“I have no idea. He seemed healthy to me.”
Rebecca was filling out the identification form as she was asking the questions. “What was your relationship with the deceased? That’s the last question.”
“Employer,” Ben said.
32
MARCH 26, 2010
FRIDAY, 4:58 p.m.
Laurie got on the elevator first. She punched the button for the first floor but then pressed the door-open button and held it to keep the door from closing while Detective Lou Soldano and Jack boarded. Only then did she release the door, allowing it to close immediately.
Laurie was in a rare, self-congratulatory mood. Just before she’d gotten the call from Rebecca, she’d finished her mini-news conference—mini because it was attended only by Jack and Lou, concerning the only two cases she currently had: the two unidentified Japanese men, which according to Rebecca was now only one unidentified man.
In less than five minutes Laurie had been able to prove to Jack’s and Lou’s satisfaction that the second man, who was most likely a Yakuza hit man, as suggested by the extent of his tattoos, the pearling embedded in the shaft of his penis, and the fact that he was missing the last joint of his fifth finger, had killed the first individual during the commission of a robbery on a subway platform with an accomplice who was also of Japanese descent. She’d also been able to prove that the crime had most likely been carried out with an air-powered pellet gun hidden in an umbrella with a fatal dose of a toxin called tetrodotoxin.
The last point about the tetrodotoxin was not yet official, although Laurie was convinced. When Laurie had mentioned that final point in her presentation, she had admitted that the findings had yet to be certified by John DeVries. Although Laurie had come up with the correct peaks on the mass spec, John still wanted to certify the results by running the sample of known tetrodotoxin Laurie had gotten from the hospital next door.
“I cannot believe you’ve accomplished all this in two days,” Lou said. “You’re like an entire task force. You’re supposed to be part of the support for us detectives. Instead, you’ve done our job and yours. It’s unbelievable.”
“Thank you,” Laurie said. She knew she was blushing. Getting such a compliment from Lou truly meant a lot to her.
“On the security tapes there were two people involved in the killing,” Laurie said, to divert attention away from herself. “I hope you are taking that into consideration.”
“Don’t worry, I remember. From what you’ve said, there’s probably another body out there in the harbor, which I’ll get right on. It’s good that we’ll be getting an ID on the first guy. It will provide a solid place to begin our investigation. As I said this morning, my biggest fear is that whatever is going on might be the harbinger of a nasty turf war.”
“I don’t think number one was a member of the Yakuza,” Laurie said.
“We’ll see,” Lou said.
“And to think I tried to discourage you,” Jack said, speaking up for the first time.
“You tried to discourage her?” Lou asked, looking at Jack with a questioning expression.
“I did,” Jack confessed. “My sense was that her case was a natural death, especially after a completely negative autopsy. I didn’t want her to make a huge effort and then come up with nothing. Not on her first case.”
“It’s true,” Laurie said. “He tried to talk me out of watching the security video, which did take quite a while. And then, of course, was the threatening letter. I have to say, Jack, that was a low blow. I suppose it bothered you when I failed to respond to your prank.”
“What do you mean ‘threatening letter’?” Lou blurted with immediate concern.
“We occasionally get letters or e-mails from paranoid people who somehow misinterpret our role,” Laurie explained. “Usually we turn them in to the front office, who alerts security, and that’s the end of it. The people are usually grieving and angry, having a problem dealing with the loss of a family member and want to put blame someplace. They used to upset me, but one gets accustomed to just about anything. No big deal.”
The elevator door opened, and they all got out. Jack put a hand on Laurie’s shoulder and spoke very deliberately. “I didn’t write you a threatening letter! I’d never do that!”
Laurie tipped her head to the side. “You didn’t write me a letter threatening me if I didn’t stop my investigation into the first case?”
“Cross my heart and hope to die.”
“Are you sure?” Laurie questioned. “I mean, doesn’t it sound like your style of black humor? You were, after all, serious about trying to talk me out of continuing what I was doing.”
“Maybe in some respects it sounds like me, but I assure you, I’d certainly never do it to you.”
“What did the letter say?” Lou questioned
“I can’t remember exactly, but it was short and to the point. Something like if I didn’t stop working on the case there’d be consequences, and if I went to the police there’d be the same consequences. I mean, it was so over-the-top melodramatic. All the other letters I’ve ever gotten ran on and on with all sorts of ranting and raving. This one seemed like a joke in its brevity. Marlene had found it having been slipped under the front door. She put it on my computer keyboard.”
“I’d like to see this letter,” Lou said gravely.
“Fine,” Laurie said with false indifference. She couldn’t help feeling judged in the middle of a moment of glory, although she did feel a touch guilty. “Let’s first meet the Good Samaritan who has identified my first case. Then we’ll head back to my office and examine the letter.”
33
MARCH 26, 2010
FRIDAY, 5:08 p.m.
On second thought, maybe I should leave,” Ben said, pushing back his chair and standing up to stretch. Although he’d been waiting only a few minutes for the medical examiner, he’d begun to have second thoughts about agreeing to additional questions. It had occurred to him that although he wanted to appear cooperative, providing more information before obtaining counsel was probably not in his best interest. He had no idea if Satoshi’s death had anything to do with the six deaths in New Jersey, but the chances were that it did. Having discovered the mass murder and identified Satoshi’s body, he was going to be involved no matter what. It was best to limit any additional exposure and say no more. Ben was certain any defense lawyer he might hire would say exactly that.
Rebecca climbed out of her chair. “I wonder where Dr. Montgomery-Stapleton is? She said she was coming right down. Let me check.” Rebecca opened the door, and as she did so she saw Laurie approaching across the expanse of the foyer registration area. Behind her were Dr. Jack Stapleton and another man whom she did not recognize.
“Here comes the doctor,” Rebecca said, opening the door wider. Laurie came in with a bit of attitude after the conversation about the threatening letter but quickly recovered when introduced to Ben.
Ben was immediately taken by Laurie’s attractiveness and smile. For a brief moment his newly realized concerns about talking with the authorities moved to the back of his mind. A moment later, when he was introduced to Detective Captain Lou Soldano, they all came tumbling back. Meeting Dr. Jack Stapleton had no effect at all, not even the fact that he and Laurie shared the same last name. Ben was overwhelmingly concerned about meeting
