“Well, speak of the devil,” Janice said. “Here comes Bart now.”
Jack turned in time to see Bart come through the glass door leading out to the elevator lobby. With his extra weight mostly around his middle section, he moved with a particular rolling gait. As he approached his desk, he pulled off his hat from his mostly bald head and peeled his jacket off his shoulders. “You are in way too early, Dr. Stapleton,” he called out. He dumped an armload of manila envelopes on his desk, then joined the others. “How was the night, Janice?”
“All quiet on the western front,” Janice joked.
“Janice just told me that people came in, identified Carol Stewart, and then left with the body,” Jack said challengingly. “Why wasn’t I called?”
“You already had the name,” Bart said defensively. “Consequently, I didn’t think you’d want to be disturbed at home, so I told the MLIs not to have you called.”
“But the name of the deceased was all I had,” Jack complained.
“Well, now you have it all,” Bart said. “I’m sure it’s all in the computer. Pull it up, Janice! Let’s show the gentleman.”
A moment later, Janice had all the information on her monitor screen. Jack and Bart looked over her shoulder and read the details. The identification was made by Agnes Mitchel, whose own form of identification was a New Jersey driver’s license. Her Denville, New Jersey, address was duly listed and her association with the deceased was described as neighbor and family friend, not next of kin, suggesting Carol Stewart was originally from that part of New Jersey. Also listed was Carol Stewart’s current address in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, along with her Social Security number.
“Looks like just about everything you need,” Bart said, straightening up. “And it’s curious that this sudden identification and information gathering all happened just after you managed to get the name from Manhattan General Hospital. My guess would be that somebody from MGH called someone out in New Jersey about Carol’s death, probably somebody at the Dover Valley Hospital.”
“I’m sure you are right,” Jack said. “God! This case never stops surprising me. And I’m shocked that the body was released with no next of kin involved.”
“I can explain that,” Bart said. “It was a bit out of the ordinary. I know because the forensic pathology resident who was covering last night called me about releasing the body, since the mortuary techs had asked him. There was no next of kin, but there was a representative from the Higgins Funeral Home in Dover who had accompanied Agnes Mitchel. This individual was in possession of two necessary important documents. First, he had an undertaker’s license here in New York, as required, as well as one in New Jersey. And second, he had a legal release already signed by Carol Stewart’s executor. Since the autopsy was done and there was no formal hold on the body, I said it could be released. Should I have not done that?”
“If they had a signed legal release from the executor of the estate, there wasn’t much that could be done,” Jack said. “They own the body once the autopsy has been completed. My concern is the potential infectious nature of the remains. Was the funeral director notified of that possibility when the body was handed over?”
“That I don’t know,” Bart said. “You’ll have to ask the evening mortuary techs. But they are all sharp guys, so I imagine they brought up the possible contagion issue. Was the body in a sealed body bag?”
“Yes,” Jack said.
“Well, there you go,” Bart said. “That speaks for itself.”
“For a thirtyish woman to have a standing executor of her estate is rather unique,” Jack said. “But I suppose when you are facing a heart transplant, you are forced to think of such things.”
“I imagine so,” Bart said.
“When such a release is used, is it usually recorded?” Jack asked. As a busy medical examiner, the legal details didn’t concern him. He let the legal people worry about such things.
“Of course.” Bart bent over Janice’s keyboard, tapped a few keys, and a moment later a legal release form appeared on the screen.
Not entirely sure why he wanted to read the document other than pure curiosity, Jack leaned forward and struggled with the tiny print. It was the usual lawyerly gobbledygook that bored him to tears, until the very end. It was then that he did a double take when he read the name of the executor at the very bottom of the page, because it was yet another major surprise. The executor of Carol’s estate was none other than Wei Zhao. “I don’t believe it,” he blurted out. “What a damn coincidence. This guy seems to be all over the place.”
“What guy?” Bart asked. He began to skim the release, clearly worrying that the night before there might have been some legal aberration.
“The executor,” Jack said. He pointed at the name. “That’s bizarre. Wei Zhao is a wealthy Chinese businessman who must be a local celebrity out there in northern New Jersey. He’s the owner of a pharmaceuticalcompany that’s the area’s largest employer. And he’s quite a philanthropist. His company owns the Dover Valley Hospital, and MGH’s heart center here in New York is named after him.”
“Sounds very noble-minded,” Bart said.
“We’ll see,” Jack said. “Why would this guy be this woman’s executor? That doesn’t make much sense to me. I tell you, this is by far the weirdest case I’ve ever been involved with as a medical examiner. I truly don’t know what I’m going to find when I go out there.”
“Are you still going to do a site visit? Even after we have all the identification information.”
“I wouldn’t miss it,” Jack said. “There are too many oddities and unanswered questions.”
“It doesn’t bother you that you have no jurisdiction in New Jersey?”
“Details,” Jack said flippantly. “Someone has to read the fine print on my ME badge to know it’s from New York. I’m not going to lie.”
“What about the address in Sunset Park, Brooklyn? Do you want me to send someone out there to check it out?”
“Hold off on that,” Jack said. “Let’s wait until we get a diagnosis of what killed her. Visiting the woman’s apartment might require barrier precautions if some lethal virus is involved. Obviously, she lives alone. Otherwise, someone would have declared her missing.”
