The Reluctant Coroner, Paul Austin Ardoin [comprehension books TXT] 📗
- Author: Paul Austin Ardoin
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She shook him off. “Dad, I know you didn’t like Dylan, but have some respect. You were calling him a pedophile a few minutes ago.”
“He hurt you.” Stotsky raised his huge hand in front of his face and slowly made a fist. He stared at his fist for a minute, as if considering it for the first time. “He cheated on you, Rachel, maybe not with a teenaged girl, but he cheated on you. How am I supposed to act?”
Ferris walked over to Stotsky and put a hand on his shoulder. “Come on, Rob. We’ll go drop off some paperwork with the county clerk—he told me he’d stay late—and then meet Fenway over at the sheriff’s office.”
Stotsky paused. “Okay.”
They walked out into the foyer. Through the glass of the floor-to-ceiling front windows, they could see a police cruiser outside with its lights flashing, and Dez putting Doug Walker into the back of the squad car.
“The clerk’s office shouldn’t take us too long,” Nathaniel Ferris said to Fenway, “so I think we’ll be able to meet you by six thirty.”
Fenway wanted to suggest that her father drop Stotsky off first, but she didn’t want either of them to get suspicious. “Six thirty should be fine, Dad.”
Ferris and Stotsky continued their walk toward the front door. Ferris nodded at Rachel. “You coming, too?”
Rachel looked at Fenway. “No, thanks. I’ll catch a ride back with Fenway.”
Ferris looked at Stotsky and nodded. “Okay. See you at the station.”
Rachel and Fenway watched them walk out. The glass door swung shut behind them, and they turned right on the sidewalk towards the waiting limo. Then it was just the two of them, Rachel and Fenway, in the foyer.
“You’re probably mad at me, Fenway.”
Fenway gave her a sad smile. “No. No, I’m not. I can’t imagine going through what you’ve gone through this past week. I have no idea how I would have handled it.”
Rachel nodded and looked out the window as Dez slapped the top of the roof twice with her open hand and the cruiser pulled away.
“Actually.” Fenway cleared her throat. “Actually, that’s not true. I do know what I would do. Because I was in your situation once.”
“What?”
“I was in college. He was my Russian Lit professor. He cornered me in his office and—” Fenway shook her head and looked down. “And I didn’t say anything about it to anyone. I didn’t tell my mom, or any of my friends. I didn’t report it. I didn’t think anyone would believe me. Or if they did, I thought they’d take his side.” She took a deep breath. “But you didn’t hide, Rachel. You didn’t give in when Lana wouldn’t do anything the first time. You recorded it. You kicked him in the knee and scratched his face, and you got away.”
“I was lucky. He could have really hurt me.”
Fenway nodded. “Yes, I guess you were lucky. But you also weren’t ashamed. You copied that video onto a hundred USB sticks, and you got the projectionist to play the video at his memorial service so no one left here—no one left Harrison Walker’s own memorial service—thinking he was anything but a rapist. I kind of envy you, Rachel. I wish I had had your mindset after it happened to me.” Fenway looked up at the ceiling, above the second-floor hallway. Several long, pendulous rods came down from the ceiling, ending in a single ornamental silver light fixture. The light flared from the top and scattered itself throughout the foyer. “You were embarrassed when you told me a few nights ago. I was the first person you told, and you didn’t know why.” Fenway took a few steps back and leaned against the wall. “But I know why. Because you knew, deep inside, I was like you.”
Fenway paused. “And, also, you’re the first person I’ve told.”
Rachel walked across the room and leaned up against the wall next to Fenway. “You said I wasn’t ashamed, but I was ashamed. I still am.” Tears welled in her eyes, but she fought them back. “But I did it anyway.”
Dez pulled the door open. “Hey, everyone. Party at the sheriff’s office. I’m driving.”
Dez had parked a few blocks away, and after making fun of Fenway’s impractical heels yet again, the three of them got into the car and headed to the sheriff’s office. They briefly discussed the idea of picking up some dinner, but they weren’t hungry. And, more than anything, Fenway wanted to get Stotsky in front of Bradley to see if her hunch was right.
