A Breck Death (Jill Quint, MD, Forensic Pathologist Series Book 3)

by Peche, Alec

  “Oh my god, he was shot with a dart while on the ski trail? How do you know that?”

  “I, like the medical examiner in Golden, started with a visual examination of Joseph’s skin. I noted a small needle size mark on his back around his shoulder blade. We both took samples of the skin in that area as well as performed a chemistry analysis of the blood from many areas of the body. We found a lethal dose of curare in his blood. I requested to look at the ski jacket that Joseph was wearing at the time of his death. There was an imperfection in the jacket. We sampled that area of the jacket and it also gave a positive reading for curare. You may remember stories of Indians in the jungles of South America using curare paste derived from plants to cover their dart tips when they were hunting for animals to eat. The curare generally caused the animals to drop to the rain forest floor and die. For the Indians, the animals were safe to eat as curare doesn’t get absorbed by eating it. Does my explanation make sense?”

  “Yes it does. Man, this is hard to absorb. This news is such a shock. Murdered? Someone actually followed Joe up the ski lift carrying a dart gun and shot him in the back. Who would do such a thing and why?”

  “Did Joseph mention anyone that he was having trouble with? Was he worried about something?”

  “Joe was a CEO of a biotech company and so things would ebb and flow on the job. He tried to create the perfect culture at work, but he would mention from time to time that someone was not living up to his expectations. He didn’t feel threatened by anyone, wasn’t worried he would be shot on a ski slope.”

  “David, I should probably mention that you’ll be the number one suspect as spouses are usually the first person the police want to rule out.”

  “What? I wouldn’t hurt Joseph, I loved him. I certainly wouldn’t have called the ski patrol to look for him or brought you in on the case to check the work of the other medical examiner!”

  “I don’t mean to make your day worse, but I thought I should prepare you for the questions that will come from law enforcement.

  “I am presently in my lab in California processing the remainder of the samples I obtained from Joseph,” Jill disclosed. “Unless something shows up different than I am expecting, I’ll complete the case tonight and provide you with a written report. As you may remember from the contract I sent you, I can assist you in a variety of ways, but it is entirely your choice as to what I do next in this case.”

  “Since you are the only person that has bothered to talk to me about Joseph, I would like to keep you on a retainer. If I am not satisfied with the cops assigned to this case, I’ll need you to help me navigate this new terrible world in which Joseph has been murdered.”

  “David, keep me posted and I really am sorry for your loss. It probably feels like Joseph has died twice in the last two days. Changing a death by natural cause to a death by homicide is tough on you.”

  “You’ve been right in everything you said so far. I feel devastated to have Joseph’s life cut short by murder. I have a lot to think about and sort out. I’ll give you a call when I have major news or know where I am going with this case. Thank you very much Dr. Quint for giving me answers so soon.”

  “You’re welcome David and let me know how I can help.”

  They ended the call.

  Jill put in a brief call to Nathan indicating she would be staying put in California. She would join him at his house for dinner and spend the night, bringing Trixie home in the morning. After she completed the report for David Gomez, she would go back to being a vintner. Such was the life of a second opinion on the cause of death. She would have days where she would devote up to sixteen hours a day to a case, and other days when she would relax by nurturing her vineyard and her relationship with Nathan.

  She spent the next few hours concluding her testing and finishing the report for David Gomez. She verified that asphyxia caused the heart to stop beating which in turn ended the function of all of his organs from the lack of blood flow. She found no infection at work, and really nothing to deny that Mr. Morton was in perfect health as his partner had thought. She emailed David the report. If after twenty-four hours, he had no additional requests, she would send him a final invoice.

  It was getting late, so she returned to her house, showered and changed her clothes, preparing to head over to Nathan’s house. He was making dinner which was always a treat since he was a great cook. She had had a busy twenty-four hours and was looking forward to relaxing with Nathan over good food, great wine and awesome conversation.

  She checked her e-mail just before she got in her car and noted an e-mail from Dr. Jones. Pausing to open it, she quickly scanned the attachment which was a medical examiner's report. Just as they discussed on the phone she had ruled the death suspicious and notified law enforcement at three that afternoon. David Gomez should've been contacted by the police by now. She drove over to Nathan's house thinking about what next steps she would take if it was up to her.

  Nathan, Trixie, and Arthur were all happy to see her when she arrived. There was a wonderful smell coming from the kitchen. She was very thankful that her boyfriend loved to cook and was so good at. Between the pizza at lunch and now his wonderful dinner, she would have to find time to exercise in the morning to work off this food. When she returned to her own home in the morning, she and Trixie would go for a run. Arthur made sure she properly acknowledged him as he sat on the barstool supervising Nathan's technique with fish. As only he could do, he gave a look of feline superiority and faith that his dinner that night would consist of finely cooked fish. Jill settled onto a stool next to Arthur to watch Nathan cook. He poured her a glass of Chardonnay that perfectly complemented his main course.

  "Can I see your drawing of the beer label and glass? I am curious to view your expansion into an entirely new industry and having observed the beer glasses in Belgium, I want to see your design."

