Death On A Green (Jill Quint, MD, Forensic Pathologist Book 4)

by Alec Peche

  “Randall and I were colleagues at Our Lady of Guadalupe Hospital. I have a cabin in Cook County that my family uses for hunting, fishing, and snowmobiling. I invited Randy to the cabin for a snowmobile vacation. He had never been snowmobiling before and as I keep four sleds at the cabin it was a great opportunity for him to try this activity. We had planned two nights at my cabin. We drove up after work on a Friday, reaching the cabin in the evening. It is about a three hour drive from Green Bay. The next morning we planned to spend the whole day snowmobiling. We drove through the woods in the morning and stopped at a restaurant for lunch. We went out again after lunch. We had been in the woods for about an hour when Randy started slowing his snowmobile. He came to a halt as did I behind him. I got off my machine and approached Randy to see what was wrong. I thought he was having a mechanical problem with the snowmobile. However when I got to his side I saw the classic symptoms of a massive heart attack. Using my cell phone I dialed 911 but unfortunately I was in an area of no reception. I carry a first aid kit on my snowmobile but I knew it included nothing for heart attack. There was no aspirin or nitroglycerin in the kit. I assisted Randy to the ground as he was beginning to lose consciousness from the effects of a heart attack. Once I had him flat on the ground, I opened his jacket and checked his carotid artery for a pulse. There was none and I started CPR. I knew the odds were poor that I could save him. I continued CPR for twenty minutes and as I still had no pulse and he was quite blue, I knew my efforts were futile and I stopped. I then hopped on my snowmobile until I found cell reception and could call for emergency help.

  "About seven minutes after I made the call, the first responders arrived. I used my snowmobile to ferry the first responders to where Randy lay. They agreed that Randy was dead and so the snowmobile was used to take him back to the first responders’s vehicles. About three hours later, I received a call from the coroner and I recounted to her what had happened in the woods. I think that was pretty much it. Did I leave anything out from the statement I made at the time of Randy's death?”

  "Thank you, Dr. Lewis,” Payne acknowledged. “What you described correlates well to your statement six months ago. Did Dr. Phillips have a history of heart disease?"

  "I wouldn't know. We were work colleagues and I had not heard of him having heart disease. Sudden death in someone Randy's age is usually the result of a fat deposit or blood clot blocking the major arteries of the heart. Even if I had had a defibrillator in my first aid kit, it would not have saved him as it would not have removed the fat deposit or blood clot. The only thing that would've made a difference is if he had had this heart attack while standing outside a cardiac catheterization lab.”

  "Would you describe Dr. Phillips’s symptoms when you approached him on the snowmobile?”

  "He was in severe pain and breathing fast because of the pain. He got a few words out but then rapidly slumped into unconsciousness. I would guess that from the time I approached him to his becoming unconscious that perhaps sixty seconds passed.”

  "Based upon the symptoms you observed, you diagnosed sudden death by heart attack and passed that information on to the County coroner, correct?”

  “That is correct.”

  "Did you advise the coroner to do an autopsy to verify your diagnosis of the situation?” Payne asked.

  "I did advise the coroner that in my physician’s opinion and from being on the scene that a heart attack was the clear-cut cause of death of Randy. I thought the family would appreciate if Randy was not cut up during an autopsy just to verify my recommended cause of death. The coroner agreed with that recommendation.

  “Gentlemen, I'm not hearing any new questions or any new information regarding Randy's death,” Dr. Lewis advised. "What was the purpose in having me come down to the station to answer these questions?"

  "We just wanted to verify your statement of the events that took place at the time of Dr. Phillips's death,” replied Deputy Payne. “We'd like to show you some new details concerning this case. Detective Van Bruggin is going to play a short video for you to watch and comment on.”

  Soon the video of the snowmobile scene was played on the laptop monitor that Van Bruggin had sitting on the interview room table. Dr. Lewis remained motionless and expressionless throughout the seven minute video.

