Any trouble in Idaho, Wisconsin or Colorado?
Cardoni was the defendant in a malpractice suit in Colorado. The insurance company settled it. I've got rumors of cocaine use, and there were a couple of sexual harassment complaints that went nowhere. After Cardoni finished his residency, he moved to Portland.
Where does Cardoni's money come from? McCarthy asked.
Some of it comes from an inheritance. His folks are dead. I also hear that he's invested wisely.
McCarthy leaned back in his chair and tapped his fingers together thoughtfully.
If Cardoni is a serial killer, he may have cut his teeth before moving to Portland. Find out if a killing field like the one near the cabin was ever found in Washington, Pennsylvania, Idaho, Wisconsin, Colorado or any other place Cardoni lived.
Okay.
And while we're on the subject, did you have any luck tracing the ownership of the Milton County property?
None. I went to the banks that cut the cashier's checks, but there was no record of the purchases because they were under ten thousand dollars. Is there anything new on your end?
A little. I' m certain that the Milton County cabin is the place where the illegal organs were harvested. Remember those jars in the refrigerator?
The ones with Viaspan written on them?
Right. Viaspan is a cardiac preservation fluid. Before you cut the heart out of a donor's body, you inject Viaspan into it. It replaces the blood, fills up the vessels and preserves the heart so the metabolic processes don't continue when the heart stops beating. After you remove the heart, you place it in a plastic bag filled with Viaspan. Viaspan would also be used when transplanting other organs.
Like a kidney?
Exactly. We've also identified several of the victims. The decapitated woman without the heart is Jane Scott, a runaway. One of the victims is Kim Bowers, a prostitute who disappeared a year and a half ago, and another is Louise Pierre.
The Lewis and Clark student who went missing in June?
McCarthy nodded One of the males is Rick Elam, a shipping clerk who was reported missing in September. Elam and Pierre were missing kidneys. Now, here is the interesting part. Scott, Elam and Pierre were patients at St. Francis within months of their disappearances.
No shit! Were any of them a patient of Cardoni?
No, but they didn't have to be. All you need to do to find a donor for a heart is to find a person whose blood type is compatible with the recipient's and who is within twenty percent of the recipient's body weight. The heart of a person with type O blood can be given to anyone. All Cardoni or Grant had to do was look at their files.
Were any of the other victims missing organs?
McCarthy shook his head sadly. It looks like Cardoni was just having fun with some of those poor bastards and mixing business with pleasure with the others.
Chapter 19
Amanda was half an hour late for her date with Tony Fiori when she finally arrived at the YMCA. On the ride over she had worried that he would think she' d stood him up, but he smiled when he saw her.
I' m sorry, Amanda apologized. I had a jury out and they came back just before five.
Did you win?
Amanda let her grin answer the question.
It was so great, Tony. Dad put me on the court appointment list so I could get more trial experience, and they appointed me to help this poor woman, Maria Lopez. She's a single mother and she's got these three maniac kids. So she's at Kmart and JosT, her two-year-old, streaks down the aisle toward these toys, so she stuffs a roll of Scotch tape and a bottle of aspirin in her coat pocket and goes after him. JosT knows how to run, but he hasn't figured out stopping yet. Bam, he goes headfirst into this display counter. Maria is holding JosT, who is screaming his head off, and trying to comfort Teresa, who's three and is screaming to keep JosT company, and trying to keep an eye on Miguel, who's four. Naturally she forgets about the tape and the aspirin, and some idiot security officer arrests her for shoplifting.
How did you get her off?
I slam-dunked the security officer. He testified that Maria was looking around ' stealthily' when she ' slipped' the stuff in her pocket. And he said that JosT didn't take off for a second or so after she ' secreted the goods on her person.' He made Maria sound like some master thief. Then I showed him the videotape from the store's security camera. You should have heard him stammer and stutter after that. Maria was so grateful. She just manages to get by, and she was scared to death of what would happen to her kids if she went to jail.
Sounds like you did a super job.
Bet your ass I did, Amanda said, puffing up like a peacock.
Then you deserve an amazing dinner as a reward.
Oh? Where are we going?
It's a surprise. I'll tell you when we're finished working out.
They swam hard for an hour, and Amanda found that the time went quickly with Tony as her workout partner. She showered, toweled her hair dry and emerged from the locker room moments before Tony came out.
Tell me where we're going to dinner, she demanded. I' m famished.
Great, because it's a very exclusive Italian place I know. Did you drive?
Amanda nodded.
Then follow me.
Tony took the freeway, then exited onto the winding streets of a residential neighborhood with which she was unfamiliar. Finally Tony pulled into the driveway of a blue two-story Victorian with white gingerbread trim. A high hedge enclosed a small backyard, and a shaded porch fronted the street.
Welcome to Papa Fiori' s, home of the finest Italian food in Portland, Tony said when Amanda got out of her car.
You're cooking?
S8, signorina.
Tony opened the front door and flipped on the lights.
This is lovely, Amanda said as she admired the stained-glass windows above the front door.
It was the windows that sold me. The place was built in 1912, and those are original.
There was a television, a VCR and a stereo in the living room, but most of the furnishings in the house were in keeping with its age. Tony led Amanda through the dining room. The dining table was polished mahogany, ornate molding created a border for the high ceiling and the cherrywood mantel over the fireplace was decorated with intricately carved cherubs, dragons and devils.
Is all this original, too?
Mostly, yeah. It's all from the general period.
Tony flipped on the kitchen light and pointed to a table near the stove. Why don't you sit over there while I prepare spaghetti and meatballs alla Fiori. Do you like garlic bread?
I love it.
Then you're in for a treat.
This was as good as advertised, Amanda said after finishing a second piece of garlic bread. She felt fat and drowsy after consuming too much pasta and two glasses of Chianti.
Some more wine?
Just a little. I've got to drive home.
Tony topped off her glass and watched as Amanda took a sip. She caught him looking and smiled to let him know that she didn't mind. Amanda could not remember spending a more relaxing evening with a man.
They carried their wineglasses into the living room.
How's work coming? Tony asked as he lit the logs in the fireplace.
I' m pretty busy.
You seem to like what you're doing.
Yeah, for the most part, she answered wistfully. I' d like more responsibility.
You're working on the Cardoni case, aren't you?
A little. The motion to suppress is set for Monday, and Dad's got me researching it. And I've gone out with Herb Cross, our investigator, the guy you met at the hospital.
How's it going? Tony asked when they were settled on the couch.
I think we're going to get clobbered at the motion.
How come?
Do you understand what happens at a motion to suppress?