Free Critical by Robin Cook

of cocaine.”
    Jack merely nodded, thankful Lou wasn’t encouraging Jack to do it. Police custody cases invariably were political disasters, which Jack found trying. No one was ever satisfied with the report, always claiming a cover-up.
    â€œI’ll see you downstairs,” Lou said, getting up out of his chair with some effort. “I want to stop in Sergeant Murphy’s cubbyhole and see if a missing-person complaint has been filed for John Doe.”
    â€œHave you come across Lou’s John Doe floater?” Jack asked Riva.
    Riva was immediately able to put her finger on the case file, since it was on top of the pile of apparent homicides. She handed it to him.
    â€œHow about two blunt-injury cases?” Jack asked. “The names are Thomas and Barlow.”
    Riva had to hunt for these cases in the stack, which was uncharacteristically high.
    â€œUgly night in the Big Apple,” Jack commented. “You’d think people could solve their differences more amicably.”
    Riva smiled politely at Jack’s weak attempt at humor. It was too early in the morning to respond verbally. She found the folders, and handed them over as well.
    â€œMind if I do these cases?” Jack asked.
    â€œNot at all,” Riva said in her soft, silky voice. She was a petite, gentle Indian American with dark skin and even darker eyes.
    â€œWho is going to do the police custody case?” Jack asked.
    â€œThe chief called and said he wanted to do it,” Riva said. “Since I was on call, I guess I’ll have to be the one to assist him.”
    â€œMy condolences,” Jack said. Although Dr. Harold Bingham had an encyclopedic knowledge of forensics, helping him on a case was always an exercise in frustration control. No matter what you did as the assistant, it was never right, and the case invariably dragged on interminably.
    Jack was about to wake Vinnie up from his sports statistics–induced trance when Laurie looked up from her reading. In contrast to Jack, who was content to skim-read the case material prior to the autopsy, she liked to go over it in exquisite detail. Jack felt that too much attention to detail initially prejudiced his ability to keep an open mind, while Laurie felt that not going over the history increased the chances she’d miss something. They’d argued over the issue but had finally agreed to disagree.
    â€œI think you should read this,” Laurie said in a serious tone, extending a case toward Jack. “I think you will find it personally disturbing.”
    â€œOh?” Jack questioned. He read the victim’s name, David Jeffries, which he did not recognize. His brows knitted in confusion over Laurie’s comment and tone as he slid out the contents of the envelope. “What do you mean, ‘personally disturbing’?”
    â€œJust read the PA’s investigator’s note,” Laurie suggested. PAs were physician assistants who worked as forensic investigators. It was the OCME’s policy that PAs visited the scenes when indicated rather than forensic pathologists. The Chief Medical Examiner, Dr. Harold Bingham, felt strongly that it wasn’t an efficient use of the M.D.’s time, despite his recognition that in some cases a site visit was crucial to determine the mechanism and manner of death.
    It took only a few sentences for Jack to understand. David Jeffries had died of a fulminant postoperative staphylococcus infection following an anterior cruciate ligament repair, due to a particularly nasty type of staph called methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA. Considering the argument he and Laurie were having over Jack’s upcoming surgery, it seemed coincidentally relevant, even if it involved another hospital. “I know what is going through your mind,” Jack said, “but it ain’t going to change my mind. I’ve already taken into consideration the risk of postoperative infection.