by Alec Peche
Angela had a knack for pulling information out of people in a totally disarming way. Who needed a Sherlock Homes when Angela could gain information in the softest, most compassionate, and subtle manner? People never realized the information they gave to Angela, as she was so mesmerizingly nice.
The services of Jill’s friends had been were written into Jill’s consultant contract with Emma as potential additional charges. She was often able to save clients money by using her friends. They charged a lower hourly rate, as it did not have to meet an evidence standard. Her friends deposited their consultant fees into a special vacation account, and they had been able to fund their vacations from the account for the past 4 years. She would drop them an e-mail later that night as a FYI in case she brought them into the investigation.
Jill parked her Thunderbird in the mortuary parking lot and went inside to meet the mortician. She would need to evaluate the area where she could examine Graeme. She might need additional lighting, protective clothing, or medical waste disposal containers depending on the setup inside.
She noted that she would have optimal working conditions.
The lighting was excellent, medical waste containers were available for her use. Protective clothing was also available. She would wear the mortician’s protective coveralls but would supply her own mask and gloves. Since she dealt with bacteria in any body she examined, she never took risks with inferior latex gloves or poorly fitted masks.
She returned to the car and gathered her test tubes and agars, her camera with multiple lenses, and her microscopic eyepieces. Since the ME had performed a full autopsy, there was no need for her to weigh the organs. She could gather all of her information without making further cuts to Graeme’s body.
The first task Jill performed when approaching any body was to crank up the lighting. She then put on protective clothing and her micro goggles. She always liked to start with a close examination of the entire exterior of the body.
Graeme had an athletic build. His skin was a light brown, suggesting a biracial heritage. She would have Emma check the death certificate. Some of her tests were race specific, so she would need to have a better handle on his heritage. During the examination she noted an irritated-appearing IV site with skin discoloration on the right upper arm. She spent considerable time photographing that arm and the leg above the amputation.
Next she used swabs to culture the skin discoloration and the right arm IV site and various other parts of the skin. She removed a number of long-needled syringes and a hand-held ultrasound device. Using ultrasound waves Jill determined the location of the needle inside Graeme’s torso. She aspirated a sampling from the heart, the lungs, and the marrow in his hips, his liver, and his kidneys.
She then used the ultrasound to determine where the arteries were and took blood samples from those locations. Two hours later as she finished her examination, someone from the funeral home brought the leg into the room. It would be nice that the leg could be buried with the rest of Graeme’s body.
Personally, Jill had put in her Will that she wanted to be cremated, but still she would want all of her parts with her when she entered the oven.
The leg was a mess, as one would expect. It had been diseased before it was removed 2 days ago, and it had not improved with time. The amputation was about 2 inches above the scuba diving injury. Again she took many pictures, cultured different parts of the gash from the coral, and took blood samples from the foot. She spent another 30 minutes with just the foot.
Interesting that it hadn’t been passed over to the ME, but then the pathology lab wouldn’t necessarily be aware that Graeme had died or that his body had been moved to the ME.
When Jill finished, she packed up all of her equipment and samples into special cases. Those cases could survive a car crash or being dropped from a height of 8 feet. She felt she owed it to her clients to protect her findings and samples. Sometimes, her specimens were the only physical evidence that law enforcement had for a case.
She removed her protective clothing and then wiped down her micro goggles and face shield. Finally, she did a surgical scrub on her hands to ensure their cleanliness. She thanked the mortician for the help, indicating that he could proceed with preparing Graeme for burial. She went outside, securely packed her cases in her car, and noted that dusk had settled over the sky.
Traffic had greatly improved since rush hour. Jill was over the Bay Bridge heading for home. She loved looking north toward the Golden Gate Bridge, barely visible, cloaked in fog. It presented a romantic view of the world.
As she drove home she speculated about the possible tests that she might run on the samples she had collected. How could someone be murdered by necrotizing fasciitis? Furthermore, if she wanted to prove that this case was murder by necrotizing fasciitis, how would she go about validating such a finding? Since becoming a consultant, she had found that the best path to follow was to assume that the deceased had been murdered.
It was her hypothesis. She then performed a series of tests to validate that theory. Jill found that rather than trying to decide if she agreed with a medical examiner's finding, it was more expedient to assume homicide, then try to build a case as though she was a defense attorney.
Chapter 4
She contacted Nathan once she got beyond city traffic. She explained her case to him and what specimens she'd collected and her impression of Graeme and Emma.
She asked him about his day, and he spoke of a new client. Like Jill, Nathan's new client would be a first-time vintner with this year's crop.
Unlike Jill, she had no education or feel for the vineyard. The client had brought a Merlot sample with her when she met with him, and he thought it had tasted sour. He hated putting his label design on her bottle. He had two label templates that he worked with, one that had his signature somewhere in the picture on the label and another that did not. Some vintners objected to him working his signature in to the scene on the label. With other vintners, while he appreciated the label commission, he disliked their wine and thus did not want his name associated with the contents, so he purposely left his signature off the label.
