seen the headlines on Vinnie’s paper: Franconi’s Body Found. Beneath the
headline in slightly smaller print was: ‘Franconi’s corpse languishing
in the Medical Examiner’s Office for twenty-four hours before identity
established.’
Jack sat down to read the article. As usual, it was written in a
sarcastic bent with the implication that the city’s medical examiners
were bunglers. Jack thought it was interesting that while the journalist
had had enough information to write the article, he didn’t appear to
know that the body had been headless and handless in a deliberate
attempt to conceal its identity. Nor did it mention anything about the
shotgun wound to its right upper quadrant.
After finishing with the coffee preparation, Vinnie came over to stand
next to the desk while Jack read. Impatiently, he shifted his weight
from one foot to the other. When Jack finally looked up Vinnie said
irritably: ‘Do you mind! I’d like to have my paper.’
‘You see this article?’ Jack asked, slapping the front page.
‘Yeah, I seen it,’ Vinnie said.
Jack resisted the temptation to correct his English. Instead he said:
‘Did it surprise you? I mean, when we did the autopsy yesterday, did it
ever cross your mind it might have been the missing Franconi?’
‘No, why should it?’ Vinnie said.
‘I’m not saying it should,’ Jack said. ‘I’m just asking if it did.’
‘No,’ Vinnie said. ‘Let me have my paper! Why don’t you buy your own?
You’re always reading mine.’
Jack stood up, pushed Vinnie’s paper toward him, and lifted the bundle
from Janice. ‘You really are out of sorts lately. Maybe you need a
vacation. You’re fast becoming a grumpy old man.’
‘At least I’m not a cheapskate,’ Vinnie said. He picked up his paper and
readjusted the pages that Jack had gotten out of alignment.
Jack went to the coffeemaker and poured himself a brimming cup. He took
it over to the scheduling desk. While sipping contentedly, he went
through the multitude of Franconi’s hospital admissions. On his first
perusal of the material, he just wanted the basics, so he read each
discharge summary page. As Janice had already told him, the admissions
were mostly due to liver problems starting from a bout of hepatitis he
contracted in Naples, Italy.
Laurie arrived next. Before she even had her coat off, she asked Jack if
he’d seen the paper or heard the morning news. Jack told her he’d seen
the Post.
‘Was it your doing?’ Laurie asked, as she folded her coat and put it on
a chair.
‘What are you talking about?’
‘The leak that we tentatively identified Franconi with your floater,’
Laurie said.
Jack gave a little laugh of disbelief. ‘I’m surprised you’d even ask.
Why would I do such a thing?’
‘I don’t know, except you were so excited about it last night,’ Laurie
said. ‘But I didn’t mean any offense. I was just surprised to see it in
the news so quickly.’
‘You and me both,’ Jack said. ‘Maybe it was Lou.’
‘I think that would surprise me even more than you,’ Laurie said.
‘Why me?’ Jack said. He sounded hurt.
‘Last year you leaked the plague story,’ Laurie said.
‘That was a completely different situation,’ Jack said defensively.
‘That was to save people.’
‘Well, don’t get mad,’ Laurie said. To change the subject she asked:
‘What kind of cases do we have for today?’
‘I didn’t look,’ Jack admitted. ‘But the pile is small and I have a
request. If possible, I’d like to have a paper day or really a research
day.’
Laurie bent over and counted the autopsy folders. ‘Only ten cases; no
problem,’ she said. ‘I think I’ll only do one myself. Now that
Franconi’s body is back, I’m even more interested to find out how it
left here in the first place. The more I’ve thought about it, the more I
believe it had to have been an inside job in some form or fashion.’
There was a splashing sound followed by loud cursing. Both Laurie and
Jack looked over at Vinnie, who’d jumped up to a standing position. He’d
spilled his coffee all over his desk and even onto his lap.
‘Watch out for Vinnie,’ Jack warned Laurie. ‘He’s again in a foul mood.’