  "I feel pretty good about it, though the glass was harder than the label. It's out in my studio at the moment so I'll take you out there after dinner. I bought a 3D printer and so I have a real plastic model of what the glass will look like rather than a graphic on the computer screen.”

  “Wow, how real is it? Can I drink out of the plastic glass?”

  “Yes you can drink out of it. I love this new technology; it makes it easy for my clients to visualize my design. It brings out a desire to design wine glasses and I may suggest that to a few clients.”

  “That sounds like a way to extend your wine brand. Some day when I open my own winery I could sell customers on the theory that wine tastes better in one of my glasses. Maybe it is something in the aeration unique to the shape of the glass.”

  “There speaks the scientist instead of the artist. I would prefer to think the shape of the wine glass sends signals to your brain about the sensual feel of wine on your tongue.”

  “Hey, you’re going to get me too revved up to eat your delicious dinner.”

  “Maybe that is my plan.”

  “Certainly Arthur would be pleased if we skipped dinner. I have other plans; I am hungry and want to eat your fabulous dinner. Then, after you show me your beer glass, I want to watch you practice hapkido. I want to see your bi-directional kick that I missed in Belgium. Then I am going to reward you for your achievements today.”

  “Wow, all that? I think I am up to that and what I want following your reward. Sounds like a great night ahead!”

  Indeed it was a wonderful night. They enjoyed their companionship, and the antics of their animals. Jill was impressed with the glass, and even more wowed by Nathan’s demonstration of his hapkido skills. Now she understood how he had taken down the man in Brussels so effectively. She didn’t know why she hadn’t asked to see this before now.

  Much later Jill lay curled up next to Nathan. Her last thoughts before she drifted off to sleep were they both had gotten rewarded that night.

  Chapter Four

  Jill returned to her house before Nathan awoke in the morning. Their body clocks would n
ever synchronize over the early hours of the morning. She took Trixie out for that promised early morning run. Even though it was fall, the morning foretold the warm day coming in the central valley of California. She was checking her e-mails as she approached her driveway, walking as the cool down to the five-mile run. She noted the usual e-mails related to the wine industry. She had one blog site for new vintners that she followed daily. Scrolling down she noticed the e-mail from David Gomez. She opened his e-mail first wondering if he had questions about her final report.

  He wrote ‘you were correct and the cops notified me of Dr. Jones preliminary autopsy results. You are also correct that I would be their prime suspect and I appreciate the time you gave me to think about my answer to the question of what I was doing at the predicted time of Joseph's murder. I had a credit card receipt from within fifteen minutes of his estimated time of death which is too narrow a time slot for me to have gotten up to the top of chairlift. I don't feel confident in the investigative skills of the officers. I have always had very accurate radar to read people's attitudes toward the gay lifestyle and I sense that the officers disapprove of my relationship with Joseph. In looking over your contract I see that you provide additional investigative services. Would you give me a call so we can chat about those services?’

  She was both dismayed and intrigued by his e-mail. To feel prejudice towards him and the love of his life as he was dealing with all the questions of a funeral and an estate to settle was additional misery that hedidn't need at a time like this. Regardless she was glad to be potentially called into the case. It had all the factors that made the case intriguing to her. This somewhat exotic murder of a skier would be nationwide news at some point. The killer had thought that by removing the dart from Joseph’s back, that his death would look just like another heart attack. He or she had not done their research or they would have known that such a means of murder was detectable by autopsy.

  She entered her house making sure that Trixie's bowl was filled with water. She went upstairs to shower with the plan to call David shortly after she was dressed with a cup of coffee in hand.

  Twenty minutes later, she dialed David.

  "David, its Jill. What can I do for you? I read your e-mail."

  "Hi Jill. Thanks for responding to my e-mail. As I mentioned, I don't have complete confidence that the police are going to do everything possible to solve this case quickly. I thought about hiring a private detective to be my and Joseph's advocate during this investigation. Then I thought of your contract and it seems that while you are not licensed as a private investigator, that you and your team provide all the services of one. Furthermore, you've treated me with respect and dignity and answered my questions quickly. So are you available to take on this case immediately?"

  "Oh David, I'm so sorry to hear that you feel that Joseph's death is not being investigated the way you want it to. I hope you're wrong about the officers as the vast majority of law-enforcement officers that I have worked with served without prejudice and had an overwhelming desire to bring justice for the victims.

  "In answer to your question, I can be in Breck this evening. I'll need to check in with my team to determine their availability. They give me support both in person and via the Internet on cases that I'm working on. I'll have a better assessment of the situation by the time I arrive in town tonight. I am a skier and I have been on the ski trail that Joseph was murdered on and I'll want to reacquaint myself with that setting. I have a favorite lodge that I like to stay at and I'll text you when I arrive. Are you available to meet tonight? If your cabin is easy to find in the dark and the road is okay, I can come to you.”

  “Excellent. Thank you, Jill, for such a rapid response. I will be available to meet tonight but our cabin can be difficult to find in the dark. How about if we meet in the lobby at your lodge?"

