She'd apparently had a conversation with Janice about the Manhattan General case.
That's why she wanted it."
"Did she say anything about me?" Jack asked Lou, leaning forward and lowering his voice.
"What's with you today?" Lou asked. "Is everything copacetic with you guys?"
"Oh, there's always a few bumps in the road," Jack said vaguely. Laurie being
"bubbly" added insult to injury, under the circumstance.
"How about assigning me the Cromwell case!" Jack called over to Riva.
"Be my guest," Riva said. "Calvin left a note saying he wanted it done ASAP." She took the folder from the "to be autopsied" pile and put it on the corner of the desk. Jack grabbed it and opened it, revealing a case worksheet, a partially filled-out death certificate, an inventory of medical-legal case records, two sheets for autopsy notes, a telephone notice of death as received by communications, a completed identification sheet, an investigator's report dictated by Fontworth, a sheet for the autopsy report, a lab slip for HIV analysis, and an indication that the body had been x-rayed and photographed when it had arrived at the OCME. Jack pulled out Fontworth's report and read it. Lou did the same over Jack's shoulder.
"Were you at the scene?" Jack asked Lou.
"No, I was still up in Harlem when this was called in. The precinct boys handled it initially, but when they recognized the victim, they called in my colleague, Detective Lieutenant Harvey Lawson. I've since talked with all of them. Everyone said it was a mess. Blood all over the kitchen."
"What was their take?"
"Considering she was seminude, with the apparent murder weapon sticking out of her thigh just below her private parts, they thought it was a fatal sexual assault."
"Private parts! So restrained."
"That's not quite how they described it to me. I'm translating."
"Thank you for being so considerate. Did they mention the blood on the front of the refrigerator?"
"They said there was blood all over."
"Did they mention blood being inside the refrigerator, particularly on the wedge of cheese as described here in Fontworth's report?" Jack poked the paper with his index finger. Jack was impressed. Despite his previous experience with Fontworth's desultory work, the report was thorough.
"Like I said, they reported blood was all over the place."
"But inside the refrigerator with the door closed. That's a bit odd."
"Maybe the door was open when she was attacked?"
"So then she carefully put the cheese away? That's more than odd in the middle of a homicide. Tell me this: Did they mention footprints in the blood besides those of the victim?"
"No, they didn't."
"Fontworth's report specifically says there were none, but quite a few of the victim's.
That's odder still."
Lou spread his hands and shrugged his shoulders. "So, what's your take?"
"My take is that in this case, the autopsy is going to be significant, so let's get the ball rolling."
Jack walked over to Vinnie and slapped the back of his paper, making the tech jump.
"Let's go, Vinnie, old boy," Jack said happily. "We've got work to do."
Vinnie grumbled under his breath but stood up and stretched.
At the door into the communications room, Jack hesitated, looked back at Riva, and called out: "If you don't mind, I'd like to do that double suicide as well."
"I'll put your name on them," Riva promised.
THREE
"HOW ABOUT THIS," LAURIE suggested. "I'll call you just as soon as I finish and let you know what I found. I know it won't bring your son back, but perhaps knowing what happened will be some comfort, especially if we're able to learn from this tragedy, to keep it from happening to someone else. If by some slim chance we still don't have any answers after the autopsy, I'll call you after I've had a chance to look at the microscopic and give you the definitive answers."
Laurie knew what she was suggesting was out of the ordinary and that skirting Mrs.
Donnatello in the public relations office and giving out preliminary
That's why she wanted it."
"Did she say anything about me?" Jack asked Lou, leaning forward and lowering his voice.
"What's with you today?" Lou asked. "Is everything copacetic with you guys?"
"Oh, there's always a few bumps in the road," Jack said vaguely. Laurie being
"bubbly" added insult to injury, under the circumstance.
"How about assigning me the Cromwell case!" Jack called over to Riva.
"Be my guest," Riva said. "Calvin left a note saying he wanted it done ASAP." She took the folder from the "to be autopsied" pile and put it on the corner of the desk. Jack grabbed it and opened it, revealing a case worksheet, a partially filled-out death certificate, an inventory of medical-legal case records, two sheets for autopsy notes, a telephone notice of death as received by communications, a completed identification sheet, an investigator's report dictated by Fontworth, a sheet for the autopsy report, a lab slip for HIV analysis, and an indication that the body had been x-rayed and photographed when it had arrived at the OCME. Jack pulled out Fontworth's report and read it. Lou did the same over Jack's shoulder.
"Were you at the scene?" Jack asked Lou.
"No, I was still up in Harlem when this was called in. The precinct boys handled it initially, but when they recognized the victim, they called in my colleague, Detective Lieutenant Harvey Lawson. I've since talked with all of them. Everyone said it was a mess. Blood all over the kitchen."
"What was their take?"
"Considering she was seminude, with the apparent murder weapon sticking out of her thigh just below her private parts, they thought it was a fatal sexual assault."
"Private parts! So restrained."
"That's not quite how they described it to me. I'm translating."
"Thank you for being so considerate. Did they mention the blood on the front of the refrigerator?"
"They said there was blood all over."
"Did they mention blood being inside the refrigerator, particularly on the wedge of cheese as described here in Fontworth's report?" Jack poked the paper with his index finger. Jack was impressed. Despite his previous experience with Fontworth's desultory work, the report was thorough.
"Like I said, they reported blood was all over the place."
"But inside the refrigerator with the door closed. That's a bit odd."
"Maybe the door was open when she was attacked?"
"So then she carefully put the cheese away? That's more than odd in the middle of a homicide. Tell me this: Did they mention footprints in the blood besides those of the victim?"
"No, they didn't."
"Fontworth's report specifically says there were none, but quite a few of the victim's.
That's odder still."
Lou spread his hands and shrugged his shoulders. "So, what's your take?"
"My take is that in this case, the autopsy is going to be significant, so let's get the ball rolling."
Jack walked over to Vinnie and slapped the back of his paper, making the tech jump.
"Let's go, Vinnie, old boy," Jack said happily. "We've got work to do."
Vinnie grumbled under his breath but stood up and stretched.
At the door into the communications room, Jack hesitated, looked back at Riva, and called out: "If you don't mind, I'd like to do that double suicide as well."
"I'll put your name on them," Riva promised.
THREE
"HOW ABOUT THIS," LAURIE suggested. "I'll call you just as soon as I finish and let you know what I found. I know it won't bring your son back, but perhaps knowing what happened will be some comfort, especially if we're able to learn from this tragedy, to keep it from happening to someone else. If by some slim chance we still don't have any answers after the autopsy, I'll call you after I've had a chance to look at the microscopic and give you the definitive answers."
Laurie knew what she was suggesting was out of the ordinary and that skirting Mrs.
Donnatello in the public relations office and giving out preliminary
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