After more conversation, they agreed to dinner tomorrow to make up for the canceled date. An hour later, Jill pulled into her driveway and unloaded her equipment and samples. Trixie was excited to see her, with ball in mouth. Jill worked off Trixie's excess energy with a good round of chase-the-ball in the lights of the driveway. She then settled in her favorite chair with a glass of Moscato and her case notebook.
After her second case, she had taken the time to organize her thoughts as a consultant, and she designed a standardized plan. She took her forms and filled in data on the case. Some of the data fields would have to wait until she reviewed the records from the hospital and the medical examiner. Now she gave focused attention to her testing plan: How would she prove a homicide? With a few more hours of work, she fell into a deep sleep after the long day.
With her plan in hand, Jill spent the next morning organizing her samples and began some of the testing. She recorded her results and had a series of timers set for when some of the agars would be ready. She reviewed pictures she had taken and moved them to file folders. She studied the leg at length, as well as the odd tissue around the IV site that she had noted during her examination.
She also did some online research to refresh her memory on necrotizing fasciitis, other cases resulting from coral gashes, and the bacteria identified by the hospital as having been cultured from Graeme's wound. This case generated an uneasy feeling in her. It was too damn perfect. Perfect fiancé in a perfect house engaged to a perfect man dying of a textbook perfect sensational disease. Jill often had an intuitive sixth sense regarding cases in which she offered an opinion, in addition to the medical examiner’s. As impossible as it had seemed at the start of this case, she had a feeling that she would eventually convince the medical examiner that it was a homicide.
At lunch, she decided to take a break from her testing an
d her thoughts. She and Trixie had engaged in a rousing game of catch that morning, but now it was time to examine her vineyard. She would view the size of the grapes, taste a few, and try to detect any signs of pests. Just strolling through the grapes would clear her head for a while.
An hour later she returned to her lab. Some of the agars were reaching the first time in which she could run tests on what had grown there. These initial tests were fascinating. Graeme’s death had clearly been caused by septic shock, an overwhelming blood infection. The infection spread rapidly in the blood causing major organ failure and eventual death. However, Graeme’s infectious agent was a mystery. She had never before seen anything like these agars. The bacteria that had caused the initial necrotizing fasciitis in Graeme’s lower leg was exactly the same as that at the IV site in his arm. Yet the growth of the bacterial colonies was different. This could not have been a break in sterile technique on the part of hospital personnel.
Based on the reproduction of the bacteria, it was if someone had a vial of bacteria that first was spread on the leg wound and then a few days later injected into the IV site. Jill had seen her share of strange homicide methods, but this method, if proven, was very sophisticated. The killer would have to had knowledge of and access to microbiological agents. If, as Graeme had stated on his deathbed, there had been several attempts on his life, then this was an organized effort with likely more than one person involved.
She had many more tests to run and still awaited the copies of the hospital and medical examiner’s reports. Jill planned to speak with Emma this afternoon, but she would not reveal her thoughts as yet. She had one to two more days of testing in her lab, and she also sent out 2 specimens for additional testing to another lab. While she had a high-tech laboratory in her barn, she maintained a contract with a reference lab for some costly and rarely performed tests.
Nathan had cancelled their evening pizza date due to a meeting with a customer from Europe. They had re-scheduled for the second time in 2 days. Although the delays had been unavoidable, she swore that she would have pizza regardless tomorrow. She missed being with Nathan, but a pizza craving had to be uniquely satisfied.
She had a quiet evening and awoke early the next morning.
The day of Graeme’s funeral dawned sunny and bright. She would not call Emma today, as she thought that it was the wrong thing to do for many reasons. She returned to her laboratory reviewing data as test results became available. A tentative conclusion of homicide began to form in Jill’s mind based on scientific results. She had a few more agar growths she needed to check as well as the results from the reference lab that would not be available for a couple more days.
She wrapped up her findings so far and consolidated the data on to her forms. She would enter it into her computer tomorrow. She left her lab with the agars set up to run her final tests in the morning. She took the paperwork with her to the house so she could reflect on the case. She changed clothes, before driving to the pizza joint for her date with Nathan.
Chapter 5
Jill sat in her favorite booth sipping a glass of Chianti when Nathan strolled in to join her. After an exchange of an I missed you kiss, he settled into the booth.
Jill reminded herself how lucky she was to have found Nathan. She loved his tall, lean frame, glossy black hair, and gorgeous blue eyes. His artistic personality was a nice pairing to her scientific nature, rather like Chianti and pepperoni. She loved being in his company and their conversation. She tended to get wrapped up in her consult cases, and his very presence diverted and relaxed her brain thus balancing her world.
She thought that he might be the one man suited to her. They were taking it slow, as they had both exited long-term relationships within a year of meeting. They simply felt that there was no hurry to figure out that next step of living together or perhaps even getting married. They both liked their respective houses and functional outbuildings on their property. In her case, Jill had her lab and her winery to begin production of Moscato.
