A Taxing Death (Jill Quint, MD, Forensic Pathologist Series Book 5)

by Peche, Alec

  "Jill, you called about five minutes before I was about to call you. Why don't you drive over to my office so we can discuss those two deaths?"

  Jill entered the medical examiner's address in her car's navigation system and was soon heading that way. She speculated on what story John might have for her once she arrived. She had spoken with key persons in this investigation and so far had come away with very little new information or leads to follow up on. Both Detectives Banks and Chang knew what they were doing but didn't seem to be moving the case forward with any great speed.

  She presented to the receptionist and again waited for John in the lobby of the medical examiner's office. This time he took her to his office on the second floor of the building rather than to the autopsy area which was below ground and without outside daylight to cheer one up. He pointed to a chair on the opposite side of his desk and proceeded to turn his computer screen so they could both view what was on the monitor.

  "I'm going to bring up pictures from the autopsy. I'd like your opinion of what you see in these photos," John requested.

  "Can you tell me anything about these photos? I assume they are from the autopsy of the two people whose names I gave to you this morning."

  "Yes they are and this is a picture of the chest of the first person," John noted as he brought the picture up on the screen.

  After looking at the picture for mere seconds, Jill noted, "Those marks look remarkably similar to the burn marks on Manuel Valencia's chest. Did she also have a pacemaker?"

  "No this person did not have a pacemaker, but she was being treated for atrial fibrillation."

  "And her friend? Did she also have these burn marks on her chest?"

  "Here are the pictures from the second person's chest. She had no history of heart disease," John said as they both sat there silently examining the picture.

  "Did you perform the autopsy?"

  "I did the first autopsy, and the second autopsy was performed by the Placer County coroner as she died in that jurisdiction. I called them to get the report and pictures of the autopsy"

  "Did they die together?"

  "No. They died about two hours apart, of likely the same cause of death - electrocution made to look like a heart attack."

  "Tell me the circumstances of each death," Jill urged.

  "Victim number one, was dining at a restaurant, when the paramedics arrived saying they had a report of a woman in distress. She dined at this same restaurant every week. She would have breakfast while her daughter was at swim practice for three hours each morning. An ambulance crew arrived with gear and walked over to her table saying that they had been called because she was in distress. She said 'no she was fine', then they asked her if she had been diagnosed with atrial fibrillation and she said 'yes'. They said to let them check her heart then they would be on their way. Perhaps she was looking fine, but her heart might be doing poorly due to a subtle atrial fib."

  "Really! The woman bought that explanation?" Jill said leaning back in her chair.

  "Yes. Remember she was an accountant by training. So they had her lay down on the booth bench and did nearly the same thing to her that they did to Manuel Valencia. When she arrived here, I was given the details of atrial fib and so the ambulance personnel story made sense. I had not realized that we upgraded our defibrillators and so the marks compared to what I have seen in the past twenty-five years. So I made a mistake with her autopsy. I checked our burial records and she was cremated so I can't go back and examine her again."

  "John, do you remember if she showed signs of electrical burns in her lungs or heart from your autopsy?"

  "I do remember seeing those signs but I attributed them to the resuscitation effort rather than to murder. I am in a quandary as to what to do with her death. The cause of death remains the same – she died because her heart quit beating. The mode of her death I believe I will have to change from 'natural' to 'could not be determined'. Would you agree?"

  Jill could tell that John Garcia had suffered a severe hit to his professional confidence with this case. She liked him and had thought highly of him when she was working at the state crime lab. So she searched for something to boost his confidence or at least make him feel better.

  "John, what do you think about the two of us putting together an educational tool on the physical evidence of a resuscitation specifically related to improved technologies and their impact on autopsy findings? I don't have time now but once this case is over I think it will do the field good to have this knowledge out there."

  "Thanks, Jill, for helping me feel better, and I would like to put together an educational tool as you suggested. I'm going to notify detective Chang about this case even though I can't declare it a homicide. It might have some useful information for the Valencia case. He will also need to notify the family about the change on the death certificate."

  "Let's move onto the second victim. She has the same burns on her chest, what were the circumstances of her death and what did the Placer County coroner list as her mode of death?"

  "She was also in a café; this one was across the street from the Sierra Mountain Dialysis Center. Her husband had been getting dialysis for at least three years at that location. The victim waited out the husband's dialysis in a café where she always was found reading a book. According to the café owner, the victim had a known allergy to strawberries. Because she was a regular she always sat in the same booth which the staff saved in advance of her arrival, and would go over with extra heavy duty cleaner to make sure that any previous patron that ate strawberries left no residue in the booth. She started having an allergic reaction and before 9-1-1 was called, two paramedics sitting in another booth on break, noticed her distress and got their equipment out of their rig. She did not survive their resuscitation and the coroner ruled accidental death by food allergy."

