Chapter 5 #2
“From many years’ personal experience I know it’s the absolute worst time of the year in Manhattan weather-wise, whereas here it is the middle of our best season, a gorgeous summer with warm sunny days and crisp, cool nights.
And before you say anything, let me tell you about our innumerable, pristine, crystal clear lakes filled with bass and trout, our forested mountains with hundreds of waterfalls along with our tennis courts and even pickleball if you are into that.
It’s an incredible outdoorsman’s utopia all within a four-hour drive from Manhattan.
And on top of all that, I can offer you some decent pickup basketball, provided you don’t mind losing. ”
“Losing?” Jack questioned with another guffaw. “You are being unfair! You’re using psychological warfare!”
“I know, but I’m desperate,” Bob added with his own laughter. He remembered that in medical school, Jack had been by far the most committed basketball devotee.
“Well, that’s an unexpected and interesting offer,” Jack said.
He surprised himself by not dismissing the idea out of hand, which he would have done under normal circumstances.
What occurred to him was that the timing seemed amazingly fortuitous, with both JJ and Emma having been just deposited at camp plus his unspoken wish to somehow get Laurie away from the grind in which she was ensnared.
A kind of adult camp experience for the two of them, which traveling up to Essex Falls might be, could be just what the doctor ordered on multiple fronts, plus, if need be they’d be closer if something went amiss with the kids in the Catskill Mountains and one or both needed to be picked up.
“Are you still there?” Bob questioned when Jack remained silent for several beats.
“Yes, sorry. What kind of forensic circumstances are you referring to?” Jack asked, his mind still mulling over the idea of him and Laurie spending a few days in a summer paradise.
It sounded heavenly. They hadn’t had such an opportunity of togetherness since they’d gone on their honeymoon the previous century, as he described the timing of their last trip together.
“I was hoping you’d ask,” Bob said eagerly. “A year or so ago, did you happen to see the New York Times article about an outbreak of some mysterious brain disease in a small town in New Brunswick Province in Canada?”
“No, I can’t say I did. I’m not much of a newshound.”
“Too bad, because I’m concerned I’m at the outset of a similar circumstance, which I suppose is not too surprising since the Canadian border is less than a hundred miles to the north.
The two cases I mentioned seemed to be the same, and I sent off samples to NMS Labs to confirm what the autopsy suggested: early-onset, rapidly progressive Alzheimer’s disease.
Then both tests came back negative, which surprised and confused me.
“But those cases pale compared to the death I had yesterday of a young, local troublemaker of sorts, who worked for a local pest control company. Early in the morning he came flying into my office with rapidly advancing symptoms of organophosphate poisoning, including all sorts of muscle spasms that quickly became fatal. He needs to be autopsied and the diagnosis confirmed to try to figure out how he got poisoned, if he had been poisoned. The last thing I’d want to see is a rash of such cases, and I’m smart enough to know I’m in over my head.
Nor do I want to send the case to either Saratoga Springs or Albany.
I’m thinking it is a local emergency of sorts. ”
“Well, that’s certainly not going to be the first case of a pest control person being poisoned with an organophosphate. Have you found out what product he’d been using and how it was being administered?”
“That’s the rub. He’d not yet been to work when he came down with the symptoms. I confirmed this with his boss.”
“Was anything found in his vehicle?”
“No pesticides. Only an AR-15 and night vision goggles.”
Jack gave a short, mirthless laugh. “Why the hell did he have an AR-15 and night vision goggles?”
“It’s kind of a mild epidemic up here in paradise.
Just about all the late millennials and early generation Z males who have remained in Essex Falls—there’s not that many—have an AR-15 in their pickup.
It’s a reminder of a virtual explosion of local-grown right-wing extremism we’ve experienced here in Essex Falls ever since the Bennet Shoe Company closed its doors. ”
“That’s unfortunate.”
“Yes, but it’s not so bad. They pretty much keep to themselves with their intermittent nighttime maneuvers, or so they call them, which are really beer drinking, target practice social events held in the woods.
For me it just means I have to set a few bones now and then.
How it is that no one has been mistakenly shot, I have no clue but am thankful.
So, what do you say about my vacation offer in exchange for a couple of hours of your professional expertise? ”
“Did you know my wife, Laurie, is also a forensic pathologist?” Jack said. “She’s considerably more well-known in forensic pathology circles than I. In fact, she happens to be the chief here at the OCME. If we were to come for a visit, it would be a two-for-one deal.”
