Franco moved out of the way so that Cindy Carlson could bend over to look into the front seat of the car at Angelo. Before a word was spoken, Franco pushed her into the car headfirst.
Cindy let out a squeal but it was quickly smothered by Angelo who wrestled her into the car.
Franco swiftly yanked the leash out of Cindy’s hand and shooed the dog away. Then he squeezed into the front seat, crushing Cindy against Angelo. He put the car in gear and drove away.
Laurie had surprised herself. After the delivery of the Franconi videotape, she’d been able to redirect her attention to her paperwork. She’d worked efficiently and made significant progress. There was now a gratifying stack of completed folders on the corner of her desk.
Taking the remaining tray of histology slides, she started on the final case, which could be completed with the material and reports she had. As she peered into her microscope to examine the first slide, she heard a knock on her open door. It was Lou Soldano.
“What are you doing here so late?” Lou asked. He sat down heavily in the chair next to Laurie’s desk. He made no effort to take off his coat or hat, which was tipped way back on his head.
Laurie glanced at her watch. “My gosh!” she remarked. “I had no idea of the time.”
“I tried to call you at home as I was coming across the Queensborough Bridge,” Lou said. “When I didn’t get you, I decided to stop here. I had a sneaking suspicion you’d still be at it. You know, you work too hard!”
“You should talk!” Laurie said with playful sarcasm. “Look at you! When was the last time you got any sleep? And I’m not talking about a catnap at your desk.”
“Let’s talk about more pleasant things,” Lou suggested. “How about grabbing a bite to eat? I’ve got to run down to headquarters to do about an hour’s worth of dictating, then I’d love to go out someplace. The kids are with their aunt, God love her. What do you say to some pasta?”
“Are you sure you’re up for going out?” Laurie questioned. The circles under Lou’s dark eyes were touching his smile creases. His stubble was more than a five o’clock shadow. Laurie guessed it was at least two days’ worth.
“I gotta eat,” Lou said. “Are you planning on working much longer?”
“I’m on my last case,” Laurie said. “Maybe another half hour.”
“You gotta eat, too,” Lou said.
“Have you made any progress in the Franconi case?” Laurie asked.
Lou let out an exasperated puff of air. “I wish,” he said. “And the trouble is with these mob hits, if you don’t score quickly, the trail cools mighty fast. We haven’t gotten the break I’ve been hoping for.”
“I’m sorry,” Laurie said.
“Thanks,” Lou said. “How about you? Any more of an idea how Franconi’s body got out of here?”
“That trail is about equally as cool,” Laurie said. “Calvin even gave me a reaming out for interrogating the night mortuary tech. All I did was talk to the man. I’m afraid administration just wants the episode to fade.”
“So Jack was right about telling you to lay off,” Lou said.
“I suppose,” Laurie reluctantly agreed. “But don’t tell him that.”
“I wish the commissioner would let it fade,” Lou said. “Hell, I might get demoted over this thing.”
“I did have one thought,” Laurie said. “One of the funeral homes that picked up a body the night Franconi disappeared is called Spoletto. It’s in Ozone Park. Somehow the name was familiar to me. Then I remembered that one of the more grisly murders of a young mobster took place there back during the Cerino case. Do you think that it’s just a coincidence they happened to be making a pickup here the night Franconi disappeared?”
“Yeah,” Lou said. “And I’ll tell you why. I’m familiar with that funeral home from my years in Queens fighting organized crime. There is a loose and innocent connection by marriage with the Spoletto Funeral Home and the New York crime establishment. But it’s with the wrong family. It’s with the Lucia people, not with the Vaccarros who killed Franconi.”
“Oh, well,” Laurie said. “It was just a thought.”
“Hey, I’m not knocking your questioning it,” Lou said. “Your recall always impresses me. I’m not sure I would have made the association. Anyway, what about some dinner?”
“As tired as you look, how about just coming over to my apartment for some spaghetti?” Laurie suggested. Lou and Laurie had become best of friends over the years. After being thrust together on the Cerino case five years previously, they’d flirted with a romantic relationship. But it hadn’t worked out. Becoming friends had been a mutual decision. In the years since, they made it a point to have dinner together every couple of weeks.
“You wouldn’t mind?” Lou asked. The idea of kicking back on Laurie’s couch sounded like heaven.
“Not at all,” Laurie said. “In fact, I’d prefer it. I’ve got some sauce in the freezer and plenty of salad makings.”
“Great!” Lou said. “I’ll grab some Chianti on my way downtown. I’ll give you a call when I’m leaving headquarters.”
“Perfect,” Laurie said.
After Lou had left, Laurie went back to her slide. But Lou’s visit had broken her concentration by reawakening the Franconi business. Besides, she was tired of looking through the microscope. Leaning back, she rubbed her eyes.
“Damn it all!” she murmured. She sighed and gazed up a at the cob-webbed ceiling. Every time she questioned how Franconi’s body could have gotten out of the morgue, she agonized anew. She also felt guilty that she couldn’t provide even a modicum of help to Lou.
Laurie got up and got her coat, snapped shut her briefcase, and walked out of her office. But she didn’t leave the morgue. Instead, she went down for another visit to the mortuary office. There was a question that was nagging her and which she’d forgotten to ask Marvin Fletcher, the evening mortuary tech, the previous late afternoon.
She found Marvin at his desk busily filling out the required forms for the scheduled pickups for that evening. Marvin was one of Laurie’s favorite coworkers. He’d been on the day shift before Bruce Pomowski’s tragic murder during the Cerino affair. After that event, Marvin had been switched to evenings. It had been a promotion because the evening mortuary tech had a lot of responsibility.
“Hey, Laurie! What’s happening?” Marvin said the moment he caught sight of her. Marvin was a handsome African-American, with the most flawless skin Laurie had ever seen. It seemed to glow as if lit internally.
Laurie chatted with Marvin for a few minutes, catching him up on the intraoffice gossip of the day before getting down to business. “Marvin, I’ve got to ask you something, but I don’t want you to feel defensive.” Laurie couldn’t help remembering Mike Passano’s reaction to her questioning, and she certainly didn’t want Marvin complaining to Calvin.
“About what?” Marvin asked.
“Franconi,” Laurie said. “I wanted to ask why you didn’t X-ray the body.”
“What are you talking about?” Marvin questioned.
“Just what I said,” Laurie remarked. “There was no X-ray slip in the autopsy folder and there were no films down here with others when I looked prior to finding out that the body had disappeared.”
“I took X rays,” Marvin said. He acted hurt that Laurie would suggest that he hadn’t. “I always take X rays when a body comes in unless one of the doctors tells me otherwise.”
“Then where’s the slip and where are the films?” Laurie asked.
“Hey, I don’t know what happened to the slip,” Marvin said. “But the films: They went with Doctor Bingham.”
“Bingham took them?” Laurie questioned. Even that was odd, yet she recognized that Bingham probably was planning on doing the post the following morning.
“He told me he was taking them up to his office,” Marvin said. “What am I supposed to do, tell the boss he can’t take the X rays. No way! Not this dude.”