The Fed Man (11 page)

Doc walked around behind her desk, patted her arm, and with that soothing voice he had perfected, he attempted to reassure her.
“Now, now, Mary. Everything is going to be just fine. Please tell me what you’ve noticed with Dr. Anthony. How is his behavior different? What’s he saying and doing that has you so upset?”

“It’s just that, well, he’s so different this afternoon. He actually yelled at me. And he questioned me like I was a common criminal. And all I did was exactly what he told me to do. I stayed here all day rather than go home at noon like I usually do on Saturdays after I do some light cleaning of my office and his. Which, by the way, he forbade me to do today. You know, clean his office, that is. And I stayed here in the reception area in case anybody called.”

Shaking her head and gesturing with her palms up, she added, “And nobody did. And I didn’t let anyone in. Even those poor young men outside who are supposed to be guarding this building. They had to go to the bathroom so bad, but I told them that they had to either go to a gas station or home. Those were Dr. Anthony’s orders.”

By now she had composed herself again and stood up. Pointing at the autopsy room, she told them about moving the body from the coroner’s vehicle to the autopsy room. “And that is not, I assure you, in my job description! But I did it anyway.” Placing both hands briefly over her mouth, she raised her eyebrows and looked from Naldie to Doc to Nube before resuming. “Have you gentlemen seen the body? My God, there’s an axe in his chest!”

“We’ve seen the body,” Doc said. “That’s why we’re here again. We’re also here with Chief Bushmiller to assist with his investigation of the break-in that occurred last night. Can you tell us anything about that? Now of course, Mary,” Doc said reassuringly, “we
don’t want you to do or tell us anything that will get you into trouble with Dr. Anthony. It’s just that sometimes another perspective is always helpful. Is there anything at all that you think might help us in our assessment of this crime scene? Who, may I ask, called the chief’s office?”

“That would be Dr. Anthony. I always enter through the front door. Kind of creeps me out even after all these years to be in that room. He parks in the back and enters through a door in the back. I’m always here before him and he usually just buzzes me when he arrives.”

Mary took a huge breath and leaned so far forward in her chair that Nube moved closer, thinking she was going to end up on the floor.

“This morning he scared the living daylights out of me. He came stomping in here all in a tizzy. His hair”—she rolled her eyes and wore a hint of a smile—“what there is on top, wasn’t combed. He was waving his arms over his head and his eyes were so wide I thought they would pop out of his skull.”

Again rolling her eyes and raising both arms in a somewhat ministerial manner, she continued, “He started yelling about someone breaking into the building and into the evidence room. He kept waving one arm over his head while pointing with his other arm toward the back room. He also said that things were missing.”

Standing with his weight on his right leg and his chin in his right hand, Doc asked, “What else seemed a bit different, Mary?”

Squeezing her forehead together, she raised her index finger to make a point. “Come to think of it, he never did ask if the front
door was broken. Nor did he ask if I was all right or if anything was missing or broken in my office. And I just can’t get over how disheveled he looked. You’d think he could have at least put on a clean bow tie before coming to work.”

As if she just remembered who she had worked for the past fifteen years, she added, “But in his defense, it is Saturday and I guess he really wouldn’t even need to wear a tie if he didn’t want to. Right?”

Supportively, Doc smiled and softly replied, “You’re absolutely correct, Mary. You’ll notice the only one of us wearing a tie is Chief Bushmiller, but we have to remember he probably wears a tie to bed.”

Turning to Naldie and Nube, he asked, “Can you gentlemen think of anything else at the moment, or should we visit with Dr. Anthony now?”

Clearing his throat and stepping forward to take charge, Naldie answered, “I can’t think of anything right now.” He looked at Nube. “You?”

Seeing the young man shake his head, Naldie turned again to Mary. “But we may want to talk to you some more as we continue this investigation. If you remember anything else, give me a call, okay?”

She nodded.

“How about you give your boss a buzz now and tell him we’re here,” Naldie suggested.

Mary pushed the intercom button, and within seconds Dr. Anthony walked in. All three visitors were more than mildly
surprised at the appearance of the man who had just been described as disheveled and agitated. His hair and beard were combed, his bow tie was straightened, and he wore a relatively clean lab coat. But it was his demeanor that struck them the most. He seemed happy, confident, competent, and patient. He walked straight to Mary and laid a hand softly on her shoulder.

