by Robin Cook
“What are we going to do?” Brennan asked, as if Vinnie was not standing there.
Carlo turned back to Vinnie, who was beginning to feel like an anxious mouse trapped by several cats. “Let me ask you something else. How do you think Dr. Montgomery would respond to a little grease on the order of several grand and maybe a grand for you?”
Nervous enough to be unsure of what was being asked of him, Vinnie said, “Are you talking about a bribe?”
“Some people call it that,” Carlo admitted. “There are lots of names.”
“I don’t think she’d respond well at all,” Vinnie said quickly. “I think offering her a bribe would make her certain there was something to be found. I mean, now she doesn’t know. All she knows is that it is rare not to find some pathology when you do an autopsy, maybe not enough to kill someone, but something abnormal. The man I work with the most—actually, Laurie’s husband—always finds something. It’s a challenge for him as well.”
“Anything else?’ Carlo asked Brennan. “Anything else you think we should ask?”
“I can’t think of anything,” Brennan admitted.
Carlo turned back to Vinnie. “It might turn out we have some more questions. How about you give us your cell phone number?”
Impatient to get away, Vinnie recited his phone number even though he didn’t want to do it.
“Thanks, buddy,” Carlo said, writing the number down. “Now, let’s see if there were any unintended mistakes made.” It was a 917 number, and Carlo quickly punched the numbers into his own phone. A moment later Vinnie’s personal ring sounded from his lab coat’s pocket. “Perfect,” Carlo said. He waited until Vinnie’s phone had answered the call before stopping it.
Carlo then reached out to shake Vinnie’s hand, and after doing so he squeezed tighter rather than letting go. “Remember about keeping quiet about our meeting,” Carlo said while looking unwaveringly into Vinnie’s dark pupils. “And if you can think of any way to dampen Laurie Montgomery-Stapleton’s enthusiasm for following up on the case of the subway platform, give me a call. As for my cell number, you have it on your phone.”
Finally, Carlo let go of Vinnie’s hand. “We’ll be around,” he said simply, and walked away. Brennan locked eyes with Vinnie for the briefest of moments and hurried after.
“Louie’s not going to be a happy camper when we tell him what we’ve learned about the case and Laurie Montgomery-Stapleton,” Brennan said.
“You can say that again,” Carlo responded.
Suddenly, Brennan stopped. “Wait a second! We forgot to ask Vinnie something else that Louie wanted us to ask.”
“What?”
Brennan turned, but Vinnie had already disappeared back into OCME.
“We forgot to ask if he had any suggestions of how Laurie Montgomery might be encouraged to just give up on Satoshi and sign him out as a natural death.”
“We asked him about whether she’d take a bribe.”
“But that’s not the same thing, you know what I’m saying? He might have another idea.”
They walked in silence until they got to the corner of First and 30th. Carlo pulled Brennan to a stop. “You’re right! We should have asked him.”
“Let’s call him. You wisely asked for his number—call him!”
“Good idea. Let’s do it from the car.” The car was where Carlo had left it, with its parking lights flashing. Unfortunately, there was already a parking ticket under the wiper, and a meter maid was standing next to it, waiting for a city tow truck. “Shit!”
“Sorry, ma’am,” Carlo said as he jogged up to the vehicle. “I had city business here at OCME.”
“Then you should have left the vehicle down the street with all OCME vans. We never bother tagging them.”
“Maybe you could reconsider this ticket,” Carlo said hopefully.
“Can’t do!” the meter maid responded. “Now get your SUV out of here before the tow guys arrive.”
Carlo mumbled some choice words for the meter maid but climbed into the SUV along with Brennan. Once settled behind the wheel, Carlo took out his cell phone and activated the redial button. Before the phone was answered, the meter maid was back rapping on his window.
“Okay, okay,” Carlo called out through the glass. As he started the engine, Vinnie answered.
