'You want me to come along? ' Vinnie asked.
'Thank you, but no, ' Jack said. 'But I appreciate the offer.' It didn't take Vinnie long to get the material, and by the time he reappeared Jack had gotten a small satchel he used to carry an extra set of underclothes back and forth between work and his apartment.
Especially during the summer, he sweated profusely on his morning bicycle commute and had to shower and change.
Jack threw all the supplies into the satchel, thanked Vinnie, and headed back to the loading dock. He found Warren and Flash on the , sidewalk. They were again arguing about whether Flash should go out to confront his brother-in-law.
As they piled into the car the two lifelong friends behaved as if they were angry with each other. Jack got into the spacious back seat, while Warren and Flash climbed into the front. The car was a five-year-old Cadillac.
'Can't we make this a pleasant trip? ' Jack asked, hoping to ease the tense atmosphere.
'He's crazy! ' Warren complained throwing his hands in the air. 'He's going to get himself in big trouble or killed, you know what I'm saying?'
'Yeah, but it was my sister who was murdered, ' Flash shot back. 'If it were yours, you'd feel the same way I do.'
'But you don't know she was murdered, ' Warren said. 'That's the whole point.
That's why we're here talking to the doc.'
'Listen, Flash, ' Jack said. 'I'm reasonably confident I'll be able to tell if there was foul play, but you might have to be patient. I might not be able to say definitively for a couple of days.'
'How come a couple of days? ' Flash asked. He swung around in his seat to glare at Jack. 'I thought you could tell if you just looked at her.'
'That might be, ' Jack said. 'But I kinda doubt it, since Randolph didn't see anything. He's not that bad an ME. What I'm concerned about.. .. .. ..
is some Kana or poison.
'Like what? ' Warren asked. He looked at Jack in his rearview mirror.
'Cyanide, for instance, ' Jack said. 'Of course that doesn't fit, since the oxygen level in her blood was low. Still, it's something to think about.'
'What else? ' Warren asked.
'Carbon monoxide has to be considered, ' Jack said. 'But the trouble with that is that she was described as being cyanotic, or blue, by the EMTS.'
'Is that all? ' Warren asked. 'No other poisons? '
'What is this, a test? ' Jack asked.
'No, I'm just interested, ' Warren said.
'Well, now you're pushing me, ' Jack said. 'But I suppose I'll be thinking about barbiturates, benzodiazopines, like Valium, ethylene glycol, and stuff like that. What all these agents have in common is theycause respiratory depression, which apparently Connie had.'
'How could her husband have killed her with carbon monoxide? ' Flash asked.
'Did they have a car? '
'Yeah, ' Flash said. 'They even had a garage.'
'Well, he could have gotten her drunk or drugged enough to put her in the car while it was running in the garage, ' Jack said. 'Or better still, with the exhaust piped directly into it. Then when she was nearly dead, he could have carried her into the bathroom and called nine-one-one.'
'He couldn't have carried her anyplace, ' Flash said.
'She was about three hundred fifty pounds.'
'I'm just giving you a hypothetical situation, ' Jack said. 'Hell, you guys! Come on, let's go! '
'You gotta tell me where to, ' Warren said.
'Kings County Hospital, ' Jack said. 'It's southeast of Prospect Park over in Brooklyn.'
'Should I take the FDR Drive? ' Warren asked.
'Yes, ' Jack said. 'And go over the Brooklyn Bridge. Then get on Flatbush Ave.' Warren started his car and they set off.
'Flash, ' Jack called from the back seat as they were heading along the East River. 'What are the chances that your sister could have committed suicide? '
'No way! ' Flash said without hesitation. 'She wasn't the type.'
'Was she ever depressed? '
'Not in the usual sense, ' Flash said.
'But maybe a little. It could have been why she ate so much. She knew she'd married a mental case.'
'How so? ' Jack asked.
'The dude did nothing, ' Flash said angrily. 'He'd come home from work and drink in front of the television. That was it, at least until a few months ago, when he started spending all his time in the basement.'
'Doing what? ' Jack asked.
1 i 'Tinkering around, I guess, ' Flash said. 'Connie didn't tell me what he did. I don't think she knew.'
'Did she drink a lot herself?'
'Nope, ' Flash said. 'Provided you're talking about booze.
Milkshakes are another story.'
'What about drugs? ' Jack asked.
'She wasn't into drugs, ' Flash said. 'Never was.'
'Where in Brooklyn did she live? ' Jack asked.
'Fifteen Oceanview Lane, ' Flash said.
'Where's that? '
'Brighton Beach, ' Flash said. 'She lived in a kinda cute area with a bunch of small wooden cottages. In the summer she could walk to the beach and take a swim. It was pretty nice.'
'Hmmm, ' Jack commented. He wondered what the place looked like. He couldn't imagine cottages within the New York City limits.
Parking around Kings County Hospital was a nightmare come true, but it didn't rattle Warren. In the trunk he had an old beat-up ash can with the bottom cut out. All he did was find a spot in front of a fire hydrant, park, and then cover the hydrant with the modified garbage can.
Jack marveled at the adaptions that city living required.
Outside of the medical examiner's office both Warren and Flash paused.
'Maybe we should wait out here, Warren said. He looked at Flash.
Flash nodded.
'Fine by me, ' Jack said. 'I'll try to make it fast.' Jack entered the building. He flashed his badge to the receptionist, who'd never seen him before. Duly impressed, she buzzed him in.
Not wanting to waste time, Jack went directly to the mortuary officenext to the autopsy room and walked through the open door. A mortuary tech was at the desk.
'Hi, I'm Dr. Jack Stapleton from the Manhattan office, ' Jack said with alacrity. He showed his badge as he'd done with the receptionist.
'Hello. I'm Doug Smithers. What can I do for you? ' The man was plainly surprised. Exchange visits were not the norm.
'A couple of things, ' Jack said. 'First, as a courtesy, would you page Dr. Randolph Sanders for me?
Ask him if he wouldn't mind comingdown here.'
'Okay, ' Doug said with a tinge of uncertainty. It wasn't part of a mortuary tech's job description to dictate to the MES.
He picked up the phone. When he got the doctor on the line, he relayed Jack's request verbatim.
'Perfect! ' Jack said. 'Now I'd like you to find a body for me and wheel it someplace where I can take a look at it.'
'Would you like it on a table in the autopsy room? '
'No, ' Jack said.
'I'm not going to be suiting up. I merely want to take a peek at the corpse and take a few body fluid samples.
