Night Shift

Chapter 12

Tuesday, December 7, 2:34 p.m.

Having just made the turn from Second Avenue onto 30th Street, Jack felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. Knowing it was well after two in the afternoon, meaning he’d been gone from the OCME for more than two hours, he felt it wise to see who was calling. Applying his bike’s brakes, he pulled to the side of the road at a fire hydrant, then struggled to get his phone out of his hip pocket. As soon as he could, he checked the screen. To his dismay, it was Laurie.

After a brief debate whether he should take the call or wait until he got back to the OCME, which was only going to be a matter of minutes, he took the call. Unfortunately, the moment he did, a siren could be heard with a marked Doppler effect passing behind him on Second Avenue. It provoked Laurie to start the conversation by asking where he was.

“Stepped out for a few minutes,” he said evasively. “I wanted to get Sue’s samples to the Forensic Biology lab as soon as possible, but I’m on my way back, and I’ll be there in minutes.” Jack wasn’t one to lie, but he didn’t have any problem being less than totally forthright if it maintained the peace.

“Thank you for prioritizing the case,” she said. “I appreciate it. Anyway, can you stop into my office when you get here? I had another long talk with Abby that I want to tell you about.”

“Sure thing,” Jack said agreeably.

After repocketing his phone, he made the rest of the journey in rapid time. He stored his bike in the usual location, waved to the security person as well as to the two mortuary techs in the mortuary office, and took the stairs by twos up to the first floor. As per usual, Cheryl Sanford was on her phone with headphones in place. Jack gestured toward Laurie’s office door. She nodded and gave the thumbs-up that the coast was clear, and he walked in.

Laurie was just as he’d left her some six hours earlier, sitting behind her massive desk communing with the architectural drawings. Jack plopped himself down on the colorful couch just like he was accustomed to doing.

“First let me assure you that Abby is clearly devastated,” Laurie said, raising her eyes to meet his and tilting back in her desk chair. “It was abundantly clear on my second conversation with him, so I’m absolutely certain that our momentary B movie thoughts about an insurance scam of some sort are totally out of the question.”

He nodded but didn’t respond. Instead, he was thinking about Abby’s early-morning visit to Sue’s office and wondered if Abby had said anything about that to Laurie during their phone conversation. Although Jack wanted to mention it to her, he didn’t know how to do it without revealing he’d been over at the MMH investigating.

“We also discussed at length the need for doing the autopsy,” Laurie said. “And when I told him it was already completed, he mellowed on his objection to it and said that he was mostly concerned about making sure the burial gets done within twenty-four hours, which goes along with what I said this morning. So we are okay in that realm.”

“That’s good,” Jack said. He was still puzzling over some way to let her know about the man’s rather strange visit to his wife’s office.

“We also talked about his being Muslim,” Laurie continued. “I told him that we had had no idea.”

“And what did he say?” he asked. In the back of his mind, it was also that discrepancy that was fueling his unease.

“He said he thought people would assume as much since it was common knowledge he’d grown up in Egypt, where the population is more than ninety percent Muslim. He also said that their reticence followed from an agreement he and Sue had made early in their relationship, namely that they wouldn’t foist their individual religious beliefs on each other, with her being brought up as a Southern Baptist. They had also decided that they wouldn’t force the children in either direction but let them decide for themselves after being exposed to both.”

“Hallelujah,” Jack said. “I wish the rest of the world could be so reasonable. Did he happen to mention what Nadia and Jamal decided? What a unique opportunity.”

“Curiously enough, they are both agnostics. Obviously neither religion won out, at least not yet.”

“Interesting,” he said vaguely. “To change the subject a little, I’ve already heard back from John. Toxicology found no ketoacidosis and normal glucose levels. Obviously, Sue’s diabetes was under perfect control, just as you suspected.”

“I’m not surprised except by the speed of your getting the results. How did you manage to build a fire under John?”

