police might want to collect forensic evidence that demonstrated a chain of custody. I can give you the contact information for the Green Bay Police so that you can arrange official evidence collection once his remains land there in a few hours.”

  “Forgive my ignorance, but the chloroform will have disappeared from his blood after this length of time, no?”

  “Actually, you could collect the blood sample a year from now and it would still be there. Also, you can't inject or put a cloth over his face after his death and have it show up on testing. Without his lungs breathing and blood circulating it won't travel inside his body. His liver shows signs of damage from the chloroform and again that damage occurred while he was still alive.”

  “Yes, do you have any advice on the tool that was used to dent his head?”

  “Let me examine the CT results. I may be able to give you a description of the surface of the item that he was hit with as well as the possible angle of the person holding the weapon. I can tell you it was not a sharp instrument like a knife.”

  “I would like to share your results with our doctor for analysis. May we have a copy of your report?”

  “I shared with your officers the autopsy report and some of the lab work. I will send you the CT scan and report as well as any further lab results I receive from my Swiss lab. Do you have a forensic pathologist in Sicily to interpret the results for you?”

  Jill heard an exhale on the other end of the phone line and then Pubblico Ministero Lombardo said, “The University of Catania has a Forensic Medicine division that I will contact to act on our behalf. Would it be possible to arrange a meeting with them, yourself, and my office today, Dr. Quint?”

  Jill thought about what she was planning to do. Her first allegiance was to Melissa Chen and so she wanted time to review Randy's cellphone. It was still mid-morning.

  “Yes and I'll bring my team with me. How about at two this afternoon? If you'll give me an address, we'll make our way there. The University is a few blocks from our apartment and we would enjoy the walk.”

  “Your team?” she heard the prosecutor ask and there was conversation in Italian in the background. Then he came back on the line and said, “Ah, my colleagues have informed me about your team. Then we shall see you later.”

  The call ended and Jill felt a minor rumble beneath her feet. Marie looked up in alarm and so she and Angela said simultaneously, “Earthquake.”

  “What should we do?” asked Marie.

  “On the case or for the earthquake?” Jill replied.

  “The earthquake! Shouldn't we do something?”

  “That felt like a 2.5 on the Richter scale to me, or it was far away. So we do nothing. If the quake feels stronger run for any doorway or if you're outside, stay away from building and power wires as they may come tumbling down. Doorways are supposed to be reinforced, but I can't vouch for the same construction standards in Sicily.”

  “Is the volcano about to blow? Should we worry about breathing ash or getting a flight out of here?”

  Again Angela and Jill said, “no”, at the same time and then smiled at each othe
r. Jill gestured to Angela to explain.

  “There are many earthquakes on the island of Sicily, but not all of them are related to volcanic activity. Some of the most deadly eruptions of Mount Etna happen without an earthquake or an earthquake that occurred many months before the eruption, so we will be long gone before we need to worry about the volcano erupting from an earthquake.”

  “The thing with earthquakes is you need to know the magnitude and epicenter to determine your level of damage. There was a bad earthquake in Messina which is the closest point to where Sicily meets the mainland. The cause of that quake was the plate in the strait of Messina. It had nothing to do with Mount Etna. So what we're telling you is you're in a region that is prone to earthquakes. You can't predict them, rather you just need to know what precautions to take when they happen. Okay?”

  “I guess you're telling me there's nothing we can do about the quakes other than to leave the island, or maybe I should say get out of Italy since I think I've heard of bad quakes on the mainland as well.”

  “Yes that's a good summary,” then seeing Brenda approaching the living room, she said, “Good morning Brenda, did you sleep well?”

  “Yeah, I did for the first time since Randy's death. As weird as this sounds, I feel better about his murder because at least I didn't fail to notice that he was in poor health, which is what I first thought. You don't just die of a heart attack, you have symptoms and I feared I hadn't noticed them. Then I worried about all of the additives that Randy took and maybe one of his additives caused his own early death.”

  Jill, Angela, and Marie gave a Brenda faint smiles. They understood what she was saying and acknowledged that it was weird.

  “So any new information this morning?” Brenda asked.

  “Yes, actually a lot of changes overnight,” Jill replied. “I received some of the blood work back and Randy Chen had chloroform in his blood which is proof that he was murdered as there was no evidence that he voluntarily inhaled it. Also the Italian prosecutor called and we have a meeting this afternoon with him and his team at the University of Catania Forensic Department. Melissa Chen has changed planes in Atlanta, and the prosecutor will be contacting the Green Bay Police to assist with getting forensic evidence from Mr. Chen's body once it arrives there. I lack the appropriate credential to do the chain of evidence on his blood work..”

  “Wow, that is a lot of new information overnight. So Randy somehow inhaled chloroform and then once he was unconscious he had a deadly blow to the head. So how did he end up in the crater and who killed him and why?”

  “That's the amazing part of these cases. On the one hand you feel like you make these giant leaps forward with new information. But then you ask yourself – why is the person dead and who killed him or her and then it feels like you're back at square one,” Marie said.

  “We do have a giant leap in that we have essentially proved that he was murdered and the Italian police have entered the investigation,” Jill said. “Now we need to examine his phone to see if there are any clues therein.”

  “Are we going to mention the phone to the Italian prosecutor?” Marie asked.

