The next day, Woody approached Rene' Walcott and reviewed the arsenic cases with her. "We need a court order to exhume all the bodies and do a side-by- side comparison. We may be able to get some clues from the bodies that we weren't aware of before," he said.
Rene' looked at the evidence and Woody's report. "I agree. I'll take the order before the judge, but I don't know what will happen. It's a roll of the dice. But you know what really worries me now, Woody?"
"What?"
"How many others there may be out there that died of arsenic poisoning we don't know about. If we've only been tracking it for 10 years, how many years before that do you think this has been going on?"
===================================================
The court order came down two days later. The judge had agreed to allow the medical examiners office to exhume all the bodies and do the comparison. The only hitch was that the exam and any samples pulled would all have to be done within a 48-hour period. Garrett called an emergency staff meeting with the morgue employees.
"It's going to have to be 'The Fast and the Furious' in there. What I would like to do is keep the doors open between autopsy rooms one and two. All five caskets will be arriving by hearse at one o'clock tomorrow afternoon. We then have exactly 48-hours to pull tissue samples and examine the victims. We will perform all the procedures for each victim at the same time. In other words, all liver samples will be taken at the same time and compared. All hair samples would be the same. Get the idea?"
Jordan, Nigel, Peter, and Bug nodded. Garrett continued.
"Because of her experience, Dr. Murphy will advise as well as help with the autopsies. Plan to stay here as long as it takes. We'll deal with over time or comp. time later this week. Is everyone on the same page?"
Once again, there were nods from everyone.
The next day was grueling. Garret had allowed everyone to come in later in the morning than usual, but by 10 a.m. everyone was already in place and awaiting the hearses. Woody paced outside the autopsy room doors. He was to be the "police presence" for this.
At exactly one o'clock, a line of long, black hearses approached the morgue. That in itself was enough to peak the curiosity of the public. Slowly, they approached the basement and one by one backed in to unload their gruesome contents. In a matter of a half hour, five caskets were lined up in the autopsy rooms.
"Which one is the first victim?" asked Stevie. "Let's get them lined up in order of death and then assign them out."
Bug and Nigel worked with Woody to shift the caskets in their proper order. "Okay, I'll take the oldest vic, a man named Henry. Garrett, you take the second vic – James. Jordan, you take the third," Stevie paused for a minute to look at the name plate "Edward. Peter, you take the fourth, David. And Bug you take the latest, Daniel. Nigel, I need your hands on your computer equipment. That's where they can do me the most good right now. Is that okay?" Stevie looked up at Nigel, not wanting to offend the ME, but she knew where his strengths were and where they could work to the most advantage.
"No problem love. I'll put my hands wherever you need them," said Nige, grinning at Stevie. Early on this week, they had developed a flirtatious relationship. Jordan had worried about it for a while – she couldn't picture the two together, but nothing but flirting had gone on – so far.
"Okay," Stevie continued, "Let's open them up, get vics on the slabs and see what we can find. Woody, we may need a little help with this." She looked over at the detective who had backed away into a corner, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible. She had a feeling this definitely wasn't his favorite place to be.
"Y-y-y-ou-u mean p-p-p-pick up the b-b-bodies and put-t them o-o-on the t- tab-bles?" he asked.
Stevie bit back a sarcastic reply. She had to remember that Woody was not morgue staff. In North Carolina there was no way in hell that the ME would allow a detective in the autopsy room. It just wasn't done. At least not in the state's medical examiners office. She couldn't vouch for the counties' ME offices. "Look, if you can't handle this, go out in the hall, but yes, we may need some help. It's hard to get the bodies out of the caskets and onto a slab. They don't make caskets user-friendly. Once you're in one of those things, they don't expect you to come out."
Gingerly, the morgue staff popped open each of the caskets and a visual was made of the bodies. Other than a slight green mold that covered Henry, all of them were in good condition – nothing from horror movies. The bodies were each placed on a slab and hair and nail samples were taken. Then liver. Working in unison Garret, Stevie, Jordan, Peter, and Bug completed their tasks. Then the bodies were readied for autopsies. Once again, in unison, five Y-cuts were made. Each examiner was busy audio taping his or her own report. Finally, after hours of work, the bodies were returned to their respective resting places and sent back to the hearses. The samples and findings were all given to Nigel, who had been photographing the event.
"I have one question," Stevie said, as they all walked wearily out of the autopsy rooms and slumped down on the bench in the hallway.
"What's that?" asked Jordan.
"Do we still have the stomach contents?"
Garrett thought for a minute. "Yes. They should have been kept. Nigel?"
"Oh yeah, they were kept," Nige replied.
"Any chance I can sweet-talk you into running a few more tox screens on them?" asked Stevie.
"I ran tox screens, love. I have the reports."
"But I'm looking for something specific. If I give you the list of chemicals, could you run them just one more time? Could you check for pyrethrins, piperonyl, butoxide, butulcarbital, and 6-propylpiperonyl – please?"
"And these names just roll off your tongue like your very own, don't they darling?"
Stevie looked at Nigel and smiled widely. "And if they come back negative could you check for one more thing?"
"What else?" asked Nigel, wondering exactly where she was going with the list of chemicals.
"Well....actually two things. Borax for starters and then for any strongly flavored food or food substance, such as garlic, tomato sauce, cheese, peanut butter...that sort of thing."
