‘Where do you live, son?’ Sergeant Murphy asked. ‘I’ve never heard of
neighbors not allowing each other to have a television.’ The aging,
red-faced, Irish policeman had a pronounced paternal streak. He’d been
assigned to the medical examiner’s office for more years than he was
willing to admit and thought of all the employees as family.
‘He lives in Harlem,’ Chet said. ‘Actually his neighbors would love him
to get a set so they could permanently borrow it.’
‘Enough, you guys,’ Jack said. ‘Fill me in on the excitement.’
‘A Mafia don was gunned down yesterday late afternoon,’ Calvin’s booming
voice announced. ‘It’s stirred up a hornet’s nest of trouble since he’d
agreed to cooperate with the DA’s office and was under police
protection.’
‘He was no Mafia don,’ Lou Soldano said. ‘He was nothing but a mid-level
functionary of the Vaccarro crime family.’
‘Whatever,’ Calvin said with a wave of his hand. ‘The key point is that
he was whacked while literally boxed in by a number of New York’s
finest, which doesn’t say much about their ability to protect someone in
their charge.’
‘He was warned not to go to that restaurant,’ Lou protested. ‘I know
that for a fact. And it’s almost impossible to protect someone if the
individual refuses to follow suggestions.’
‘Any chance he could have been killed by the police?’ Jack asked. One of
the roles of a medical examiner was to think of all angles, especially
when situations of custody were concerned.
‘He wasn’t under arrest,’ Lou said, guessing what was going through
Jack’s mind. ‘He’d been arrested and indicted, but he was out on bail.’
‘So what’s the big deal?’ Jack asked.
‘The big deal is that the mayor, the district attorney, and the police
commissioner are all under a lot of heat,’ Calvin said.
‘Amen,’ Lou said. ‘Particularly the police commissioner. That’s why I’m
here. It’s turning into one of those public-relations nightmares that
the media loves to blow way out of proportion. We’ve got to apprehend
the perpetrator or perpetrators ASAP, otherwise heads are going to
roll.’
‘And not to discourage future potential witnesses,’ Jack said.
‘Yeah, that too,’ Lou said.
‘I don’t know, Laurie,’ Calvin said, getting back to the discussion
they’d been having before Jack’s interruption. ‘I appreciate you coming
in early and offering to do this autopsy, but maybe Bingham might want
to do it himself.’
‘But why?’ Laurie complained. ‘Look, it’s a straightforward case, and
I’ve recently done a lot of gunshot wounds. Besides, with Dr. Bingham’s
budget meeting this morning at City Hall, he can’t be here until almost
noon. By then I can have the autopsy done and whatever information I
come up with will be in the hands of the police. With their time
constraint, it makes the most sense.’
Calvin looked at Lou. ‘Do you think five or six hours will make a
difference with the investigation?’
‘It could,’ Lou admitted. ‘Hell, the sooner the autopsy is done the
better. I mean, just knowing if we’re looking for one or two people will
be a big help.’
Calvin sighed. ‘I hate this kind of decision.’ He shifted his massive
two-hundred-and-fifty-pound muscular bulk from one foot to the other.
‘Trouble is, half the time I can’t anticipate Bingham’s reaction. But
what the hell! Go for it, Laurie. The case is yours.’
‘Thanks, Calvin,’ Laurie said gleefully. She snatched up the folder from
the table. ‘Is it okay if Lou observes?’
‘By all means,’ Calvin said.
‘Come on, Lou!’ Laurie said. She rescued her coat from a chair and
started for the door. ‘Let’s head downstairs, do a quick external exam,
and have the body X-rayed. In the confusion last night it apparently
wasn’t done.’
‘I’m right behind you,’ Lou said.
Jack hesitated for a moment then hurried after them. He was mystified
why Laurie was so interested in doing the autopsy. From his perspective
she would have done better to stay clear. Such politically charged cases
were always hot potatoes. You couldn’t win.
Laurie was moving quickly, and Jack didn’t catch up to her and Lou until
they were beyond communications. Laurie stopped abruptly to lean into
Janice Jaeger’s office. Janice was one of the forensic investigators,