“Now you’re going to get a ticket for being on your handheld while driving,” Brennan said, attracting a dirty look from Carlo. Hanging up on Vinnie before speaking, Carlo drove ahead on First Avenue until he could make a left onto a side street. Then he pulled over to the first fire hydrant and called Vinnie back.
“Let me get to a private spot,” Vinnie said when he answered. A minute later he added, “Okay. What’s up?”
“Listen,” Carlo said. “We realized we forgot to ask your opinion about this situation. Do you have any suggestions about Dr. Laurie Montgomery-Stapleton? Is there any way you can think of getting her to forget the subway case and just sign it out?”
“No, not at all. If I tried to do anything it would be the same as a bribe. It would make her more committed than she is now. Now it’s just an oddball challenge for her own personal reasons. If she thinks there is some criminality involved, it will turn her into a dog with a bone. I know because there already have been several cases in which she’d said A and everyone else said B, and after she’d looked into it, it turned out she was right. Besides, I don’t want to be involved with you people. I’m sorry, but it is true. I mean, I’m not going to say anything to nobody, like the fact that you were here or anything like that.”
Brennan, who could hear both sides of the conversation, motioned for Carlo to hand him the phone. With a shrug, Carlo handed it over.
“It’s Brennan. Listen! What about you writing an anonymous note saying that there are some nasty people who want the subway natural death to be signed out immediately, as it is an insurance issue for the family.”
“How can it be an insurance issue if the person hasn’t been identified?”
“Good point!” Brennan admitted. “Well, forget the insurance issue. Just write it so she knows that if she doesn’t leave it be as she’s already found it, being a natural death, she’s in trouble, big trouble. Make sure she knows it’s serious situation.”
“Then she’d hand it to the police, and then the police will know something is amiss. I don’t mean to tell you guys how to run your business, but my thought is that anything you do that calls attention to the victim will increase the odds that Dr. Montgomery-Stapleton will look at the case with more suspicion.”
“What if you include in the note that if she talks to the police or anyone, she’s going to suffer. I mean, if I were this doctor, and I got a note saying that I would somehow suffer if I didn’t ease up on an autopsy case by signing it out as I saw it, meaning natural death, I would sign it out in the blink of an eye. Why would I take any risk in such a circumstance?”
“That’s you and not Laurie Montgomery-Stapleton.”
“Hang on,” Brennan said. He looked at Carlo. “What should I say? It seems to me having a threatening note written is what Louie had in mind when he sent us over here. He practically said as much. I mean, how else is Vinnie going to ‘convey a threat.’ ”
“I think you are right,” Carlo said. “Plus, she just came back from a maternity leave. Isn’t that what Vinnie said, or am I making it up?”
Brennan put the phone back to his ear and asked Vinnie.
“Yes,” Vinnie said. “This is her first day back, and it has something to do with her continuing interest in this case.”
“Women change after they have a child,” Carlo said. “I know. My wife has had two children. Being a mother takes over, and they’ll do anything to protect their children.”
“Did you hear that?” Brennan asked Vinnie.
“I heard it,” Vinnie responded. He was getting progressively worried about having anything to do with these people.
“So compose a note for her that there’s goin
g to be serious consequences for her and her family unless she signs out the case. Be sure to emphasize family. And be sure to emphasize that there will be the same consequences if she tells anyone about the note, particularly the police. It doesn’t have to be as long as War and Peace. In fact, clarity is more important than length.”
“I thought you said earlier that I wasn’t going to have to do anything, that all you wanted to do was ask a couple of questions.”
“You’re not going to give us any trouble, are you?” Brennan questioned, lowering his voice. “Actually, we are heading out to your house right this moment to watch your girls come home from school.”
Carlo made a questioning expression. Brennan waved him off.
“No,” Vinnie responded quickly. “No, thanks.”
“Okay,” Brennan said. “I tell you what. Compose the letter and then call back on this line. We might have some editorial input.”