  "Wow these guys are scary. They're doing extensive surveillance on their victims to figure out where they can find them and what excuse they can use to move in and offer aid. They must've had some kind of aerosolized strawberry spray that they misted into the air around the victim. I'm guessing the coroner ruled the allergy as the cause of death and the resuscitation as a failure to revive her. If you don't mind, I think that I'd like to stay here until Detective Chang arrives to discuss these two cases. Did you call the Placer County Sheriff yet?"

  "No I need to call the coroner first and have them agree that we have a suspicious death on our hands. We don't have enough details in the second case to know for sure that this was those rogue emergency medical services people. The second victim was not cremated so her body could be exhumed for another autopsy."

  "Why don't you talk with the coroner first and explain the bigger picture here. She or he may be willing to change the death certificate to undetermined without an exhumation and down the road law enforcement may be able to get a confession from the killers once they have them in custody. This might save the family some grief."

  "You're right especially since we know the victim's husband is on dialysis," John agreed. "It would be nice to avoid the grief of an exhumation for him. This has become a big scary problem. I worry my wife might have an accident and these two fake paramedics might show up and kill her. I'll have a talk with her at home tonight after I apologize for another late night as I think we will be here a while and you should stay involved in the conversation since you've been quickly putting the pieces together."

  "If you don't mind, I'm going to call Detective Banks with the Highway Patrol and ask him to meet with us here as it seems to be employees under his jurisdiction that are the targets of these killers."

  "Good suggestion Jill. I didn't know that the Highway Patrol was involved with Mr. Valencia's murder."

  "I only learned that today when I spoke with Detective Chang. The Highway Patrol provides security for the Governor, major government buildings like the Capitol, and for key members of the legislation. Because the murder occurred in the Capitol building, the Highway Patrol ha
s had a role in this case."

  "Why don't you call the two detectives while I speak with the Placer coroner as that's going to be a longer conversation? I want to give people time to get here, see if the two detectives can be here in ninety minutes."

  "Sounds like a plan John and thanks for looking those cases up for me. The city has a huge problem on its hands."

  Jill had many things on her mind. She wanted to notify Nathan that she would get back late from Sacramento and just head to her house as she would need to be up early to head back into into the city the next morning. She debated grabbing a hotel and staying there, but really she slept much better in her own bed and it was only an hour away. She was also thinking about when and what to tell the Valencia family. This one murder was exploding into a case with two killers who seemed to have a targeted list of people related to the Department of Revenue to kill. The scariest question was how many people were on the list? As much as she wanted to tell the family the news right now, she was fairly certain that none of them were at risk and her energies could be better spent in moving the case forward tonight. She also had an edge of anxiety about her knowing that the real and sanctioned detectives could close her off from the case. She hoped in her meetings that day and with the solid finding of these two additional victims that it would be enough to keep her involved. She would still investigate regardless of law enforcement's inclusiveness, but it would be so much easier and she could bring real value to them if they included her in the investigation.

  She looked at the clock and it was getting close to the time that the detectives might be going home. She would take a chance that she could get the two of them on a conference call and tell them both the news at once. She had the added benefit of the caller ID saying this was the coroner's office which might make them more likely to answer the phone call.

  She dialed Detective Chang first, "Detective Chang this is Jill Quint. I'm at the coroner's office speaking to John Garcia and we have a new lead in the Manuel Valencia case. If you'll hold for a minute, I'll try and conference in Detective Banks," Jill requested, and she soon had both detectives on the line to explain the latest finding and the request that they come to the medical examiner's office.

  Jill looked over her shoulder at John who was still speaking with the Placer Coroner. She motioned that she was stepping outside to make a phone call and entered a hallway to call Nathan.

  "Hey babe, when are you going to be home for dinner?" Nathan asked as soon as he saw who was calling.

  "I'm not going to get home for dinner. The case here has taken a strange new twist. It looks like we have discovered two additional cases that may be connected to Manuel Valencia and now we're bringing in law enforcement personnel to discuss the case."

  "Are they going to let you stay in the conversation?" Nathan asked, aware of the police excluding Jill as a private consultant from their conversations and investigations. From case to case, it was her biggest fear and greatest insecurity.

  "So far I'm in because I've likely discovered two additional murder victims that escaped their attention so keep your fingers crossed. I'm glad I left Trixie with you today. I knew it would be a long day, I just didn't guess how long. I have to be back here by eight tomorrow morning, but I am guessing that I'll be back in my home office by noon. I'll keep you posted."

  "Okay, I'll see you when I see you and meanwhile Trixie is enjoying my cooking so all is well. Love you babe."

  "Love you back and thanks."

  Jill ended the call and returned to the suite that contained John's office. She walked in and asked, "How did your conversation with the coroner go? Did you know him or her prior to today?"

  "The call went about as expected - denial, anger, and then acceptance that there might be more to the picture than expected. I didn't know this coroner, but she indicated at the end that she would notify the Placer Sheriff of our meeting in an hour. We have a conference room in this suite that we can occupy to discuss the case. Have you said anything to Mrs. Valencia?"

