“I can say the same.” Jack pressed an open palm against his chest in the stereotypical sign of distress. In contrast to Laurie, his feet were bare, and he wore only pajama bottoms to ward against the chill. “Was something wrong with JJ?” He looked around Laurie at the sleeping child.
“No, he’s fine. I just covered him up.”
“What are you doing up out of bed?” he questioned with obvious concern. “I can’t remember the last time I saw you up and about before six. Are you all right?”
“I’m fine. I’m just a little worried about this morning’s City Council Committee meeting,” she said. “I want to go over the material I was working on last night. I told you about it.”
“Yeah, I remember,” Jack said with a dismissive wave of his hand. “That’s so much to do about nothing. You shouldn’t waste your time and emotion on a little mix-up just because a handful of politicians are up in arms.”
“I don’t see it that way, not when the City Council has oversight over the OCME budget,” Laurie said. “Keeping them happy is one of my main responsibilities, especially when we’re in dire need of a new Forensic Pathology building and a new autopsy suite.”
“But the little body switcheroo was an understandable mistake. No one was hurt, and it was easy to rectify.”
“It’s easy for you to say no one was hurt. I heard both families were pretty damn upset and at least one of them is thinking of suing. Dealing with death is hard enough without having to experience the emotional shock of confronting the wrong body in an open-casket wake.”
The origin of the problem was the near-simultaneous arrival at the OCME of two cadavers with the same first and last name, Henry Norton. Even though they received unique accession numbers, the night mortuary tech just checked the name and not the number when the first body was released, meaning both bodies ended up at the wrong funeral homes. To make matters worse, the mistake wasn’t discovered until the family arrived for the first funeral service.
“I truly don’t know how you find the patience for this kind of crap,” he said with a shake of his head. “So what are you going to say to the committee?”
“I’m going to tell them that I personally apologized to both families, which I did. And then I’ll explain the changes in protocol I’ve made in how bodies are released to make sure it doesn’t happen again. I’ve also asked IT to update the case-management system to call attention to similar-named decedents.”
“Well, it sounds like you’ve got the situation well under control.”
“Unfortunately, the problem spread. The funeral home where the mix-up was first discovered is on Staten Island. The director added to his complaint that it takes too long for him to get bodies now that we’ve closed the Staten Island morgue and do the autopsies here in Manhattan.”
“Yikes! So this mix-up of too many Nortons now forces you to justify closing the morgue on Staten Island?”
“It’s worse than that,” Laurie said with a sigh. “One of the Health Committee members is from the Bronx, where the morgue was also closed. She’s claimed that funeral directors in her district have complained about long delays, too. I’ve had to rush together an extensive report on the turnaround times for bodies from all five boroughs. It’s a PowerPoint presentation, and you know how much I detest talking in front of groups.”
“You’ve told me, but it’s a mystery because you always come across like a pro.”
“That’s because I overprepare,” she said. “Hey! Aren’t you freezing? I’m cold, and I’m in a robe and slippers.”
Jack briefly hugged himself and pretended to shiver. “It is a bit chilly.”
“Get your robe and come downstairs,” Laurie said. “I’ll make some coffee. There’s a favor I need to ask you to do for me this morning.”
“Favor?” Jack questioned as he paused at the door to the hallway. “I’m not sure I like the sound of that. What kind of favor?”
“Something I was going to do this morning, but now because of this impromptu meeting down at 250 Broadway, I need you to go in my place.”
“Was this something you were scheduled to do as the chief medical examiner? I don’t need to remind you that I’m not good at politics.”
“No, it’s something I was scheduled to do as a mother. You’ll go as the father, which is totally apropos.”
“How long has this been scheduled?”
“About a week.”
“Are you sure I can handle this?” Jack asked, only half-teasing.
“No, but there’s no choice,” she said with a short laugh. “Get your robe before you freeze to death, and I’ll explain.”
Laurie followed him out of JJ’s room and watched him sprintdown the hall toward the entrance to their bedroom. With all his pickup basketball and bike riding, he was shockingly fit. Laurie wished he’d stop both and constantly tried to convince him that the family needed him injury-free, but she had to admit that he did look good and wished she had half of his stamina. The trouble was that being the chief medical examiner, a mother, and chief household engineer left her scant time for herself or any kind of exercise routine.
A few minutes later and even before Laurie managed to get the coffee water boiling, Jack swept down the stairs and into the kitchen dressed in his white summer robe. His feet were still bare.
“Okay, out with it,” he said, pretending to be already irritated.
