said. ‘What a waste after all the effort we went through to get it.’
‘It’s damn irritating,’ Melanie agreed. ‘We’re just going to have to
come up with an alternate plan.’
‘I’m going to bed,’ Kevin said. He couldn’t believe these women; they
seemed fearless. He put a hand over his heart; it was beating more
rapidly than it ever had before.
CHAPTER 14
———-
MARCH 6, 1997
6:45 A.M.
NEW YORK CITY
WITH a burst of speed, Jack made the green light at the intersection of
First Avenue and Thirtieth Street and sailed across without slowing
down. Angling the bike up the morgue’s driveway, he didn’t brake until
the last minute. Moments later, he had the bike locked and was on his
way to the office of Janice Jaeger, the night forensic investigator.
Jack was keyed up. After near conclusive identification of his floater
as Carlo Franconi, Jack had gotten little sleep. He’d been on and off
the phone with Janice, finally imploring her to get copies of all of
Franconi’s records from the Manhattan General Hospital. Her preliminary
investigation had determined that Franconi had been hospitalized there.
Jack had also had Janice get the phone numbers of the European human
organ distribution organizations from Bart Arnold’s desk. Because of the
six-hour-time difference, Jack had started calling after three a.m. He
was most interested in the organization called Euro Transplant
Foundation in the Netherlands. When they had no record of a Carlo
Franconi as a recent liver recipient, Jack called all the national
organizations whose numbers he had. They included organizations in
France, England, Italy, Sweden, Hungary, and Spain. No one had heard of
Carlo Franconi. On top of that, most of the people he had spoken with
said that it would be rare for a foreign national to get such a
transplant because most of the countries had waiting lists comprised of
their own citizens.
After only a few hours of sleep, Jack’s curiosity had awakened him.
Unable to get back to sleep, he’d decided to get into the morgue early
to go over the material that Janice had collected.
‘My word, you are eager,’ Janice commented as Jack came into her office.
‘This is the kind of case that makes forensics fun,’ Jack said. ‘How’d
you do at the MGH?’
‘I got a lot of material,’ Janice said. ‘Mr. Franconi had multiple
admissions over the years, mostly for hepatitis and cirrhosis.’
‘Ah, the plot thickens,’ Jack said. ‘When was the last admission?’
‘About two months ago,’ Janice said. ‘But no transplant. There is
mention of it, but if he had one, he didn’t have it at the MGH.’ She
handed Jack a large folder.
Jack hefted the package and smiled. ‘Guess I got a lot of reading to
do.’
‘It looked pretty repetitive to me,’ Janice said.
‘What about his doctor?’ Jack asked. ‘Has he had one in particular or
has he been playing the field?’
‘One for the most part,’ Janice said. ‘Dr. Daniel Levitz on Fifth Avenue
between Sixty-fourth and Sixty-fifth Street. His office number is
written on the outside of your parcel.’
‘You are efficient,’ Jack said.
‘I try to do my best,’ Janice said. ‘Have any luck with those European
organ distribution organizations?’
‘A complete strikeout,’ Jack said. ‘Have Bart give me a call as soon as
he comes in. We have to go back and retry all the transplant centers in
this country now that we have a name.’
‘If Bart’s not in by the time I leave, I’ll put a note on his desk,’
Janice said.
Jack whistled as he walked through communications on his way to the ID
room. He could taste the coffee already while dreaming of the euphoria
that the first cup of the day always gave him. But when he arrived he
could see he was too early. Vinnie Amendola was just in the process of
making it.
‘Hurry up with that coffee,’ Jack said, as he dropped his heavy package
onto the metal desk Vinnie used to read his newspaper. ‘It’s an
emergency this morning.’
Vinnie didn’t answer, which was out of character, and Jack noticed. ‘Are
you still in a bad mood?’ he asked.
Vinnie still didn’t answer, but Jack’s mind was already elsewhere. He’d