  "No I debated giving her a call, but I have a face to face meeting with her at 8:00a.m. and I thought it would be better to tell her then. It's a huge finding in the case, but let's see if everyone else thinks it is a big lead."

  "I guess I have to agree with you there. Since we have another hour before the two detectives arrive, do you want to work on that presentation on recent advances in CPR?"

  "Sure," Jill agreed and by the time the detectives arrived, they had completed most of the presentation.

  Detectives Banks and Chang were joined by Deputy Williamson from the Placer County Sheriff's department. Despite the fact that the Coroner had been upset with a probable change in a death certificate, she still had the foresight to call her Sheriff to make sure they were in on the investigation to solve these murders. After introductions were made and Jill's credentials discussed, they got down to business. John and Jill took different turns presenting the evidence gathered in the case.

  "We believe these three cases are likely connected," Jill described the unusual facts of the case. "We are afraid of how long the murder list is for these two killers as they may have killed three members of the Department of Revenue." She continued with an explanation of the autopsy findings and the story of the emergency medical service personnel. After a long conversation with the detectives, there was general agreement that there was substantial evidence that the three cases were connected. Furthermore, their attention quickly moved to the protection of other Department of Revenue employees. Jill could see the snowball starting to roll downhill gathering snow as it went. Each revolution of conversation of the group gathered more leads and actions needed by the group. Jill would keep the family informed about the investigation. Deputy Williamson was going to explore exhuming the second victim's body. Despite Jill wanting to hold on that for the husband's sake, the others wanted solid evidence of a connection between the murders. The Deputy asked Jill if she would serve as an expert civilian consultant to his own coroner once he got the body exhumed and she agreed.

  Detective Banks had requested his superior join him at the Coroner's office to discuss the issue of protecting staff. Knowing his boss, the detective thought he would be onboard quicker, believe in the threat, and work tirelessly tonight to develop a plan to protect the employees. Detective Chang's Lieutenant had been informed and was waiting for an update on the direction the three separate law enforcement agencies planned to take. Deputy Williamson left to go speak with the spouse of victim two to see if he could get his voluntary agreement to exhume his wife's body.

  It had been a busy and fulfilling day. Jill thought they were making good progress in first identifying and second collecting more evidence to find and convict the two fake emergency services personnel. Jill wanted to stay involved in the case and so she decided to lay her cards on the table while they were waiting for the head of the Capitol Protection Command to arrive.

  "Gentlemen you have a choice going forward whether to include me or not with this investigation. Not to be a braggart but I have uncovered several critical pieces of information related to this case. I hope that you will continue to include me in your major conversations."

  There was an uncomfortable silence as they all looked at each other.

  Jill added, "I am a former officer of the State and I am quite capable of keeping my mouth shut. I don't need any publicity from this case; you can take all the credit for solving this crime. I do need to do well for my client, Anna Valencia, and I can do that by contributing to solving her husband's murder and," Jill said with all the emphasis she could put into her voice, "I can best do that by being included in your conversations."

  Again there was silence, and then Detective Banks stated, "You have put together a case I couldn't, so I am going to recommend to my Lieutenant that you be included in our conversations."

  "I would also suggest that we need to keep this problem with fake ambulance staff out of the press," Jill urged. "Imagine the public's panic if the public
loses faith in emergency services."

  Everyone nodded and silence again returned to the room which was broken a few minutes later with the Lieutenant's arrival. Introductions were made and he was brought up to speed. Lieutenant Moss quickly grasped the threat to the Department of Revenue's employees. He was so satisfied with the connection between the employees that he scheduled an emergency meeting that night with personnel and Mr. Steward to develop a plan to protect the employees. In the back of Jill's mind was fear that Anna Valencia and her family members were on the target kill list. In the end she knew she could not sleep on the information and texted Anna to see if she was available to meet in under half an hour. She agreed and Jill started wrapping up her belongings after collecting contact information from everyone in the room.

  The meeting broke up at that point and John Garcia was the lucky guy who got to go home, Jill moving on to the Valencia house, Lieutenant Moss and Detective Banks returning to the Capitol to develop a protection plan, and Detective Chang returning to Police headquarters to formulate a plan to find this ambulance and its killers. Everyone was thinking about the panic and hysteria that could come from the general public not being able to trust their emergency services personnel. Would non-targeted people die after refusing the aid of legitimate paramedics? It would be a scary situation until these killers were caught.

  Jill made the quick drive to the Valencia house, parking in the driveway. Her push of the doorbell was quickly opened by Michael Valencia who invited Jill into their living room. Anna was offering tea and cookies which Jill enjoyed having missed dinner that evening.

  "I had some major breakthroughs in this case today that I wanted to discuss with you now rather than our scheduled time as it is not clear to me if the three of you are at risk," Jill declared.

  "What! Why would we be at risk?" asked Michael. "What is going on with this investigation?"

  Jill took a moment to recount her day including the off-hand mention of two other employee deaths in Manuel's division that started the ball rolling and what the various law enforcement agencies were planning for that night.