Blindsight (14 page)

she saw him standing to the side.
"I'm sorry I haven't been including you," she said. "I understand," Lou said. "You do your thing. I'm fine. I can tell that you are all very busy. I don't want to be in the way."
"You won't be in the way," Laurie said. "You wanted to watch, so come over and watch." Lou stepped around the table being careful where his feet touched the floor. His hands were clasped behind his back. He looked down at Robert Evans. "Find anything interesting?" he asked. "This poor fellow convulsed just like Duncan Andrews," Laurie said. "He has all the consequent bruises and badly bitten tongue to prove it. He also has something else. Look here in the antecubital fossa. See that blanched puncture mark? Remember seeing that on Duncan Andrews?"
"Sure," Lou said. "That was the intravenous site where he mainlined the cocaine." "Exactly," Laurie said. "In other words, Mr. Evans took his cocaine the same way Mr. Andrews did." "So?" Lou questioned.
"I told you yesterday that cocaine can be taken lots of ways," Laurie said. "But sniffing, or the medical term, insufflation, is the usual recreational route." "What about smoking?" Lou asked.
"You're thinking of crack. Cocaine hydrochloride, the salt, is poorly volatile and can't be smoked. For smoking it has to be converted to its free base: crack. The point is that although the usual form of cocaine can be injected, it usually isn't. The fact that it had been used that way on both these cases is curious, not that I know what to make of it."
"Wasn't it common in the sixties to shoot cocaine?" Lou asked. "Only when it was combined with heroin in what they call speedball." Laurie closed her eyes for a moment, took a deep breath, and let it out with a sigh. "Are you all right?" Lou asked.
"I'm fine," Laurie said.
"Maybe what we're seeing is the beginning of a new fad," Lou suggested. "I hope not," Laurie said. "But if it is, it's much too deadly to be a fad for long." Fifteen minutes later, when Laurie plunged the scalpel into Robert's chest, Lou winced. Despite the fact that Robert was dead and that there was no blood, Lou could not dismiss the idea that the razor-sharp knife was cutting into human tissue just like his own skin.

With no pathology apparent, Laurie finished the internal aspect of Robert Evans' autopsy in short order.
While Vinnie took the body away and brought in Bruno Marchese, Laurie and Lou went to the X-ray view box to look at Bruno's X-rays and the one of the headless woman. "The bullet is in just about the same location," Laurie said, pointing to the bright dot inside the outline of Bruno's skull.
"Looks like slightly larger caliber," Lou said. "I could be wrong, but I don't think it's from the same gun."
"I'll be impressed if you're right," Laurie said. Laurie put up Bruno's full-body X-ray. She scanned the film with a practiced eye. When she saw no abnormalities she replaced it with the X-ray of the unfortunate woman. "It's a good thing we took this X-ray," Laurie said. "Oh?" Lou said, staring at the foggy-appearing shadows. "You mean you don't see the abnormality?" Laurie asked. "No," Lou said. "At the same time I don't know how you doctors can see much in these things. I mean a bullet jumps out at you, but the rest just looks like a bunch of smudges." "I can't believe you can't see it," Laurie said. "All right, I'm blind," Lou said. "So tell me!" "The head and the hands!" Laurie said. "They're gone." "You miserable slut!" Lou laughed in a forced whisper to keep those at a nearby table from hearing. "Well, it's an abnormality," Laurie teased. Finished with the X-rays, Laurie and Lou returned to the table just in time to help Vinnie move Bruno from the gurney onto the table. Lou started to help, but Laurie shooed him away since he was not gloved. To save time, Laurie started out with the body prone. The entrance wound looked much like Frankie's although the diameter of the stippling was slightly larger, suggesting the gun had been a bit farther away. After taking all the appropriate photographs and samples, she and Vinnie turned the body supine. The first thing Laurie did then was check the eyes. They were normal. "After what you said upstairs I was hoping the eyes might tell us something," Lou said. "I was hoping as well," Laurie admitted. "I'd love to give you that break you need." "It still might be important," Lou said. "If Paul Cerino had acid thrown in his eyes, and if Frank DePasquale did too, it's certainly a link. I think it's worth my while to take a trip out to Queens and have a chat with Paul."