Brennan handed the phone back to Carlo. Carlo took it, abruptly disconnected, and dialed Louie. “I think we should give the bad news to Louie sooner rather than later,” he said to Brennan as the call went through.
“Good idea,” Brennan said. “Let’s also run the idea of the threatening letter by him to get his input. I mean, it is taking a chance if all it does is increase this lady doctor’s curiosity rather than scare the pants off her.”
“It’s Carlo,” Carlo said when Louie picked up. “I’m afraid we have bad news....”
13
MARCH 25, 2010
THURSDAY, 4:45 p.m.
Laurie had the taxi drop her off directly in front of OCME so she didn’t have to cross First Avenue, which was bumper-to-bumper with traffic. It was rush hour in full swing. It had taken her well over an hour to get from Midtown North Precinct back to OCME, which should have taken less than half that. New York City traffic was worse than ever.
She waved at Marlene as she entered, then headed for the third floor. Before reaching her office, she poked her head into Jack’s open doorway.
“Where the hell have you been?” Jack asked, pretending to be irritated. “I’ve stopped into your office several times, and I knew you weren’t in the pit.”
Laurie’s face assumed a mischievous smile as she dug in her shoulder bag and produced two computer disks. She held them up for Jack to see.
“What have you got?” Jack asked as he leaned back in his desk chair and stretched. In front of him was a mass of case files, books, journals, microscope slides, and lab reports, as well as a hair dryer with its cowling off, exposing its innards, suggesting he was doing twenty things at once. He was wearing latex surgical gloves.
“A couple of exciting movies,” Laurie said.
Jack made a face of exaggerated disbelief.
“Really,” Laurie persisted. “Thrillers, I’m sure.”
“Come on,” Jack said. He reached out and took one, which was labeled NYPD. “What in tarnation?”
“Video from each of the cameras at the A train platform at Columbus Circle.”
Jack allowed his shoulders to slump as he let out a deep breath. “Don’t tell me you are planning on watching all this. What’s it, ten hours of people getting on and off the subway?”
“More like seven.”
“And you’re planning on watching it all.”
“If I have to,” Laurie said proudly. “I know it’s going to lack something in plot and characterization, and it will probably be in grainy black and white, but I’m going to watch it just the same.”
“Laurie, if you don’t mind me saying this, I think you’re going overboard on your one and only case. Why on earth would you be willing to subject yourself to such torture? Just because you found no pathology on the case isn’t a healthy reason to beat yourself up. Tomorrow, when we come in, you can check the slides, as I’m sure you asked Maureen O’Conner to do them overnight, and you can check the toxicology screen, because I’m sure you asked John for a rush on that, too, and then be done with it. You don’t need to watch seven hours of video.”
“I’m counting on getting new cases in the morning.”
“Then all the better. So that means you check the histology and the toxicology in the afternoon, and I’m sure it is going to be negative, case closed, death certificate signed and delivered.”
“The security video might show me something I need to know.”
“Like what?”
“Like whether the victim had a seizure or not. The nine-one-one caller wasn’t certain. It was a fleeting image that he got while he was compressed in a surging crowd and being pushed onto the train.”
“Hmm,” Jack said. “I suppose that could be significant information. Anyway, I commend you for your thoroughness. I doubt that anyone else here would have thought of getting security tapes. Tell me! Are you just getting back now or have you already been to your office?”
“I’m just getting back now,” Laurie said. “Why do you ask?”
“Not for any particular reason,” Jack said distractedly.
Laurie looked askance at Jack. It seemed to her that he had a kind of mischievous smile on his face where the corners of his mouth were slightly curved upward.
“Really?” she questioned. “Why did you ask me if I’d been to my office?”
“Oh, it’s not a big thing,” Jack said. “The last time I was in there looking for you, I noticed a note from John with a normal blood alcohol level on your case. I guessed that you had managed somehow to get him to do it stat. I was wondering if you’d had a chance to see it?” He chuckled.