“That will be all for today, Mary. Thank you so much for taking control of the office while I needed to be away. I do appreciate all you do for me.”

He reached into his wallet and handed a bill to her. “Why don’t you have a nice dinner on me tonight. I’ll see you here Monday morning.”

Mary leaned back in her chair with her mouth agape, her eyes wide, and her brow wrinkled up. Slowly one hand reached up to her mouth and then a smile replaced the look of astonishment. She patted a hair into place.

“Well, thank you, Dr. Anthony. That is so kind of you, but it is totally unnecessary to give me money for dinner. I was just doing my job.”

“Nonsense, Mary. You’ve earned it and it’s just a small token of my appreciation. It’s just a little something I can do for you for going above and beyond today.”

“Well, thank you again, Dr. Anthony. I am a bit famished, it seems.”

She smiled and nodded at the three investigators as if to communicate to them that her boss was indeed a good man who was
just having a bad day. She leaned down and opened the bottom right door of her desk and got her brown leather purse. She opened it and deposited the gift from her boss, then she smiled again at the three visitors as she extended her right hand to Dr. Anthony.

“Good evening, Doctor. Don’t work too hard tonight, and I’ll see you bright and early Monday morning.” With that she strode to the door with the air that all was well in her world.

Still smiling, Dr. Anthony turned to his three visitors and put his hands together in an audible clap. “Gentlemen. Thank you for coming. Chief, where would you like to begin your investigation?”

Naldie removed his cap while contemplating how to begin, reset his cap, and answered. “I think we should walk around to the back, check in with our police volunteers, and find our photographer and sketch artist. Then we’ll follow the trail of the person who broke in.”

Dr. Anthony walked to the door while glancing over his shoulder. “Follow me, gentlemen, and I will lead you around to the back.”

Naldie looked at Doc and Nube, who still had shocked looks on their faces. He gave them a faint smile and nodded to the door that Dr. Anthony had already walked through.

The four men walked to the back and Nube again noted that there was not a window or a door on the side of the building, meaning there were no possible entry sites. When they turned the corner to the rear of the building, they were met with a mini barricade and a string of the yellow crime scene tape.

There were two young men standing together wearing uniforms that identified them as volunteers of the Oak Ridge Police Department. Seeing Naldie stroll around the corner, the two men snapped to attention and began a confident stride toward the chief of police. Naldie walked up to the pair assigned to guard the crime scene and, opening both hands, he said, “Well, boys, what have we got here?”

The older of the two took charge. “Good afternoon, Chief. After receiving a call this morning from Deputy Mohr, I responded immediately and presented here. Seeing the back door, and assuming the worst, I took the responsibility of calling volunteer Kjelson to assist me.”

Naldie held up his hands and interrupted the young volunteer who the chief had always thought of as a wannabe. “Stop with the TV crap-talk, Benji. Just tell us what you found and what’s occurred all day, okay?”

Benji’s shoulders sagged for just a second. He let out a sigh, smiled, and replied, “Just trying to be correct, Chief. But if you insist, after I got here I called Tommy to help me. I waited until he got here and then we strung the tape. We looked at the door, but didn’t touch or enter. You know that lady in there wouldn’t even let us in to take a leak. Or to get a drink of water. But we didn’t see anyone all day until the coroner returned. Boy, what a snob he is. He wouldn’t even acknowledge us. That’s about it.” Turning to his partner, he asked, “Anything else you can think of, Tommy?”

Shaking his head, he replied, “Nope. That covers it.”

Smiling, Naldie nodded at both of the young volunteers. “Good job, guys. We’re going in to have a look, but I’d really appreciate it if you would stay out here until we return. Okay? Give your wives a call and tell them you’re going to be a bit late for supper tonight. Any problems, just let me know.”

Walking toward the rear entrance, he turned back and yelled, “Benji. The red van parked over there.” Naldie pointed at a Dodge minivan parked along the curb. “Run over there and tell the two guys in there that I need them over here.”

Turning to Nube and Doc, he explained, “That’s Dick Young’s van and Jim Plooter will be with him. I’d think we’ll need pictures and sketches here as well.”