“It will be a little weird being in that interview room again,” Rachel said.
Fenway shrugged. “It’ll be over soon enough. And remember, after this, two weeks off. Take care of yourself.”
The ride was quiet back to downtown, and they pulled into the parking garage about six fifteen.
“Okay, we’re meeting your dad over at the sheriff’s office in fifteen minutes.” Fenway got out of the Impala. “Come into the office so I can finish up some paperwork before we head over there.”
Migs and Piper were in the office when they arrived. Piper was sitting on the desk facing Migs, who was sitting in his office chair. Her long legs were dangling in front of him. They were both laughing.
Rachel raised her hand in greeting. “Hey Migs, hey Piper.”
Migs looked at Dez. “I thought you were going to drive me to the service.”
“Doesn’t look like you’re too sad about missing it.”
Piper looked a little flustered; she dropped her smile and her ears turned a little red.
“Well,” Migs asked Fenway, “do you have time to look at Walker’s electronic files?”
Fenway thought for a moment. She was hoping she could connect more dots to Stotsky. “Do they say anything different than the files we’ve already looked at?”
Migs nodded. “It looks like Walker typed up all his handwritten notes into these computer files. We’ve been looking at all the files taken that night, and the handwritten notes match—not perfectly, because maybe he mistyped something, or in some cases a word or phrase is different. If there was a photo in the file, he typed up a short description of it, usually with an identification number. But content-wise, they’re all consistent—nothing was changed that significantly altered the meaning of anything.” Migs paused for dramatic effect, a little smirk on his face.
Then he dropped a file on the desk. “Except this one.”
It was the Ferris Energy file.
Fenway shot Dez a look—hoping she’d get the message to look for evidence Stotsky tampered with the file. Dez folded her arms and nodded.
“All right, let’s see the computer file, Migs.” Fenway scooted around behind him and crouched a bit so she could see his screen. He clicked on an open window, and then launched the file. Dez came around to see the screen, and Rachel pulled a chair over for Piper.
“There are three sets of notes in the file.” Piper pointed to the first set of notes on the screen. “So, there’s one on Fairweather; this one matches pretty well—personal life stuff, a couple of typos in the computer version, but nothing significantly different.”
Fenway didn’t think Rachel should be in the room if her father’s name showed up, but she couldn’t think of how to get her out of the room without arousing her suspicion.
“This next one is a set of notes on Carl Cassidy,” Piper continued. “This one is almost completely different. It’s similar to the content of the Fairweather notes. A section on work history, a section on personal matters, a section on toxicology, notes on his criminal record—you see he had a drunk and disorderly about twenty years ago. And some notes on finances. But nothing on his employee assistance program. Nothing on any affair—not a single statement from any private investigator, not a single mention of a photo, not a single mention of Dylan. And Lana is mentioned as the spouse, in the list here from Carl’s personal life, and her name pops up on a couple of financial accounts.”
Dez patted Fenway on the shoulder. “Looks like you were right, Prom Queen. That note was forged.”
Piper turned and looked at Dez. “Not just that one.”
“What?” Fenway asked. “Not just Carl’s?”
Migs shook his head. “Nope, not just Carl’s.”
Piper turned back to the screen. “In the last note, the hard copy in the physical folder didn’t have a lot to say. Mostly, it said the company wasn’t at fault. But Walker’s notes don’t say that. It says the fume ventilation system controls looked worn. And see this paragraph right here?”
Room in which decedents were found appears to be a hallway employees often used as a shortcut between work areas. A secured, air-sealed tank is about 30 meters away, and the gases vent into it, where they are treated with chemicals to break their toxicity. The venting was performed when people were in the hallway next to the ventilation duct, which is a breach of procedure, and the ventilation duct appears to have ruptured, flooding the hallway with toxic fumes. Ferris Energy appears to have been negligent in both its safety training, and maintenance, directly resulting in the death of both men.
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