“Why was Hodges so eager to see Dr. Holster?” Calhoun asked.
“Dr. Holster had recently finished treating Clark Davenport,” Madeline said.
Calhoun put down his coffee cup and stood up. “You’ve been wonderfully cooperative and most gracious,” he said. “I’m appreciative of both your coffee and your excellent memory.”
Madeline Gannon blushed.
Angela had finished her work and was leafing through a laboratory journal just prior to her lunch break when the chief medical examiner called.
“I’m glad I caught you,” Walt said.
“Why?” Angela asked.
“Something extraordinary has happened,” Walt said. “And you are responsible.”
“Tell me,” Angela said.
“It’s all because of your surprise visit yesterday,” Walt said. “Would you be able to jump in your car and come up here?”
“When?”
“Right now,” Walt said.
Angela was intrigued. “Can you give me an idea of what this is about?” she asked.
“I’d rather show you,” he said. “It’s really unique. I’ll have to write this up or at least present it at the annual forensic dinner. I want you to be in on it right away. Consider it part of your education.”
“I’d love to come,” Angela said. “But I’m worried about Dr. Wadley. We’ve not been on the best of terms.”
“Oh, forget Wadley,” Walt said. “I’ll give him a call. This is important.”
“You’re making it hard to refuse,” Angela said.
“That’s the whole idea,” Walt said.
Angela grabbed her coat. On her way out she glanced into Wadley’s office. He wasn’t there. She asked the secretaries where he was. They told her that he’d gone to the Iron Horse Inn for lunch and wouldn’t be back until two.
She asked Paul Darnell to cover for her again in case there was any type of emergency. She told him that she’d gotten a specific request from the chief medical examiner to come to see something extraordinary.
Before she left for Burlington, Angela dashed up to the ICU to check on Nikki. She was pleased to discover that her daughter was doing much better and was in fine spirits.
Angela made it to the chief medical examiner’s office in record time. “Wow!” Walt said when she appeared at his office door. He glanced at his watch as he stood to greet her. “That was fast. What kind of a sports car do you drive?”
“I have to admit your call whetted my curiosity. I was eager to get here,” Angela said. “And to tell you the truth, I haven’t much time.”
“We won’t need much time,” Walt said. He led her to a microscope set up on a workbench. “First, I want you to look at this,” he said.
Angela adjusted the eyepieces and looked in. She saw a specimen of skin. Then she saw black dots in the dermis.
“Do you know what that is?” Walt asked.
“I think so,” Angela said. “This must be the skin from under Hodges’ nails.”
“Precisely,” Walt said. “See the carbon?”
“I do,” Angela said.
“All right. Take a look at this.”
Angela lifted her eyes from the microscope and accepted a photograph from Walt.
“This is a photomicrograph I obtained with a scanning electron microscope,” Walt explained. “Notice that the dots don’t look like carbon any longer.”
Angela studied the photo. What Walt was saying was true.
“Now look at this,” Walt said. He handed her a printout. “This is the output of an atomic spectrophotometer. What I did was elute the granules with an acid solvent and then analyze them. They aren’t carbon.”
“What are they?” Angela asked.
“They’re a mixture of chromium, cobalt, cadmium, and mercury,” Walt said triumphantly.
“That’s wonderful, Walt,” Angela said. She was completely baffled. “But what does it mean?”
“I was just as perplexed as you,” Walt said. “I had no idea what it meant. I even started to think that the atomic spectrophotometer had gone on the fritz until I suddenly had an epiphany. It’s part of a tattoo!”
“Are you sure?” Angela questioned.
“Absolutely,” Walt said. “These pigments are used for tattooing.”
Angela immediately shared Walt’s excitement. With the power of forensics they’d made a discovery about the killer. He had a tattoo. She couldn’t wait to tell David and Calhoun.