Nube placed a restraining hand on Naldie’s shoulder.

“Just a second, Chief. I think we should be careful where we step and what we touch. We may want to look for tire tracks that we can compare to those from the first crime scene. And we’ll want to see if we can lift any prints from the door area.”

“Jeez, Nube. You’re always ten steps ahead of me.” Turning to Doc, Naldie continued, “I don’t suppose you have any of those gloves in your pocket, do you, Doc?”

“Just so happens that I still have some in my pockets.” He retrieved a wad of the latex gloves and handed a pair to each man.

Nube said, “We’ll take a look around and then dust for prints.” He looked at each man. “Okay, let’s see what we’ve got.”

Approaching the rear entrance, Nube noted that the lock on the doorknob appeared scratched. So whoever broke in had
initially attempted to jimmy the lock, unsuccessfully. It appeared that a crowbar had been used to bust the lock and the doorjamb. He spotted a small paint scar. Pointing at it, Nube turned to Naldie and Doc.

“There’s some paint here that we have to assume is from the instrument used to break open the door. We’ll want lots of pictures here and we’ll want to retrieve and send that paint as trace evidence.”

After the photographer and sketch artist had completed their work, Nube teased the door open and the group entered the morgue. They stepped into an anteroom used by Dr. Anthony and Leo to hang their coats and hats. Nube pointed to the autopsy room ahead of them.

“Let’s look in here. I think we should begin on the periphery and work toward the center.”

Entering the main room of the county morgue, Nube was again struck by the contrast this edifice presented. Contrary to the bleak, dreary, gray presentation of the outside, this room was very bright and white. The cupboards and storage areas were all white, including the drawer pulls, the door handles, and the countertops. An abundance of fluorescent ceiling lights bathed the expansive room in a brilliance Nube had not encountered before in a single room. The wall to his left was the refrigerated area that contained four stainless steel drawers, stacked two up and across, where corpses were placed pending final disposition. That was where the latest victim lay.

As they circled the room in a counterclockwise fashion, everything, on first glance, seemed intact, until they arrived at the
short wall opposite where they had entered. Nube halted, held up his hand, and pointed to the right-hand door of the lower cabinets. Noting it to be ajar about an inch, he turned to Dr. Anthony. “What do you usually keep in this cabinet?”

Dr. Anthony stammered a bit and scratched at a small scab on the back of his left forearm. “Leo does the stocking of shelves and keeps the inventory updated. I usually don’t do anything but okay the requisitions, which then go to Mary, who puts in the orders. I do believe this is where Leo likes to store the gloves and shoe covers that we use.”

Turning to the chief, Nube said, “I think we should take a look in here, wouldn’t you agree, Chief?”

Before Naldie could respond, Nube opened the cabinet and saw it was empty except for two boxes of gloves, one vinyl and one latex. “I see, Dr. Anthony, that you have both latex and vinyl gloves. Any reason for that?”

“Yes. Sometimes Leo’s hands develop a pruritic, I mean itching, rash if he uses the latex gloves for too long. When that occurs, he switches to vinyl for a few days until the rash clears.”

“How many boxes of each do you usually have on hand?”

Scratching his head and beginning to appear anxious, he responded, “I’m not sure. I would have to ask Mary or Leo.”

Nube turned and was about to speak to Doc when he noted the retired physician was scribbling some notes in a small spiral notebook. He looked up and nodded at Nube as if to tell him not to worry, he was taking notes for them.

“The same would go for the shoe covers, I assume. I mean, I assume you would have to ask either Mary or Leo how many boxes you usually have on hand. I don’t see any in here now.”

Fidgeting, and with a few beads of sweat appearing on his brow, Dr. Anthony replied, “Yes, yes, ah, you’re correct. I’ll need to check with Mary or Leo about that. Is it okay to ask them Monday or would you like to know today?” Becoming somewhat agitated, he continued, “I don’t know where Leo is, but I did ask Mary to contact him and have him come in today to help me with the autopsy.”

With a reassuring smile, Nube raised his hand. “If Leo comes in today we’ll ask him. Otherwise, we can check with him or Mary Monday morning. Now, Dr. Anthony, does anything else seem missing, for example, scalpels or suture material?”