  Van Bruggin asked, “Do you want to watch that again?”

  “No,” replied Dr. Lewis. “Where did that video come from?”

  “There are a variety of satellites in the sky primarily used for military or security purposes. We asked for a copy of the video feed for the time around Dr. Easley's death on the golf course. After we reviewed that tape and learned of another physician death at the same hospital, we went back to the satellite company and asked for the video feed for the time of Dr. Phillips's death.”

  Dr. Lewis asked, "What did you learn about Dr. Easley's death from the video feed?"

  "We learned many things including that the shooter hid out in the forest behind the second hole for several hours until it got dark," replied Van Bruggin.

  Deputy Payne asked, “What you observe about Dr. Phillips in this video does not match your statement both from the day of the event and what you retold this morning. Do you want to change anything that you told us today?"

  “No I have nothing to add. Is this interview over? I need to be somewhere in a few minutes,” replied Dr. Lewis as he stood up and got ready to leave the room.

  Both detectives were so nonplussed by the response that they momentarily said nothing; so Dr. Lewis just opened the door and walked out of the interview room and out of the police building.

  Jill asked Haro, “Aren’t you going to detain him?”

  “On what grounds? People lie to the cops all the time. I need more evidence to charge the good doctor with anything.”

  “But,” said Jill as she paused for a moment thinking of charges and then closed her mouth. Detective Van Bruggin and Deputy Payne joined them in the observation area.

  “I am sure we will find evidence, it just takes time,” said Payne. “What we didn’t tell him is that the body is being exhumed tomorrow morning. If you have a moment, I would like to go over constructing an agreement to have you consult on the autopsy. Detective Van Bruggin indicated that you would be available to assist our coroner.”

  Jill’s mind was still arguing inside her head about letting Dr. Lewis go free. It took her a moment longer to put it in gear and acknowledge the deputy.

  “Yes, I can help with the autopsy and I’m very easy to work with on a contract. I’d like to charge the county for two things - one, the cost of changing my airline ticket home and two, I would like to have my autopsy kit overnighted to Green Bay. Can Cook County cover the cost of those two requirements?”

  Payne smiled, “Ma’am, I was sent here with more purchasing power than you have asked for. If we can get someone to type those requirements onto a page that you and I sign then we are good to go. Let’s move on and talk about what will happen with the autopsy. We have made arrangements to use the medical examiner facilities in this building. Our coroner who is a nurse by background will be listed as the person signing off on the autopsy. You may work with our coroner or conduct a separate autopsy of the victim. Whatever works for your examination. Regardless, I’ll be in the room for one or both autopsies.”

  “Thanks Deputy Payne. I would prefer to work side by side with your coroner and do a single autopsy, but it will depend on the communication skills between the two of us.”

  “Our coroner has read your bio and looked up some of the high profile cases you have helped police agencies solve. She is very much looking forward to ‘working and learning from Dr. Quint’ was her statement. I’d like to set your mind at ease that you will not feel any friction from our end. We think we’re pretty lucky to have you to guide us through the examination.”

  Jill had forgotten how welcoming and friendly people were in Wisconsin. She was starting to have high hopes that the exhumation would go well tomorrow. Then
she thought of a question.

  “Have you ever had an exhumation before in your County?”

  "No ma'am, I haven't and I looked at the County records and this is the first exhumation in the history of the County. Given the grief that we are putting the family through, they want to get it right this time. Once the family agreed yesterday during our telephone call I was able to get a judge to sign a court order to begin the process. In my ten years on the force, we've never had a murder in the County. So if this proves to be a homicide, it will be something we don't have much experience with in the County and we appreciate all the help we can get finding the right answers and assisting Dr. Phillips’s family during this terrible time.”

  Jill was impressed and pleased to be working alongside such good law enforcement officers. She had no complaint about anyone she had worked with on this case. Everyone was cooperative which made her job so much easier.

