“They paid you directly?” Jack said with amazement. This case certainly was unique on all fronts. One hospital paying another, even if they were associated, raised further red flags in his mind. Knowing AmeriCare’s penchant for maximizing return on investment, he couldn’t help but wonder what kind of money was involved. His intuition was telling him millions, and Jack knew money talked.
“The Dover Valley Hospital was within weeks of getting their hearttransplant certification,” Charles explained. “If they could have waited, they would have. My understanding is that they had the insurance coverage all arranged, just like they had everything else arranged. It was the patient’s condition that dictated a change in venue. All we had to do was have the patient sign our operative consent form and do the procedure.”
“And the patient’s name?” Jack asked.
“Carol Weston Stewart,” Charles said. He handed Jack one of his business cards with the name hand-printed on the back. “I believe this satisfies the reason for your visit here to MGH. And now I would like you to leave. You helped us in the past, I’ll give you that. But in the process, you were like the proverbial bull in the china shop, and I will sleep better tonight knowing you were escorted off the premises.”
Charles turned and waved for several uniformed security men who had accompanied him to the heart center to come into Bonnie’s office. As soon as they did, he directed them to escort Jack out onto the street.
“You mustn’t make a fuss on my behalf,” Jack said, trying to suppress a smile.
“Oh, but we insist,” Charles said.
Jack made it a point to shake hands with Bonnie Vanderway, whom he credited for his progress of getting the sought-after name. Then he merely provocatively smiled and waved at Charles before he followed the security people out into the hall.
“Such a nice man,” Jack said, as the group waited for the elevator.
Outside, as he unlocked his bike, Jack smiled anew. Not only had he managed to get the name of Carol Weston Stewart, but he had the satisfaction of possibly ruining Charles Kelley’s day. But more important, he felt even more motivated about his diversion. The fact that Charles Kelley himself had felt compelled to become involved spoke volumes. It was like a neon sign proclaiming something weird was afoot.
15
TUESDAY, 5:25 P.M.
Invigorated by his short-term success after so much effort, Jack made it back to the OCME in record time. Wondering when Laurie was planning on leaving for home, he headed directly up to the front office.
“Dr. Montgomery and her secretary left about twenty minutes ago,” Carla Rossario said. Carla was Dr. Paul Plodget’s secretary. Paul was the new deputy chief, since Calvin Washington had retired. “Dr. Montgomery wanted to get home early because company was expected. Then, right after she left, Cheryl took off.”
Jack winced. He didn’t like the sound ofcompany. In his mind, it might have been the last thing they needed at the Stapleton-Montgomery household. For a brief moment he thought about calling Laurie to prepare himself for what he was going to be facing when he got home, but he decided against it. If there was a problem, he knew Laurie would have called or at least texted. Instead, Jack hurried up to his office. He wanted to see what he could find out about Carol Weston Stewart from social media. He knew he could have called Bart and have him do it, but he didn’t want the MLI to have all the fun. He also wanted to check out Dover Valley Hospital.
Tossing his bomber jacket into the corner to avoid taking the time to hang it up, Jack sat down at his monitor with the idea of jumping onto the Internet. Instead, he found himself face-to-face with a Post-it Note from his old officemate Dr. Chet McGovern. It was a simple message to call Dr. Aretha Jefferson.
Hoping for more good news, Jack made the call. Aretha picked right up, as if she had been hovering over the phone.
“Hey, Jack!” she said, apparently able to tell it was he who was calling. “I’ve got some significant news for you. I’m ninety percent certain we’re dealing with a seriously pathological virus. Currently the cytopathic effects are much more pronounced with the human kidney cells than they were just this morning. Now I’m just waiting for the titer to increase so I can start the identification process full-speed.”
“Bravo,” Jack said. “That’s terrific news, even if it’s also very scary. I don’t like the idea of a seriously pathological virus being on the subway.”
“You and me both,” Aretha said.
“I’ve been making some progress as well,” Jack said. “I now have a name to attach to the patient. I don’t have any address yet or any other information, but that should come as a matter of course. I had a breakthrough by combining together a heart transplant and a relatively unique tattoo as my inquiry and just cold-calling the city’s heart transplant centers. I hit pay dirt with my fourth call.”
“You’re the man,” Aretha said. “Hey! It’s after five. Are you going to run tonight?”
“Are you?”
“That’s my intention,” Aretha said. “I don’t want my new friends to forget about me.”
“I don’t think you’ll have to worry about that, with the way you played last night,” Jack said. “Anyway, I imagine I’ll see you. I think I’m going to need a run.” Jack couldn’t help but wonder exactly what Laurie had meant bycompany.
“Try to make it,” Aretha said. “I have a little surprise to tell you.”
“Why not tell me now?”
“I prefer to do it in person.”
“Okay,” Jack said. “See you then.” He disconnected because he could see another call coming in. It was Detective Lou Soldano. As he switched over, he chided himself for not asking Aretha about the time frame for the identification process.
“I was hoping to hear from you sometime today,” Lou said, after they exchanged the usual hellos. “Any info on those three cases we worked on yesterday morning?”