Nathan had his studio where he met with clients and designed labels. For some clients, beyond the label he provided branded marketing materials and signage relating to the label. His studio had a drafting table, CAD software, and a variety of industrial printers. For most clients he also served as the printer of the labels they would affix to their bottles. He had an assistant who did a production run of several thousand labels at a time. If he had branding materials larger than a legal size document, he appropriately sized the graphics and had the materials printed elsewhere.
Jill had Trixie, and Nathan had Arthur, a sleek grey cat. The 2 pets did not get along. Trixie viewed Arthur as prey to be chased, Arthur behaved as though Trixie was beneath his contempt. He stared down his nose at her, just out of reach, while grooming his paws. The 2 pets provided endless entertainment to Jill and Nathan. Thus far, neither of them had found sufficient reason to give up their homes, and their pets followed that same direction.
They fortunately had a shared passion for pizza and wine. They lingered over their wine after consuming a medium pizza. Jill gave Nathan a brief outline of her current case and her suspicions. She left out the names of the deceased in the normal course of conversation with anyone. She needed to keep a level of confidentiality for her clients.
“It is the most intriguing case I have investigated in the past several years. I am a snorkeler, so the whole scuba thing is beyond my knowledge.”
“Jill, since I’m a scuba diver, I’ll describe the preparation for a dive from start to finish.”
Jill strictly went for snorkeling. She found the ocean depth a little scary and preferred to stay on the surface. Nathan had used a concierge in the past to set up a quick scuba trip, so he helped her better understand the procedure for arranging an excursion.
They were going to her place after dinner, and she would share her notes with him. Nathan would be of real help to her investigation on this case. They wrapped up their discussion, paid the bill, and walked to their cars. She pulled out onto the highway to head home and could see Nathan in her rear view mirror.
Jill pulled into her driveway 15 minutes later. Something was not right, but she couldn’t put her finger on it. Trixie ran up to her car agitated. Nathan parked behind her car on the driveway. She got out of her car to calm Trixie, but the dog didn’t want to be soothed. Instead she tried to get Jill to follow her to the barn where her lab was located.
As Nathan exited his car, she said to him “Nathan, something is not right, and Trixie is leading me to my lab”.
It was then that Jill noticed the unlit exterior lights and the darkened yard.
Jill went back to her garage for a flashlight.
She murmured, “Now I know what was wrong when I pulled in. It is dark by the barn, which is normally lit up. Let me go see if there is a circuit breaker that has been tripped or something.”
Nathan followed her with a second flashlight that she handed to him. As she approached the barn, she hoped that her generator had kicked in. When she had designed the layout of her lab and the winery, she had had the barn specially wired for backup power. Her barn was better prepared for a loss of power than was her house. But the lights she had left on in her house were working, and she had noticed that her neighbors had electricity on their properties.
She had temperature sensitive agars growing, and her results would be invalidated if there was temperature variation outside the normal range. She couldn’t hear the generator running, but it was on the opposite side of the building so she wouldn’t hear it. As she reached the door handle, she noticed that the lock was damaged and the door ajar. She felt uneasy and was glad she had Nathan with her.
They walked in, and Jill noted the damage to her lab with the flashlight beam. She pulled out her cell phone and called the Sheriff to report the break-in. Meanwhile, she went back outside and around to where her generator was located. The generator had been switched to the off position. She moved it again to the on position, and the exte
rior lights flickered on. Whoever had done this was long gone, as she had been off the property for 3 hours. She didn’t think that this was random burglary or a typical residential break-in. Her valuables were in the house. The lab’s specimens and computers were the valuables in the barn at the moment.
No wonder Trixie was agitated. She must have heard the activity earlier. She was relieved that the dog had not been injured or killed by whoever had done this damage. She now had a second source of evidence that there was something suspicious about Graeme’s death.
She paused to hug Nathan. She was so glad to have him by her side at this moment. Jill felt apprehensive and afraid at being the target of some unknown person. After the brief but heartfelt hug, she gathered her inner spine, and returned to the entrance of the lab.
“I don’t want to disturb any evidence.” She handed sterile gloves to Nathan from a spare box she kept in her garage.
She turned on the interior lights, but they stayed off. Jill went to the circuit box and moved the switches, and the overhead lighting came on. Dismayed, she surveyed the mess. Broken glass littered the floor and counters.
“Nathan, can you lift Trixie and take her outside?”
Trixie weighted over 60 pounds and she didn’t like being lifted, but Jill wanted to make sure she didn’t step in an infectious agar or lab chemical substance, or slice her paws on broken glass. Once Nathan got her outside, they took her up to the house and then returned to the lab to resume examining the damage. Jill had toured Nathan through the lab several months ago, but it had been a neat and clean space at that time. Meanwhile, a Sheriff’s deputy officer arrived.