“No, I haven’t seen it yet,” Laurie said, somewhat confused. Sometimes Jack could act slightly weird, and this was one of those times. When it did happen, she tended to attribute it to his tendency to be thinking about a dozen issues all at the same time, as the mess on his desk suggested he was doing at that moment.
“What time do you want to head home?” Laurie questioned to change the subject. She was anxious to leave. She’d made it a point, with effort, not to call Leticia for Leticia’s benefit. And since Leticia had not called her, she’d been out of touch for longer than she felt comfortable with. She wanted to know when Jack was willing to leave so she could use it as an excuse to call to let Leticia know when they’d be home.
Jack shrugged. “How about after I write up what I’ve found here. It’s pretty interesting—at least to me.”
“Are you talking about the hair dryer?” Laurie asked.
“I am indeed,” Jack said as he picked up the appliance. “Remember the case I was just beginning when you’d finished your case.”
“The Delta cabin attendant. What did you find?”
“I found what you found: nothing. Well, it was nothing, if you discount the insignificant uterine fibroids. So I called down to Bart Arnold and asked if he could send one of the MLIs back to the woman’s apartment and gather up all the handheld appliances from the bathroom, which he did. I got the hair dryer and that dental contraption. What’s it called?”
“Waterpik.”
“Anyway, the Waterpik was fine, but look at this hair dryer!” Jack picked up the apparatus and applied the contacts of a voltmeter to one of the prongs of the plug and the remaining casing. He then leaned back so Laurie could read the gauge.
“Zero ohms!” she said, reminding her that she’d had a similar case the first year at OCME. “Low-voltage electrocution.”
“Which is why the boyfriend saw her walk out of the bathroom before collapsing and dying.”
“But it looks like a new hair dryer!”
“I agree, which makes the case doubly interesting. Take a peek inside at that black wire.” Jack pointed with a screwdriver.
“It looks like it’s been stripped, going over that metallic edge of the dryer’s chassis.”
“My opinion exactly. When the young woman got out of the shower, maybe even standing on a damp floor, and turned on the hair dryer, she got zapped.”
“It was a homicide, then, for certain,” Laurie said. “Good pic
kup. Did she have any burns, like on the soles of her feet?”
“Nothing,” Jack said. “But that’s not too surprising, since one-third of low-voltage electrocutions don’t have any burns.”
“How did you remember that?”
“I didn’t,” Jack admitted. “I just read it before you popped in.”
“Do you think the boyfriend did it, maybe while the victim was on her trip?”
“It would be my guess, but it might be hard to prove. One way would be to find the boyfriend’s fingerprints somewhere inside the hair dryer, which is why I’m wearing gloves. Whose ever prints are in there is guilty of murder.”
“Good pickup,” Laurie repeated wistfully. It was just the kind of case she wished she’d come back to. It required experience, knowledge, and a certain creativity to put it all together, and in return it provided a true feeling of accomplishment that justice might be served.
“So how long will you need to write up the report about the hair dryer?”
“About a half-hour.”
“Okay. As soon as you finish, come down to my office and we’ll head home.”
“Has everything been okay with Leticia and JJ?”
“Apparently I’m not quite as indispensable as I thought. Everything’s gone smoothly. Leticia even told me not to call so often.”
“In so many words.”
“In so many words.”
“I have to say, such a comment seems mildly inappropriate.”
“I have to agree with you.”
“See you in thirty minutes.”
Laurie pulled out her cell phone as she walked the quiet third-floor hallway. With Jack’s comment as encouragement, she dialed Leticia. She waved as she passed the deputy chief’s door, but Calvin Washington was too busy to notice. As she approached her office, Leticia still had not picked up. As she entered, she began to count the rings. By the time she’d put down her bag and the two computer disks, she’d reached ten. By the time she’d hung up her coat, she was nearing fifteen. Finally, on the seventeenth ring, the phone was picked up. By that time, Laurie’s heart rate had reached approximately one hundred and fifty.