  "That's great news. If you'll excuse me, I need to step out to have my autopsy kit shipped to me if it's going to reach me by the time of the autopsy tomorrow."

  Jill stepped out and made a quick call to Nathan. She kept a flyable kit in her car’s trunk and he could easily drop it off at a shipping company office before noon California time. When they had spoken that morning, she had warned him that she might need his help in getting the kit to her. She then returned to finish the conversation with the deputy.

  "Your coroner probably has all the right instruments, but we really want to provide the family with answers as soon as we can. Often I'll fly or drive specimens to my own lab for processing. In this case, I assume there's some kind of reciprocity for Cook County with Brown County to use their contracts to process blood work and pathology samples from the autopsy itself?”

  “Yes, we have such an arrangement for other DNA evidence, so we’ll handle it the same way here,” replied Payne.

  “What is your turnaround time on results usually?”

  “Depends on what it is. If it is a blood alcohol level, then it can be as soon as an hour. I am thinking that you have more sophisticated tests that may take longer.”

  “Detectives, do you have your own crime lab in Green Bay or do you send out tests to a regional crime lab or to a hospital?”

  “Blood alcohol gets processed by local hospitals, everything else goes to the crime lab.”

  “What I would like to do is to take double samples of everything worth sampling during the autopsy. I’ll fly back to California in the evening after we've completed the autopsy. I’ll process the specimens in my own laboratory which will get you the results much sooner. You'll still want the results from the state crime lab should the case go to trial, but I can give you a jumpstart on the results."

  "That sounds like a plan. By the way, Mrs. Phillips would like to talk to you at the end of the autopsy,” remarked Deputy Payne. “Will that be a problem for you?"

  "It shouldn't be. If you get Dr. Phillips’s remains to us by noon, we’ll have time to do the autopsy, speak with Mrs. Phillips, and for me to make my flight home. It would only be if we run into the problems with the autopsy that I might be forced to cancel on Mrs. Phillips in order to make it to the airport to go home. If that happens, I could set up a video conference call with your coroner and Mrs. Phillips from the Minneapolis airport while I'm changing planes."

  "Great, it sounds like we're done with arrangements for the autopsy," Angela noted. "Can we go back to the interview for minute or two?"

  Angela received nods of approval from the deputy and detectives.

  "In my opinion, I believe that the entire story that Dr. Lewis told this morning was a lie. If you go back and look at your interview tape he had completely different body language when he was confirming his name, address, and his presence near Dr. Phillips last winter. Nearly everything he said after that personal information verification, I believe he knew to be a lie. Watch his eye motion, his lip motion, and his right hand. At the end of the interview, when he uttered his final sentence, his behavior returned to that of the beginning of the interview when he was asked for his full name and if he was present at the death of Dr. Phillips. He is a really easy read, but knowing that he is lying doesn’t do you much good since you knew that already through the video feed.”

  “Yes, we did know he was lying, but it helps to have your clues on his body language,” Van Bruggin noted. “I think today was the first of several conversations we’ll be having with Dr. Lewis. We were respectful this time during this interview; we won’t be the next time.”

  “I think we’re done here,” Jill observed. “Deputy Payne, if you have an email address for your coroner, I would like to reach out to her later today to discuss our approach on the autopsy.”

  “If you’ll give me your email address, I’ll perform an introduction and the two of you can take it from there. Here is my card.”

  “Great, I’ll email you right now,” Jill said, pulling out her phone and hitting a few keystrokes.

  They turned and started to go when Angela turned back and said “there is one more thing we should tell you about.”

  “Yes?”

  “We were out at the Libertine last night around ten when Dr. Lewis arrived. After the poor interaction Jill had with the good doctor yesterday, we figured it was best to get her out of there before she was seen and Jo and Marie did just that. I paid our tab and we soon settled in at Fox Heights bar a few doors away. Dr. Lewis acted like he was waiting for someone, so we decided to do surveillance on him by checking the bar every five minutes.”

