Both Ross Kingsley and Diane looked at Lynn Webber with raised eyebrows. Ross had his coffee cup halfway to his lips, about to drink the last sip. He held it there.
“There must be a story here,” he said.
“There is. It’s a two-cups-of-coffee story,” said Lynn.
She poured them each another cup.
“About seven years ago, Doppelmeyer was the medical examiner in South Carolina and I was assistant ME to him. One evening I was called to the apartment of a young couple after neighbors heard a gunshot and alerted the police. She was on the couch, gun in hand, with a bullet entry wound in her right temple and a big exit wound in the left side of the head. It was messy. She had been dead only about fifteen minutes by the time I got there. She held the gun so tight in her hand, it took me and two paramedics to pry it loose.
“The neighbors said she and her husband had been arguing. The arguing stopped. A few minutes later there was the gunshot. The husband was an accountant and said he left the apartment following the argument and went to his office to work. That’s where the police found him.”
She took a sip of coffee and set down her cup, almost spilling it on the glass coffee table.
“I did the autopsy, determined the manner of death to be suicide, and released the coroner’s report. Well, you would have thought I had just given national secrets to the Russians. What I didn’t know, but wouldn’t have changed anything if I had been aware, was that her parents were well connected. They hated the son-in-law and were convinced he shot her and left her there with her brains spattered all over the white couch they had given the couple. The district attorney liked that story better than mine and he had the police arrest the young man.”
Diane and Ross were quiet during her story, Diane because she knew Lynn and knew better than to interrupt her with questions, and Kingsley because he was enjoying watching her tell it. Lynn also talked with her hands and was quite animated.
“To make a very long story a little shorter,” she said, “Doppelmeyer changed my report to say the manner of death was homicide. It went to trial and the defense called me. I testified that it was suicide. I explained about cadaver spasm and how we had to pry, with great difficulty, the gun from her hand. The prosecution, the family, and Doppelmeyer all came down hard on me. Doppelmeyer took the stand and told the jury I was incompetent and he had to constantly check my work-a blatant lie. He told them that what I called cadaver spasm was simply early onset of rigor mortis and the rigor caused her to hold on to the gun that her husband had placed there. He intimated that I had been out drinking before I got the call-I had been out to dinner, but not drinking. It was just awful. I was fired. Me, fired!” She frowned and shook her head.
Diane half expected her to stamp her foot.
“The poor husband was sent to prison. He did get out three years later because the prosecution had made several other errors in the trial and the defense attorney gave the new prosecutor a ton of information about cadaver spasm. But you know, there are people in South Carolina today who think that poor fella killed his wife.”
Lynn’s cheeks had turned pink during the telling of the story. Diane could see it still stung.
“I can tell you this,” said Lynn. “I’m willing to bet that when Doppelmeyer saw this photograph, he made up his mind this girl was trash. Not only is he a pig, he is a self-righteous pig.”
“That is a terrible story,” said Diane.
“It is, isn’t it?” said Lynn. “My parents wanted me to leave forensics and become a pediatrician. I told them no one was going to bring their children to me with this cloud over my head. I got a job in Atlanta, where I built my reputation back up. Let me tell you, that’s why, when I go to court now, I have every kind of documentation you can think of.”
“So,” said Kingsley, “you aren’t going to mind the fallout caused by a redo of his autopsy?”
“Mind?” said Lynn. “Honey, I welcome the fallout. I’m older now and have had a lot more experience in court.”
Diane called Frank to tell him she was on her way home. He said he was ordering Chinese and to ask Kingsley to stay for dinner. The delivery arrived at the same time she and Ross pulled into the drive. Ross waylaid the delivery man and paid for the food.
“You didn’t have to do that,” said Diane.
“Oh, it’s one of the perks of your being my consultant,” he said, and they carried it inside.
“Ah, it’s good to eat,” said Kingsley, sitting down at the table. “Sometimes when I’m working, I tend to forget to eat.” After a few bites and a drink of hot tea, he said, “Lynn Webber likes to have her ego stroked a bit, doesn’t she? I noticed that you’re a little shameless at it.” Ross grinned at Diane as he helped himself to some sweet and sour chicken.
“She does good work, she’s not afraid of politics, and she’s honest,” said Diane. “She also is good to her dieners. Yes, she likes people to notice her work. It’s a small price to pay.” Diane smiled back at him. Lynn was also supersensitive to even the most gentle slight, but Diane didn’t mention that.
“So, is she going to be reliable?” Kingsley asked.
“Yes, she’ll be fine,” said Diane.
“She seemed a little too eager to give Doppelmeyer the shaft,” said Kingsley.
“I’m sure she is very eager, but she won’t lie, nor will she exaggerate. What you will get is more corroborating information than you will know what to do with-and plenty of photographs. Of course, you realize her findings could agree with Doppelmeyer’s. In which case, Lynn will be very disappointed, but she won’t fudge the data,” Diane assured him.
“I got the impression she can be vindictive,” said Kingsley.
Diane nodded. “Perhaps. But as I said, she won’t lie. And she won’t get caught putting dead rotting fish under his house or frozen shrimp in his curtain rods.”
Kingsley put a hand over his mouth to keep from laughing and spraying his hot tea. “Touche,” he said, when he was able to talk.
Frank rolled his eyes.
“Today was a fruitful day,” Kingsley said. “I knew it was a good idea to ask for your help.”
“I’ll process the evidence we collected, but you’ll have to interview the army of possible suspects Jin pointed out,” said Diane.
“Perhaps the evidence will point us in a direction,” said Kingsley.
“Hopefully, the evidence and the new autopsy will give you enough ammunition to get the lead detective to reopen the case,” said Frank. “I’ve heard of the detective you said handled the case. He’s a little lazy and pigheaded, but I don’t think he is dishonest.”
“For the father’s sake, I’m hoping the solution will clear Ryan Dance of the murder that seems to have started this whole chain of events,” said Kingsley.
“Maybe you need to start retracing the steps of the young woman, Stacy,” said Frank. “If she was trying to clear her brother, she probably talked to the witnesses and to the family of the victim. They might point you in the right direction.”
“Oh,” said Diane, “I just had a terrible thought. From what you said, Ellie Carruthers’ family were certain it was Ryan Dance who killed their daughter. What if they were afraid Stacy might be successful in getting Ryan released from prison? They still think he’s guilty. It would be awful if it was someone in Ellie’s family who killed Stacy to stop her.”
“That’s an unpleasant thought,” said Kingsley, frowning. “I hope it’s not that.”
“There’s going to be some blowback with the new autopsy,” said Diane. “Is that going to be a problem with your employers?”
“No. The firm handles blowback. It’s usually good publicity. It shows potential clients that when we take a case, things get done. I think my bosses will like it. The more, the better. Our biggest clientele is defense attorneys.” Kingsley took another helping of sweet and sour chicken and rice. “So, what’s the thing with Jin’s technicians?”
Diane and Frank chuckled.
“As you heard, they’re identical twins and a bit eccentric,” said Diane, “and big Elvis fans. They’re also very detail oriented. Their reputation for accuracy was the reason Jin hired them-and the fact that they work very efficiently together. Jin’s extremely picky where the DNA lab is concerned.”