After finishing the rest of the external exam, Laurie accepted a knife from Vinnie and began the internal.
Again, with no pathology, it went very quickly. As soon as Bruno's autopsy was completed, Vinnie rolled him away and brought in the second floater. As Laurie helped Vinnie transfer the body to the table, someone from a nearby table called out: "Where'd that body come from, Laurie? Sleepy Hollow?" After the laughter died down, Lou leaned over to Laurie's ear. "That was crude," he whispered teasingly. "Want me to go over and slug the guy?" Laurie laughed. "Black humor," she said. "It has always played a role in pathology." Laurie inspected the woman's severed limbs and neck. "The mutilation was done after death," she said. "That's comforting," Lou said. He felt his tolerance was getting lower with every case. He was having more trouble dealing with this dismembered body than with the others. "The decapitation and the removal of the hands was done crudely," Laurie said. "Look at the rough saw marks on the exposed bones. Of course some of this tissue appears to have been eaten by fish or crabs." Lou forced himself to look even though he would have preferred not to. He was feeling slightly nauseated.
"The rest of the torso looks okay," Laurie said. "No human bite marks." Lou swallowed again. "Would you have expected bite marks?" he asked weakly. "If rape was involved," Laurie said, "then bite marks are occasionally seen. You have to think about them, otherwise you can miss them."
"I'll try to remember that," Lou said.
Laurie carefully inspected the chest and abdomen. The only finding of note was a right upper quadrant scar following the line of the ribs.
"This could turn out to be important for ID purposes," Laurie said, pointing at the scar. "I'd guess it was a gallbladder operation."
"What if the body is never identified?" Lou asked. "It will stay in the walk-in cooler for a number of weeks," Laurie said. "If by then we still don't know who she is, she'll end up in one of those pine coffins in the hall." Laurie opened up the rape-kit and spread out the contents. "Most of this is probably academic after the body has been in the river, but it's still worth a try." As she took the appropriate samples, she asked Lou if he thought the case was related to Frank's or Bruno's. "I can't be sure, but I have my suspicions. I have a number of people including police divers out looking for the heads and hands. I'll tell you one thing: whoever dumped this woman didn't want her to be identified. Given the East River's tidal and current patterns, the fact that she was found in the same

general vicinity as Frankie and Bruno suggests she was dumped from the same place. So, yeah, I think
there could be a connection."
"What do you think the chances are of finding the head or the hands?" Laurie asked. "Not great," Lou said. "They could have sunk where the body was dumped or they might not have been dumped in the river."
Laurie had moved on to the internal portion of the autopsy. She noted that the victim had had two surgeries in the past: a gallbladder removal, as Laurie had surmised, and a hysterectomy. With three of her four cases out of the way before noon, Laurie felt comfortable enough with her progress to suggest that she and Lou have a quick cup of coffee. Lou happily agreed, saying he could use the fortification after the morning's ordeal. Besides, he would have to leave to get back to his office. Having seen the autopsies of the two "floaters," he couldn't rationalize any more time. He jokingly told Laurie that she'd have to do the second overdose without his assistance. After taking off her goggles, apron, and gown, Laurie took Lou up to the coffeemaker in the ID room. It was just one floor up, so they used the stairs. Laurie sat in a desk chair while Lou sat on the corner of a desk. Just as happened the previous day, Lou's demeanor suddenly changed when he was about to leave. He became clumsy and self-conscious. He even managed to spill some of his coffee down the front of his scrub shirt.
"I'm sorry," he said, dabbing at the coffee spots with a napkin. "I hope it doesn't stain." "Don't be silly, Lou," Laurie said. "These scrub clothes have had lot worse stains than coffee." "I guess you're right," he said.
"Is something on your mind?" Laurie asked. "Yeah," Lou said. He stared into his coffee. "I wanted to know if you'd like to grab a bite to eat tonight. I know a great place down in Little Italy on Mulberry Street." "I'd like to ask you a question," Laurie said. "Yesterday you asked if I was married. You never said whether you're married."
"I'm not married," he said.
"Have you ever been married?" Laurie asked. "Yeah, I was married," Lou said. "I've been divorced for a couple of years. I have two kids: a girl seven and a boy five."
"Do you ever see them?"
"Of course I see them," Lou said. "What do you think? I wouldn't see my own kids? I get 'em every weekend."
"You don't have to be defensive," Laurie said. "I was just curious. Yesterday I realized after you'd left that you'd asked me about my marital status without telling me yours."