  “Yes, though I haven't told them about it yet. We have a copy of all the contents. So let's examine the phone for any trade secrets – Brenda you'll need to take the lead on discovering things on Randy Chen's phone that your company wouldn't want to be shared with the world. If we find something that might lead to someone's arrest or prosecution, then we'll definitely share with them at some point, but remember they likely lack the resources to unlock it. The police may request phone records from the telecom provider in the United States. I'm not sure how that works – maybe they ask their embassy to help in the U.S. We need some time to look at the phone's data ourselves. ”

  “Are we required by law to share it with them immediately?” Marie asked. “I'd rather not spend any time in an Italian jail.”

  “I don't know. I wonder if Henrik has an attorney on his staff that could loosely answer the questions for us. Part of the problem for me is I think about the Amanda Knox murder conviction that took four years to overturn and I remember how bad the forensic evidence was handled by overzealous cops. I don't have a feel yet for our threesome. On the one hand, I think poorly of their investigative skills, but on the other hand if you don't have exotic murders like Randy Chen's, your brain just doesn't think in that manner.”

  “I'll give Henrik a call and see if we can get an answer before our meeting this afternoon,” Marie said.

  “Okay maybe the three of us can focus on Randy's phone. I thought we would start with his texts. Angela and Brenda, I need help checking out phone numbers and people. Let's try and plot who Randy spoke to starting with the day of his death and moving backwards. Let's devote a separate piece of butcher paper to tracking his movements,” Jill said pointing at a wall.

  “I wonder why the killer or killers left Randy's phone with him?” Marie asked. “Were they unsophisticated in not understanding how much information was likely on the phone or did they leave his wallet and phone to make sure it looked like an accident?”

  “Good questions – add those to our chart on the questions section.”

  Chapter 8

  Jill, Brenda, and Angela were staring at Jill's laptop screen reviewing the copy of Randy Chen’s cell phone data. It was the first time Jill looked at data on a cell phone on her laptop and it was only the second case where she resorted to using cell phone information to gain insight into a case. It was weird to look at phone information in this manner. They were thankful that they had a charger for the cell phone and hadn't had to struggle with a dead battery.

  “I'm confused as to whether we should start with email and go backwards in time from the last email or look at all his texts in the same manner?” Angela said. “Then there's attachments and links to follow with some of these communications.”

  Jill thought for a few moments and said, “Why don't we sort all of his emails, texts, and phone calls into the descending order they occurred starting with his last communication on the phone. So what is the last communication?”

  “Are we sure we want to concentrate on just those three?” Marie said rejoining them after her phone call. “How about Facebook, Twitter, Viber, WhatsApp, and any other applications he seemed to be using? For all we know, he could have arranged a meeting on Viber.”

  “You're right and this is getting even more complicated. Let's take a quick look at these apps and see which ones he was using recently. Then perhaps we'll each take a few apps and plot out their timelines until we figure out his communication style. Were you able to get any lawyer advice from Henrik?”

  “Yes and no. Henrik has had some interactions with Italy on the business side and his advice was to give them the phone immediately, but not mention we had unlocked and copied it. Italy isn't known for IT sophistication so he doubted they can tell you copied the phone.”

  “Okay, I'll have to think about how to roll that into the conversation. I'd rather they ask me for it and I'll hand it over, so I need to think about how to set them up to ask that question.”

  “Since we all want to stay out of jail, why don't you spend some quiet time thinking about how to do that, while the three of us work on Randy's phone log,” Marie suggested.

  Jill nodded and went to the kitchen to get some coffee while her mind sorted through scenarios on how to hand over Randy Chen's phone with nonchalance to the prosecutor. Nathan exited their bedroom and entered the kitchen after giving a wave at the women working in the living room.

  Jill passed her cup of coffee to him as she gave him a kiss and made a second cup for herself. Nathan really needed coffee in the morning as he was generally a night owl and was slow to awake in the morning. Just as she was taking her second sip a plan formed in her brain that was mostly the truth,

  Melissa Chen must not have had a conversation with the Italian police or not mentioned that she mailed the phone to Jill as they hadn't asked for it. She'd ask Melissa to
stay silent on whether they had been able to unlock her father's phone. She would simply tell the officers that she had asked Melissa to send the phone and hand it over. It would be even better if she could drain the battery and she could honestly say she didn't know the code to unlock it – she had used an expert to figure it out for her.

  They copied Randy Chen's cell phone records onto each of their own laptops and were labeling the timelines of each of his various interactions with his phone on their own piece of butcher paper. Marie had been right that Randy Chen used multiple communication applications. Nathan sat nursing his second cup of coffee before asking if anyone wanted an early lunch before they left to walk to the University. After enthusiastic replies, he set forth making soup and sandwiches for Jill and her friends. He had his own meetings to attend as he'd arranged tours of several wineries in the region.

  “Guys it's time to walk to the University,” Jill said. “Brenda, text me if you see something unusual.”

  Brenda watched them go thinking about all the work they had discovered and all the evidence that was left to be discovered. She hoped she would notice something relevant and unusual for Jill, but she admitted that she didn't think like them. She felt the pressure of that confidence that Jill seemed to have in her to find the trail that would lead them to the new product that Randy had been chasing.

  The three of them set off for the walk to their meeting location. It was a beautiful fall day in Sicily. The weather was sunny with just enough of a light breeze to require a lightweight sweater. Rain was forecasted for later in the week, which might wash away forensic evidence, but there was nothing she could do to stop the rain.

  As they approached the entrance to the University, Jill saw Vice Questore Cavallaro waiting for their arrival.

  “Ciao, Vice Questore. I'd say 'good afternoon' in Italian but sadly I only know good morning and good night,” Jill said. “This is Marie Simon, the other member of my team that you haven't met. She's a maven at finding traces of people on the internet. I have one other team member who is a financial wizard, but she is not with us in Italy.”