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James nodded. “Yes, now that you put it that way, it is. I’ll get the files for you.”
She settled him in the same room as before and then left him to it.
Devine went methodically through the postmortem report. Smoke inhalation was the cause of death, the report concluded. There were no other indications of violence on the bodies, though they had both been badly burned. Even the hardened Devine was repulsed by the graphic photos of the couple’s remains. The official conclusion had been accidental death.
Then he came to the official signature of the medical examiner at the end of the report and his suspicions spiked to a whole new level.
Françoise Bing.
CHAPTER
58
DEVINE WALKED INTO THE FUNERALhome, spoke to a woman at the front desk, and was directed back to Guillaume’s office.
She was just rising from her desk. “I have an embalming to perform.”
“This can’t wait.”
Guillaume studied him for a moment, oscillating back and forth on her feet as she did so. “Then follow me.” She led him down a hall and through a door that she used a passkey to open.
Inside was a long metal table with equipment on a rolling rack next to it. Under a sheet on the table was the body—to be embalmed, Devine assumed.
“I hope that’s not another suicide or homicide,” he said.
“No. A ninety-year-old who died peacefully in his sleep. We should all be so lucky.” She readied the equipment and some instruments. “I hope you don’t have much to ask unless you really want to see this procedure take place. I’ve never met a layperson who did.”
In answer Devine pulled out a copy of the postmortem report on the Palmers. He held up the signature page. “You told me you were still in medical residency out of state fifteen years ago. So why is your signature on Steve and Valerie Palmer’s autopsy report? This was obviously before you were married, since you used your maiden name on the form.”
She stared at the page for a few moments. He could almost see the inner machinery of her brain in high gear as it processed all this.
“Oh, now I remember. I was home on vacation. The state had no one available to do the job. They asked me and I said yes. I wasn’t certified yet, and hadn’t taken the oath of office, but I was a licensed MD in the state of Maine. The chief medical examiner can make temporary appointments when the need arises, and it did in the Palmer case. Besides, it was a fairly straightforward matter, no evidence of foul play, but under the circumstances a postmortem of sorts was legally required.”
“A ‘postmortem of sorts’? What does that mean?”
“Afullautopsy wasn’t required. I determined the cause of death. Smoke inhalation, if I remember correctly. They were dead before the flames reached them. Lucky for the Palmers.”
“I wouldn’t call that lucky,” replied Devine. “Who suggested you for the job?”
“I don’t remember.”
“Maybe your uncle, Benjamin Bing? He was police chief back then, right?”
“Okay, yes, I guess that makes sense. Uncle Ben would have done that. In fact, I recall now that hedidcontact me and told me the situation. He knew I was home, so that worked out all right.” She smiled tightly. “Forgive me for not remembering right off. It was a long time ago.”
“Only you didn’t do a tox report or any blood work.”
“Like I said, a full autopsy was not conducted. There was no need, Agent Devine. They weren’t poisoned.”
“Since you didn’t do the necessary workup, we don’t really know that for sure, do we?”
Her neutral expression devolved to a scowl. “I really don’t like what you’re implying.”
“Just stating facts. I’ll leave the implications for another time.”
“I need to get to work, so if you’ll excuse me?” She pulled back the sheet, revealing the body of an aged man.
However, Devine wasn’t finished. “So if you were in town then, were you also in Putnam when Alex was attacked? Probably, since that event and the Palmers’ deaths were only three days apart.”
