“Well, I’ll be eager to hear what you find out,” she said. “If it is true, it’s critical to find out who it is and put a stop to it. I envy you getting to work on such a case rather than jousting with the city council. It reminds me of when I exposed Jasmine Rakoczi. What a horror if it turns out that the MMH has yet another medical psychopath.”
“I couldn’t agree more,” Jack said. “I can also imagine how much you miss the challenges of being an ME and doing forensics. In fact, maybe you should think about stepping down from being the chief and rejoin us plebeians. I’m serious.” Jack would like nothing better than to have Laurie back as a colleague, both at the OCME and at home.
“Don’t think it doesn’t cross my mind on occasion,” Laurie said wistfully. “But I accepted this challenge, and by God I’m going to see it through. Who are you working with on this? Kevin Strauss? Didn’t you say he was the MLI on Sue’s case?”
“He’s the one, and I went down to 421 to talk with him directly. I wanted to make sure there weren’t any nuances that hadn’t made it into his write-up. I also have Bart Arnold pulling together some statistics on the number of ME cases coming out of the MMH over the last couple of years to see if it’s risen, and if so, how much. I hadn’t heard any red flags like that, have you?”
“I haven’t.”
“It’s all very interesting, and I wonder if none of it would have come to light had Sue not passed on.”
“Well, keep me informed,” she said. She straightened up to head back out to the kitchen. “Do you think you should let Lou Soldano know about the possibility of a medical serial killer at the MMH? You remember how critical he was in the Rakoczi debacle.”
“It’s a little early for that,” Jack said. “I’ve only been told Sue was convinced with no idea why yet, or even if it was based on anything specific. But it is interesting you bring up Lou’s name because I saw him today and hadn’t for some time. He came over to observe the post on a supposed suicide of the wife of one of his junior detectives.”
“I can’t help but notice you used the word supposed. Did you find reason to think otherwise?”
“For sure,” he said. “I’m about ninety-nine-point-nine percent certain it was a homicide, and with no break-in, it was most likely perpetrated by the aggrieved husband. It’s a sad situation, made worse by the woman being pregnant. Understandably Lou is taking it hard, as he is fond of his detective.”
“I can imagine,” Laurie said. She then clapped her hands, indicating her wish to change the subject. “That’s quite enough shop talk! Instead, let’s have some dinner and family time?”
“Sounds good,” Jack said. He turned off his laptop. “But first let me say that Lou had a couple of suggestions for me. He reminded me I shouldn’t play detective, but, more important, he advised me against making waves here on the home front.”
“Bravo!” she said with another clap. “I think both are fabulous suggestions that you should follow.”
“I’m glad you approve,” he said. “So, I’ll resign myself to your mother staying here as long as she likes and verbally give her credit for truly helping with Emma, and I’ll also make a concerted effort not to get into any more arguments with her about vaccines. Regarding Emma, I’ll stop advocating her trying schooling in the near term until there is concerted agreement on it. With that said, I do still oppose the Adderall issue for JJ although I’m not against a second professional opinion. What do you say?”
“I’d say that is significant progress,” Laurie said. “Three cheers for Lou. Now if you would throw in a moratorium on commuting on your bike and finding a different sport than pickup basketball, I’d be willing to sign a truce.”
Jack looked up at his wife with dismay until he caught her smile, indicating she was teasing about the bike riding and the basketball playing, even though she was against both. He laughed. “Okay, you got me! Very funny!”
“I have one more question,” she said. “Have you spoken again with Abby? What’s the status there?”
“I did speak with him not ten minutes ago,” he said. “All is well. The burial took place within the twenty-four-hour period. He and his children and Sue’s sister were having a kind of wake.”
“Oh, dear.” Laurie groaned. “I feel so guilty about not being there for my friend.”
“I’m sure Abby understands. It’s one of the difficulties of having a funeral service so quickly.”
“I suppose,” Laurie said. “Did he mention the death certificate?”
“He did, and I reiterated that I’ll be checking the histology and toxicology tomorrow.”
“Did he seem fine with that?”
“He did,” Jack said.
“Okay, thanks for handling it all,” Laurie said. “I certainly couldn’t have done the autopsy. But be that as it may, let’s try to enjoy some family time.”
Chapter 21
Tuesday, December 7, 8:51 p.m.
“Okay, Mama,” Cherine Gardener said to her mother, whom she called on a regular basis, especially since the pandemic started two years ago. Since then, she’d made it a point to do her mother’s grocery shopping online, having the items delivered from the nearest Kroger. Although Cherine had tried to get her mother to join the twenty-first century, she’d resisted and had refused to learn how to use a computer or even a smartphone. Getting her to use a mobile phone at all had been a major undertaking. “I’ll call you tomorrow night, but you call me if the groceries don’t arrive, okay?”
It was always a little hard for Cherine to terminate a call, and she could tell her mother was lonely. Destiny lived in the Church Street neighborhood of Galveston, Texas, in the same apartment Cherine had grown up in. It was not a good area, which was why Destiny rarely ventured out and usually only to see her other daughter, Shanice, and her three children. For a number of years, Cherine had tried to get her mother to move up to New York, but with grandchildren nearby, it had been a losing proposition.
Cherine had been in New York for a bit more than five years, having been recruited by MMH from University of Texas Medical Branch Hospital, where she had worked since graduating from the School of Nursing there. She was the first person in her family as far as she knew who had gone to college. It hadn’t been easy coming from a single-parent household. Her father, a merchant marine, left on a trip when she was four and never returned. From an early age, she’d been determined to be a nurse, having been introduced to the profession by her mother, who’d been a nurse’s aide.
Professionally Cherine couldn’t be happier, as she loved being a nurse even during the pandemic when so many of her colleagues complained bitterly about the working conditions and the stress. As a testament to her commitment, she was also enrolled in a Master of Science in Nursing program at Columbia, which she had every intention of completing, despite the effort of working while doing it. And although exhausted after twelve-hour shifts three days in a row, she intended to study that night and had her materials and laptop spread out on her kitchen table.
Cherine lived on the third floor of a converted brownstone on the west side of Manhattan that had two apartments on each level, one in the front and one in the rear. Cherine’s unit was in the rear facing a warren of backyards now populated by leafless trees. In the spring, summer, and fall it appeared verdant. Now too much trash, including discarded tires, could be seen.
Working twelve-hour shifts and studying most of the time she was off, Cherine didn’t know anybody in the building on a personal level; just enough to say hello in the rare instances she ran into someone in the hall. The stairs, particularly the first flight, were rather grand, serving as evidence of the days when the building was a single-family mansion. The hospital had helped her find the apartment, and Cherine thought of it as luxurious living. Although the rent was high, she made what she considered a good salary as a charge nurse. Despite sending money regularly to her mother, she was also able to save a significant amount as well as pay her bills.