  "Sounds like a plan. I'm going to do some research before I arrive. Can you give me the name of Joseph's company and the names of the officers that you spoke with today? Tomorrow I'll want to talk to the search and rescue people that found Joseph as well as probably somebody in this ski resort management to discuss the ski pass system and their cameras. I'll also send you a contract extension and some authorization forms that I may need to speak to various people involved in this investigation on your behalf.”

  “I'll get those forms back to you and I will send you a scanned copy of Joseph's business card and those of the two officers I spoke with today. Would you mind if I accompanied you to where they found Joseph tomorrow?"

  "David, how about if I asked the reverse question? Would you like me to accompany you as you visit the ski trail were Joseph was murdered? I haven't thought that you might like to see that. I may make several trips to that location, but let's make the first trip about you and what I can do to help you at that location."

  There was a pause for a while on the phone and Jill assumed that David was regaining his composure. A moment later he continued in a strained voice.

  "I would appreciate that Jill. Text me when you arrive. Thank you and safe travels."

  They ended their call and Jill knew she had a lot of work to do. That was her life; she either had the leisurely pace of the vineyard during the dormant season or the hectic pace of her job as a forensic consultant. She had ski equipment to pack. She would need to drop Trixie off again at Nathan’s, and she would have to contact her team. She was grateful she had got her morning work-out in. Heading to a town at 9,600 feet elevation was enough to make anyone short of breath. She would begin drinking a lot of water once she got on the airplane. That was the easiest way to avoid altitude sickness she had found. She would still need to take aspirin and try to get a full night’s sleep that night.

  Next she worked on composing an email to her friends and teammates. She especially thought she would want the assistance of Jo to look at Joseph’s company’s financials and Nick to get everything possible out of the security systems at the ski resort. While she packed her ski gear, her winter clothing, and her laptop, she thought about taking with her a little mini – evidence kit. She was not expecting to find new forensic evidence beyond Joseph's autopsy, but she thought she would pack it just in case there was anything to be collected at the scene or in David and Joseph’s cabin.

  She heard some e-mail arrival pings and walked over to check her computer. She must've got everyone at a good time since she had five responses waiting for her. She opened Nick’s e-mail first expecting it to be short – an ‘I can't come’ message. She was pleasantly surprised that he would be on his way in about four hours. His friend, Henrik, who is the CEO of a software company, was heading from Germany to Texas for a technology conference on his private jet. He agreed to swing by Denver on his way to Austin. It was about an hour and a half out of his way, but on a private jet coming from Germany, ninety minutes wasn’t a lot of time. All that would be charged to the client was Nick's hotel and transportation up to the town. That would be a really good deal if Nick could maximize their use of the security system at the ski resort. Next she moved on to read the e-mail from Jo; againexpecting a decline to her invite to join her on the mountain. Instead Jo would give her two days as she had a sister she had been meaning to visit in a city about forty miles away.

  So far this investigation was shaping up well from a resource perspective. Given that Jo had been held at knife point during their last case, Jill felt fortunate to have her back helping her on an investigation. Moving on to Angela’s email, she would not be available for three days because she had two photo shoots, and Marie had wanted to ski Colorado for a long time. She had been able to reschedule her calendar for a long week-end. Wow, the only person missing from this gathering was Nathan, but he was more protector than investigator. As a world class wine label artist, she would bet he had clients in Colorado, and if he decided at some point to join her in Breck, he could drop in on those wineries if it suited him.

  Jill developed a calendar that had all of their arrivals and departures. She would
get a four wheel drive vehicle at the Denver airport and have her friends arrive by shuttle. She would lose too much investigative time if she was going back and forth to the airport to pick them up. She loaded her car and prepared to take Trixie over to Nathan’s while she was gone which she guessed might be a week at most. Certainly if she and Marie had time to ski for pleasure she would add a few days to her stay to do that. From a client’s perspective, since he had hired Jill, she couldn’t vacation in the middle of the investigation, but her team members could as they were part-time contract workers.

  She was soon pulling up to the airport’s long term parking lot, unloading her luggage and ski gear. She was breaking a sweat by the time she arrived in the terminal between the warm temperature in California and the weight of her luggage. A little more than two hours later and she was at the same car rental, she had been at two days ago. This time she got a more winterized rental car since the mountain weather could be unpredictable and even more so this year since they had substantial early season snow.

  After a thankfully uneventful drive in the dark, she was soon arriving at her favorite hotel in Breck. The rates were about half what she paid during the regular season as while the resort had snow, many skiers and boarders were unable to make vacation plans that quickly to take advantage of the conditions. While she unpacked her belongings, she called David to let him know of her arrival. As she hadn’t eaten dinner yet they agreed to meet in a restaurant in town. The walk would do Jill good helping her adjust to the altitude. She felt like she had drank a gallon of water in the last couple of hours, but so far no headache and no racing heart, so she was doing well acclimating to the thinner air.

  A short ten minute walk down Main Street had her walking into a little Irish pub. Guinness was one of her favorite beers, but she knew better than to drink alcohol on her first night in Breck. David arrived shortly thereafter and they settled into the restaurant.