Jack laughed. “It wasn’t difficult. He’s truly a new man with his relatively new laboratory and a real office. He’s a far cry from his previously irascible self.”

“Getting back to Abby,” Laurie said. “I told him he would be hearing from you straightaway about the results of the autopsy. Cheryl has his mobile number so get it from her and make the call.”

“The problem is there ain’t much to tell,” he said. “After insisting on an autopsy against his wishes, it’s not going to sit right for me to tell him his dead wife was found to be perfectly normal.”

“Don’t make this more difficult than it need be,” Laurie said with the first signs of impatience. With all the administrative stresses and strains she was under, it was a frequent occurrence as conversations with anyone dragged on. As the chief she was always dealing with one or more pressing problems from early in the morning until she turned out the light at night. “You figure it out,” she snapped. “Just make the call. I also told him you are responsible for releasing Sue’s body to the funeral service, and I said you’d be doing it today so that the burial can proceed.”

“I don’t know if I can release the body,” Jack said.

Laurie audibly groaned before leaning forward to rest her face in the palms of her hands with her elbows on the desk. She took a couple of deep breaths while rubbing her eyes with the tips of her fingers. When she looked up at him, her eyes were reddened, and she needed to blink a few times. “I’m not asking for the moon,” she said in a tired, restrained voice.

“Maybe not the moon, but it is significant,” Jack said. “This morning when we talked about this, I told you I was having trouble with the cause and manner of death and what I was going to put on the death certificate, assuming I don’t get something convincing from Maureen, John, or Naomi, which seems more likely than not. Call it experienced forensic intuition. Where does that leave me with the manner of death if it is not natural, accidental, or suicide? I’ll tell you where it leaves me... homicide!”

“Don’t tell me you are still thinking of the insurance issue?” Laurie demanded.

“I haven’t totally dismissed it,” he admitted.

“Well, you should,” she said. “Abby brought it up when he explained about needing the death certificate. He said getting the life insurance was at Sue’s insistence to have a backup to pay off the kids’ sizable medical training if for any reason her salary became compromised. He said he never thought it would be needed and got choked up when he said she was right.”

“All that does make sense,” Jack agreed. “But listen, I’m not overly invested in the why or the who, and I won’t be until I’ve figured out the how. I’m consumed by finding out what is the actual cause and mechanism of death, and I’m completely stymied. The only halfway positive finding was the mild pulmonary edema. Given that we both are reasonably confident Sue wasn’t using drugs, maybe somebody slipped her something like fentanyl. I know I’m sounding desperate, but you have to see my conundrum because I’m not going to sign it out as indeterminate. That’s a cop-out.”

“Toxicology surely will find fentanyl if fentanyl is involved,” Laurie said impatiently.

“Yes, of course, but that’s not my point. My intuition is telling me John isn’t going to find it. I’m mentioning it out of desperation, pulling a possibility out of thin air no matter how unlikely, because there is something inherently weird about this case. I can feel it in my bones. The problem comes down to whether I can, in good conscience, release the body. What if new information becomes available and I’m forced to look into something else that I hadn’t anticipated and the body is gone?”

“Good gravy,” Laurie complained. “You are overthinking this! Tell me, did you take samples of everything, every organ, every fluid, etcetera?”

“Yes, of course.”

“Well, there you go. That should cover just about any contingency.”

“I wish I shared your confidence.”

“Just take care of it!” she ordered with obvious exasperation. “I’d be happy to be more involved, but I’ve managed to schedule a presentation this afternoon with the mayor-elect and a bunch of his people about why our budget and the new autopsy suite are justified. It’s going to be in the main auditorium at 421 an hour from now, and I’ve just started to prepare.”

“Okay,” Jack said with a shrug of resignation. He got to his feet.

“As I said earlier, the death certificate can be amended if new information becomes available.” Laurie redirected her attention back to her computer screen.

“Yeah, sure,” Jack said without enthusiasm. “Good luck with the mayor.” As he headed toward the door, he wondered anew why he’d encouraged her to become the chief.