  The three law enforcement officers were staring, slack-jawed, at Angela and were all wearing the same expression of curiosity about what would come next in her narrative. Angela could see their distress at the thought that the women had, once again, placed themselves in a potentially dangerous situation.

  “Seriously you guys shouldn’t play poker as your faces are so easy to read. You need to stop worrying about whether we will sabotage your investigation or become victims ourselves. Someday you’ll fully appreciate our contribution to this case.”

  “Since you know what we are thinking, can you just put an end to our curiosity of who met Dr. Lewis at the bar?” urged detective Haro.

  “Sure. He met Michelle Easley at the bar about twenty minutes after he arrived.”

  “What? Are you sure? At ten in the evening?” asked Van Bruggin.

  “Yes we’re sure. Even though Michelle hired us, we have had a weird feeling about her from the beginning. Besides we interviewed her for an hour one evening so we are sure as to identification.”

  “I am afraid to ask this next question for what you’ll tell me, but what did you ladies do next? In my short acquaintance with you, I would predict your behavior was not to leave this meeting alone, so I am sure you did more. What happened?”

  “Marie got a selfie of herself standing outside of the bar window and you can see the two of them in the background. We weren’t sure what to do next - whether to observe for a while longer or leave. We just felt a need to get out of the immediate neighborhood. So we walked across the bridge to Titletown Brewery to huddle there. After another half an hour, Jo was ready to call it a night, so she walked toward the Libertine as that was where her car was parked. As she approached her car, Dr. Lewis and Michelle left the bar and strode down the street in front her, so rather than going to her car, she continued to follow them at a distance. Michelle got into her own vehicle and left. Jo continued down the street to where Dr. Lewis was standing and asked him which way to St. Brendan’s. That was the last we saw of them. We were just surprised that the night before her husband’s funeral, she is meeting a male friend at a bar at ten o’clock at night. This relationship may have something to do with this case… or it may not.”

  “I guess I am like you ladies in that I don’t know what to make of this information. My immediate thought is that they needed Dr. Easley out of the way for their own relationship, but then what has Dr. Lewis done with his wife?” Haro observed.


  Angela suggested, “When you pull the telephone records for the time around Dr. Phillips’s death, I thought you might look at the possibility of calls between him and Michelle. Again that doesn’t give you proof of anything, but it would be interesting to know.”

  “Good point and I’ll do that once I get the records,” Haro replied.

  With that the group split up and went their separate ways. Angela and Jill discussed what they wanted to do for the remainder of the day.

  “Do you want to go golfing again?” asked Jill. “We never got a full round in the other day.”

  “That sounds like a great idea. Let’s see if Marie and Jo are available for a two o’clock tee time at Coyote Creek. We haven’t played that course this year and it’s always so lovely there.”

  Jill called Marie and then Jo, while Angela was heading back to her house so they could change clothes. Soon they were driving to the golf course. They hadn’t had time for lunch yet, so the plan was to grab something to eat at the golf course bar and by the time they finished it would be tee time. After a great late lunch, they exited the bar to head over to the first tee where they were expecting to tee off in ten minutes.

  Once Jo and Marie walked over to the tee box, Jo asked, “Now that we have some privacy, what happened this morning at the station? Did Dr. Lewis confess?"

  Angela described their morning including the lack of confession by Dr. Lewis. She then went on to add, "Jill is staying an extra twenty-four hours as the Cook County Sheriff has hired her to be an expert consultant during the autopsy of Dr. Randall Phillips. The family is in agreement with exhuming the body and Jill's expecting to begin the autopsy tomorrow about noon. I also relayed our chance meeting with Dr. Lewis and Michelle last night."

  "So what did our erstwhile detectives make of that strange meeting?” asked Jo.

  "They didn't know what to make of the two of them getting together," replied Jill. "Angela suggested they look at the phone records when they get them to see if there were calls to Michelle.”