“Watch yourself, Dr. Stapleton. I have eyes and ears everywhere,” said Marsha.
Once out in the hall and on the way to the elevators, David asked sotto voce what on earth Jack had done to incite the president’s wrath. The other security person followed silently several steps behind.
“I suppose just being myself,” Jack said. “Diplomacy is not one of my strong points.”
“But what the hell made her come and confront you in person?”
“I suppose because I’ve had a checkered relationship with the MMH,” Jack said. “I’ve been lionized by some and denounced by others. More important, I had a particularly rocky relationship with the previous president, and it’s already not looking good with this one.”
“She’s an impressive woman,” David said. “Supposedly one hell of a businessperson, and I respect her. She runs a tight ship.”
“To be truthful, the fact that she showed up surprised me as well,” Jack said. In the back of his mind, he’d been confused by the issue. When he combined it with the curious reaction he’d unexpectedly elicited from mentioning the Mortality and Morbidity Task Force, specifically the forceful denial it had evoked of not having anything to do with Sue Passero’s passing, he couldn’t help but be intrigued. It was the kind of random information that set off alarm bells for him by suggesting the idea there could be some mysterious relationship between Sue’s death and this enigmatic committee. And if Forensic Biology, Histology, and Toxicology didn’t come up with a cause and mechanism of death confirming it as natural, Jack was going to need some fresh ideas.
“How are you going to get back to the OCME?” David asked as they arrived at the elevator. “I only ask to know where I should take you to exit.”
“I came on my bike,” Jack said. “I left it near the main entrance. But first I have a favor to ask.”
“Bike?” David questioned with astonishment. “Are you serious?”
“Very much so,” Jack said. “It’s my preferred method of transportation. With no congestion pricing and traffic as it is in this city, and inconsistent subway service, it’s by far the best way to get around.”
“It’s the best way to get you dead,” David said. “But what’s this about a favor? Please don’t put me in trouble with the big boss. My orders are to escort you off the premises straightaway.”
“I wouldn’t think of coming between you and your glorious leader,” Jack said. “All I’d like to do is make a rapid revisit to Dr. Passero’s car, where I’m certainly authorized to be. I meant to take some pics of the interior for the record.”
Jack had no need of photos of the car, but claiming he did was the only way that came to mind to wrangle on impulse a return to the vehicle. If it turned out ultimately that there was to be no confirmation of Sue’s death being natural or accidental from Maureen, John, and Naomi, he was going to want to come back to the MMH to look into the Mortality and Morbidity Task Force issue that had been fortuitously dumped into his lap. With his persona non grata status he was going to need access, so he was thinking of borrowing for a time Sue Passero’s hospital ID, which was hanging by its lanyard on the BMW’s rearview mirror. Although he knew he’d have to make it a point to steer clear of Marsha Schechter and Dr. Cheveau, the hospital ID, even with the wrong name and photo, would mean his presence would be less likely to attract attention. If he turned the ID photo toward himself, he had reason to believe he might get away with it.
As they rode down in the elevator, David used his radio to have one of his security people meet them in the garage with the BMW key fob. And a little more than twenty minutes later and after a quick revisit to the BMW, Jack was unceremoniously escorted out the hospital’s main entrance.
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.”