“I had no idea, but the more the merrier. Obviously she’d be more than welcome.
Does this mean you are considering it? I’d be very beholden, and it would also be fun as a little trip down memory lane.
And I’m not kidding about the basketball.
We play at least twice a week all summer long, usually three-on-three but occasionally five-on-five, and you’d be more than welcome. ”
“That’s very tempting,” Jack said. “Here in the city, I continue to play two, three, maybe even four times a week. And the timing of this possible junket might be perfect. Just this past weekend, we dropped our two children off at camps in the Catskills, so we are conveniently childless for the next two weeks. And maybe even more important, just this morning I was thinking that Laurie needs an excuse to take a break.”
“Whoa! That sounds encouraging….”
“You mentioned accommodations. Can I ask for details about that? It might help when I bring this idea up with Laurie later this morning.”
“Of course,” Bob said. “Some of the homes of the Bennet Shoe Company management have recently been renovated by a private equity company, which I can further explain if and when you do end up coming up here. I was thinking of renting the owner’s mansion for you.
It’s a late nineteenth-century Victorian with a dozen bedrooms, so you’d have oodles of space.
It’s black with all sorts of towers and turrets and is gorgeous in a storybook sort of way.
It’s a few miles out of town on several wooded acres on a small pristine private lake with views of the surrounding mountains. You’d love it.”
“Sounds like the opposite side of the world from our digs here in Manhattan.”
“You will think you are on the opposite side of the world. Believe me!”
“If we were to come, when do you have in mind?”
“Just as soon as you can arrange it. The body is here at my office in my walk-in cooler, and the family is eager for a proper burial. Well, at least the mother is.”
“You have cold storage at your medical office? I’m impressed.”
“I bought the old Bennet Clinic building more than ten years ago when it was available for a song, so I have lots of room. It’s next to the huge old original mill and of the same Venetian vernacular architectural style, which I can assure you is not what you’ll be expecting to see way up here in the deep woods.
Since I had the space, I went ahead and made myself an autopsy room back when I was elected the county coroner, and I included a cooler.
You’ll probably find the setup rather primitive, but it works for me. ”
“I’m getting the impression you’ve taken this coroner job seriously.”
“I have. I figured if I was going to do it, I’d give it my best shot.”
“Admirable,” Jack said with sincerity. “Okay, Bob, here’s what I’ll do.
I’ll bring up the idea of our taking a bit of a working vacation with Laurie.
She’s caught up in an important meeting this morning, so I probably won’t be able to speak with her until sometime around eleven.
Tell me, are you calling me on your mobile? ”
“I am, indeed.”
“Good, so I have your number. I’ll get back to you as soon as I get to talk with her. I personally like the idea, especially if I can get you to eat your words about your having a better jump shot than I.”
Bob laughed heartily. “I knew that would get your full attention.”
Jack laughed as well. “If the tables were turned, I can imagine my using the same ploy. Anyway, I was serious when I said your timing is impeccable, and it very well might work out. I’ll get back to you later today.”
“Great,” Bob responded. “I’ll be waiting.”
Jack disengaged the call and checked the time.
It wasn’t quite 7:45, making him question if he might be able to catch Laurie before she headed down to Hunter College for her meeting with the dean.
As excited as he’d become about the possibility of going up to Essex Falls for a little working vacation, he was impatient to broach the subject with her and hear her reaction.
But the moment he thought about it further, he decided it was better to wait until after her meeting with the hope her discussions went well.
Allowing his feet to drop to the floor, Jack headed out of the ID cubicle feeling jazzed up. In the main area things hadn’t changed. Nala was still going over the previous night’s autopsy folders, Vinnie was still hidden behind his Daily News, and Lou had fallen back asleep.
Stepping over to Vinnie, Jack snatched away the mortuary tech’s paper.
“Let’s go, big guy, time’s a wasting,” he said, initiating one of their daily sarcastically playful, back-and-forth exchanges.
His plan was to get Vinnie on his way down to the “pit’ ” to set up the autopsy on the bullet-ridden felon.
Jack then planned on helping himself to another coffee before awaking Lou.
The coffee idea was less about an additional shot of caffeine than a moment to fantasize about him and Laurie enjoying a much-needed vacation.
In his mind Essex Falls did sound like a summer paradise, especially since it included reconnecting with a dear, old medical school friend and forcing Laurie to take a much-needed break.
With those thoughts in mind, he had little reason to suspect what the reality would ultimately turn out to be.