"Sweet Nancy, what I don't do for my women," Nige replied, playfully hugging Stevie.
Rene' looked at the evidence and Woody's report. "I agree. I'll take the order before the judge, but I don't know what will happen. It's a roll of the dice. But you know what really worries me now, Woody?"
"What?"
"How many others there may be out there that died of arsenic poisoning we don't know about. If we've only been tracking it for 10 years, how many years before that do you think this has been going on?"
===================================================
The court order came down two days later. The judge had agreed to allow the medical examiners office to exhume all the bodies and do the comparison. The only hitch was that the exam and any samples pulled would all have to be done within a 48-hour period. Garrett called an emergency staff meeting with the morgue employees.
"It's going to have to be 'The Fast and the Furious' in there. What I would like to do is keep the doors open between autopsy rooms one and two. All five caskets will be arriving by hearse at one o'clock tomorrow afternoon. We then have exactly 48-hours to pull tissue samples and examine the victims. We will perform all the procedures for each victim at the same time. In other words, all liver samples will be taken at the same time and compared. All hair samples would be the same. Get the idea?"
Jordan, Nigel, Peter, and Bug nodded. Garrett continued.
"Because of her experience, Dr. Murphy will advise as well as help with the autopsies. Plan to stay here as long as it takes. We'll deal with over time or comp. time later this week. Is everyone on the same page?"
Once again, there were nods from everyone.
The next day was grueling. Garret had allowed everyone to come in later in the morning than usual, but by 10 a.m. everyone was already in place and awaiting the hearses. Woody paced outside the autopsy room doors. He was to be the "police presence" for this.
At exactly one o'clock, a line of long, black hearses approached the morgue. That in itself was enough to peak the curiosity of the public. Slowly, they approached the basement and one by one backed in to unload their gruesome contents. In a matter of a half hour, five caskets were lined up in the autopsy rooms.
"Which one is the first victim?" asked Stevie. "Let's get them lined up in order of death and then assign them out."
Bug and Nigel worked with Woody to shift the caskets in their proper order. "Okay, I'll take the oldest vic, a man named Henry. Garrett, you take the second vic – James. Jordan, you take the third," Stevie paused for a minute to look at the name plate "Edward. Peter, you take the fourth, David. And Bug you take the latest, Daniel. Nigel, I need your hands on your computer equipment. That's where they can do me the most good right now. Is that okay?" Stevie looked up at Nigel, not wanting to offend the ME, but she knew where his strengths were and where they could work to the most advantage.
"No problem love. I'll put my hands wherever you need them," said Nige, grinning at Stevie. Early on this week, they had developed a flirtatious relationship. Jordan had worried about it for a while – she couldn't picture the two together, but nothing but flirting had gone on – so far.
"Okay," Stevie continued, "Let's open them up, get vics on the slabs and see what we can find. Woody, we may need a little help with this." She looked over at the detective who had backed away into a corner, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible. She had a feeling this definitely wasn't his favorite place to be.
"Y-y-y-ou-u mean p-p-p-pick up the b-b-bodies and put-t them o-o-on the t- tab-bles?" he asked.
Stevie bit back a sarcastic reply. She had to remember that Woody was not morgue staff. In North Carolina there was no way in hell that the ME would allow a detective in the autopsy room. It just wasn't done. At least not in the state's medical examiners office. She couldn't vouch for the counties' ME offices. "Look, if you can't handle this, go out in the hall, but yes, we may need some help. It's hard to get the bodies out of the caskets and onto a slab. They don't make caskets user-friendly. Once you're in one of those things, they don't expect you to come out."
Gingerly, the morgue staff popped open each of the caskets and a visual was made of the bodies. Other than a slight green mold that covered Henry, all of them were in good condition – nothing from horror movies. The bodies were each placed on a slab and hair and nail samples were taken. Then liver. Working in unison Garret, Stevie, Jordan, Peter, and Bug completed their tasks. Then the bodies were readied for autopsies. Once again, in unison, five Y-cuts were made. Each examiner was busy audio taping his or her own report. Finally, after hours of work, the bodies were returned to their respective resting places and sent back to the hearses. The samples and findings were all given to Nigel, who had been photographing the event.
"I have one question," Stevie said, as they all walked wearily out of the autopsy rooms and slumped down on the bench in the hallway.
"What's that?" asked Jordan.
"Do we still have the stomach contents?"
Garrett thought for a minute. "Yes. They should have been kept. Nigel?"
"Oh yeah, they were kept," Nige replied.
"Any chance I can sweet-talk you into running a few more tox screens on them?" asked Stevie.
"I ran tox screens, love. I have the reports."
"But I'm looking for something specific. If I give you the list of chemicals, could you run them just one more time? Could you check for pyrethrins, piperonyl, butoxide, butulcarbital, and 6-propylpiperonyl – please?"
"And these names just roll off your tongue like your very own, don't they darling?"
Stevie looked at Nigel and smiled widely. "And if they come back negative could you check for one more thing?"
"What else?" asked Nigel, wondering exactly where she was going with the list of chemicals.
"Well....actually two things. Borax for starters and then for any strongly flavored food or food substance, such as garlic, tomato sauce, cheese, peanut butter...that sort of thing."
"Sweet Nancy, what I don't do for my women," Nige replied, playfully hugging Stevie.