Couples
Chapter 8
Jack loiters on the sidewalk outside Craig Daniel's apartment. The address isn't listed in the public references. No surprise there. But that's hardly a problem for Jack. It took him about 15 seconds, if that long, to get it.
He's not entirely sure why he's here. For a while, Martha's been keeping company with the actor who portrays the public's conception of a spy. Actually, Craig's character is a hell of a lot closer to the truth than Bond, but that's not saying much. And Jack doesn't care what happens on the screen, anyway. His concern is for Martha.
Jack's more than aware that Richard's mother has had relationships, long and short, with an impressive string of men. She even married a couple of them. If Jack hadn't been out of the country at the time, he might have been able to keep husband number two from ripping her off. At least Richard took her in. Jack can't take anything other than sperm-donor credit for his son growing up to be a kind and generous man. But he's proud of him, nonetheless.
The question is, what kind of a man is Daniels? He doesn't need money. He has plenty of his own, although that's never stopped a con artist before. Still, from what Jack's observed so far, the actor seems genuinely taken with Martha. And vice versa. That shouldn't bother Jack. He ran a check on Daniels back to his birth and didn't find any serious offenses. There were a couple of questionable tax matters, but they had more to do with the actor moving around than trying to avoid his obligations. Jack found an ex-wife too. However, no evidence popped up that Daniels was ever abusive, and the divorce was amicable.
So, what the hell is Jack doing here spying on the couple? After all these years, he's not in love with Martha, is he? Was he ever? He's not sure. But Martha is part of his family. And whatever he can do to look out for them, all of them, he will. He's going to keep an eye on Alexis' new boyfriend, too.
As best he can on the screen of his laptop, Lorne studies Lanie's expression. "A C.O.D. giving you trouble?"
"No. I know the cause of death. Someone slipped the victim a bad copy of a biologic. I found some evidence of infusion, and the lab tagged it. But I have no idea who might have done it or why."
"That's the police's job, not yours, Lanie," the Pennsylvania M.E. reminds her.
"I know," Lanie acknowledges. "I called Kate. She's busy with another case, but she said she'd get into it when she can. I notified the agencies who have a stake in it, but I don't expect any urgent action. Kate said Rick's got some ideas about her current case, so I'm hoping she can kick it loose fast. Her captain is throwing resources at her investigation too, which should also speed things along. But I've spent enough time talking about that. What are you up to?"
"No crime today, at least not a chargeable crime. A 75-year-old woman who smoked for most of her life died of C.O.P.D. A trip and fall on a broken sidewalk by a man on blood thinners resulted in a brain bleed. I might get pulled into a civil suit on that one. But no serial killers or incipient epidemics."
"So your department is pretty quiet?" Lanie inquires.
"For the moment. Why? What's on your mind besides your mystery drug pusher?"
"That we don't get to spend nearly as much time together as I wish we could," Lanie confides.
"I'm not about to argue with you about that. Were you wondering if I could manage the time for a trip to New York?"
"No, I was wondering if I had a chance of getting a job closer to you. I'd have to be additionally licensed, but with telemedicine increasing, the process for that is getting streamlined."
Lorne's eyebrows descend. "I would love to have you closer. And some of the more rural areas around here are in desperate need of an M.E. I suspect they'd greet you with open arms and a signing bonus. But you've put in 10 years in New York. That's a huge investment. And you have great friends in the city. Your life in the city would be a lot to leave. And I'd hate to think you'd resent me for encouraging you to do it."
Lanie pulls away from her screen. "Not what I was expecting to hear."
Lorne draws in a shaky breath. "Lanie, I didn't say it because I don't care for you. I said it because I do. I don't want to be responsible for tearing you away from the people and places you love – no matter how much I'd love to wake up every morning with you beside me. If you decide that you're sure, I'll do everything I can to help you make it happen. But I also have a plan B. I've had some overtures from a consulting firm in New York. I like working for the county, but I love forensic pathology, and I don't get to do as much of it as I'd like. The firm that reached out does nothing but that. But they get into some very high profile cases. I've never been big on having my name in the paper. I'd say we both have some exploring and thinking to do."
"Uh-huh," Lanie agrees. "I guess we do."
"Show me what you have," Kate announces, striding into Rick's office.
"Hello to you too," Rick responds. Kate leans across his desk to press her lips to his. "Mmm. Much better. Now, you will be happy to know that our daughter fell asleep only a half-hour ago, so we should have an opportunity to freely discuss the case for some time." He points to a chair on the side of his desk not taken up by Lily's jumping rig and pulls it next to him. Have a seat. You recognize this picture?"
"It's from Avallone's box, but it doesn't show much."
"That's what I thought too, but Lily gave me an idea."
"Lily? How? Never mind. What idea?"
"It looked to me like a company picnic, a company whose name starts with an 'n.' But I figured it might be connected to Yummi-fil, so I started looking into its fall from fiscal success. The company most involved with its decline is No-lak."
"That's our 'n,'" Kate considers.
"Yes. I did an article search from around the time of the murders for anything that mentioned No-lak. I found the obituaries of the dead boys. Both of their fathers were executives of the company. I believe that Francis Avallone took surveillance photos of the activities of the employees of No-lak. He grabbed the boys to strike back at whom he regarded as enemies of Yummi-fil. I also found some history of Yummi-fil. It was founded by Angus Ferguson, always known as Gus. He was the first delivery guy. As Yummi-fil grew, the shirts of all the delivery guys said Gus. It was a company thing. That's why Avallone had one."
"That explains a lot, and also could mean that those two boys were the only children he took."
Rick's eyes flit to Lily's play equipment. "God, I hope so. I think we have the why now, but that still doesn't get you any closer to finding Avallone."
"I haven't got the analysis of his things back from the lab yet." Kate leans her head on Rick's shoulder. "Maybe Osnitz's people have something that will point us in the right direction."