"It was an oversight," Lou said. "Anyway, how about dinner?"
"I'm afraid I have plans tonight," Laurie said. "Oh, fine," said Lou. "Give me the third degree about my marital and parental status, then turn me down. I suppose you're seeing the fancy doctor with the roses and the limo. Guess I'm not quite in his league." He stood up abruptly. "Well, I better be going." "I think you're being overly sensitive and silly," Laurie said. "I only said I was busy tonight." "Overly sensitive and silly, huh? I'll keep that in mind. It's been another illuminating morning. Thank you so very much. If you come up with anything interesting on any of the floaters, please give me a call." With that, Lou tossed his Styrofoam cup into a nearby wastebasket and walked out of the room. Laurie remained in her seat for a moment, sipping her coffee. She knew that she'd hurt Lou's feelings, and that made her feel uncomfortable. At the same time she thought he was being immature. Some of that "blue collar" charm she'd noted the day before was wearing thin. After finishing her coffee, Laurie returned to the autopsy room and her fourth case of the day: Marion Overstreet, aged twenty-eight, editor for a major New York publishing house. "You want anything special for this case?" Vinnie asked. He was eager to get under way. Laurie shook her head no. She looked at the young woman on the table. Such a waste. She wondered if this woman would have gambled with drugs if she could have anticipated such a terrible price. The autopsy went quickly. Laurie and Vinnie worked well together as a team. Conversation was kept to a minimum. The case was remarkably similar to both Duncan Andrews' and Robert Evans', down to the fact that Overstreet had injected the cocaine, not snorted it. There were only a few minor surprises that Laurie would have Cheryl Myers or one of the other forensic investigators check out. By twelve forty-five Laurie walked out of the main autopsy room. After changing to her street clothes, Laurie took it upon herself to carry the specimens from each of the day's cases to Toxicology. She hoped to have another chat with the resident toxicologist. She found John DeVries in his office eating his lunch. An old-fashioned lunch box with a Thermos built into its vaulted cover was open on his desk.
"I finished the two overdoses," Laurie said. "I've brought up their toxicology samples." "Leave the samples on the receiving desk in the lab," he told her. He held an uncut sandwich in both hands.
"Any luck finding a contaminant in the Andrews case?" she asked hopefully. "It's only been a few hours since you were here last. I'll call you if I find anything." "As soon as possible," Laurie encouraged. "I don't mean to be a bother. It's just that I'm more convinced than ever that a contaminant of some sort is involved. If there is, I want to find it." "If it's there, we'll find it. Just give us a chance, for Chrissake."

"Thanks," Laurie said. "I'll try to be patient. It's just that--"
"I know, I know," John interrupted. "I get the picture already. Please!" "I'm out of here," Laurie said. She put her hands in the air to signify her surrender. Back in her office, Laurie ate some of the lunch, dictated the morning's autopsies, and tried to tackle some of her paperwork. She found she couldn't take her mind off the drug overdose cases. What worried her was the specter of more cases. If there was some source of contaminated cocaine in the city, it meant there would be more deaths. At this point the ball was in John's court. There was nothing more she could do.
Or was there? How could she prevent more deaths? The key lay in warning the public. Hadn't Bingham just lectured her on the fact that they had social and political responsibilities? With that thought in mind, Laurie picked up the phone and called the chief's office. She asked Mrs. Sanford if Dr. Bingham might have a moment to see her. "I believe I could squeeze you in," Mrs. Sanford said, "but you have to come immediately. Dr. Bingham is due at a luncheon at City Hall."
When she entered Bingham's office, she could tell the chief medical examiner was not prepared to give her more than a minute of his time. When he asked her what it was she wanted, Laurie outlined the facts surrounding the three cocaine overdose cases as succinctly as possible. She emphasized the upscale demographics, the fact that none of the victims appeared to have been in the depths of addiction, and that all three had mainlined the drug.
"I get the picture," Bingham said. "What's your point?" "I'm afraid that we are seeing the beginning of a series," Laurie said. "I'm concerned about a toxic contaminant in some cocaine supply."
"With only three cases, don't you think that's a rather fanciful leap?" "The point is," Laurie said, "I'd like to keep it at three cases." "An admirable goal," Bingham said. "But are you certain about this alleged contaminant? What does John have to say?"
"He's looking," Laurie said.
"He hasn't found anything?"
"Not yet," Laurie admitted. "But he's only used thin-layer chromatography so far." "So I guess we have to wait for John," Bingham said. He stood up. Laurie held her seat. Having come this far, she wasn't about to give up yet. "I was thinking that maybe we should make a statement to the press," Laurie said. "We could put out a warning."