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Authors: Leonard Goldberg
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asked.
“He probably has lung cancer,” Joanna said.
“But that didn’t kill him, did it?” Murdock asked quickly.
“No. Lung cancer doesn’t kill suddenly unless it erodes into a major blood vessel.”
Murdock nodded, breathing a sigh of relief. He was sorry that Oliver Rhodes was dead, but he’d be sorrier yet if Rhodes died of anything other than heart disease. It had to be heart disease that caused Oliver’s death. That was the condition that needed to be met for the Rhodes family to donate ten million dollars for a new cardiac institute at Memorial. “Have you looked at his heart yet?”
“Not yet,” Joanna replied, spreading the lobes of the lungs apart so she could examine the central area where the lymph nodes were located. They weren’t enlarged. The cancer probably hadn’t spread beyond the nodule.
Murdock glanced up at the wall clock. It was 10:40 P.M. “How much longer?”
“As long as it takes,” Joanna said, focusing all of her attention on an area of thickened pleura. It looked like a scar, not a tumor.
“Do I need to remind you that the Rhodes family is waiting?”
“They’re going to have to wait a little longer.”
Murdock’s face tightened. “There would be no delay at all had you not used up the afternoon on police work.”
Joanna exhaled heavily. “That was a very important case, Simon.”
“Nothing—I repeat—nothing is more important at Memorial than the Rhodes family,” Murdock snapped. “Do you understand that?”
Joanna dropped the mass of lung tissue onto the stainless steel table. It landed with a loud thud. She moved in closer to Murdock. “I understand that the Rhodes family has suffered a tragic loss. And I understand that they want the autopsy results as soon as possible. But you and I arguing down here won’t get the work done any faster.”
“That may be so,” Murdock countered. “But I still think your order of priorities is inappropriate. Your police cases should
always
come after your patients from Memorial.”
“Not always,” Joanna said firmly. “Every now and then there are cases in which the search for evidence can’t wait. In some instances the evidence can change or even disappear with time.”
“Those must be very rare exceptions.”
“Well, a rare exception happened today.”
Murdock gave her a long, hard look. “Maybe we should discuss this before the entire department of pathology.”
“You just let me know when.” Joanna fixed her eyes on Murdock, disliking him even more than usual.
They glared at each other, the tension rising close to the breaking point. Neither blinked or backed down.
Lori McKay watched the confrontation, despising Murdock almost as much as she liked Joanna. He was a bully who seemed to enjoy manipulating people and keeping them under his thumb. And he did it to just about everybody at Memorial except Joanna. She never tolerated his abusive behavior and never backed down.
The wall phone rang. Lori picked it up and spoke briefly; then she called over to Joanna, “It’s the pathologist on call. He wants to know if the frozen section can wait until morning.”
Murdock asked, “What’s this all about?”
“I want a frozen section study done on the pulmonary nodule we found,” Joanna explained, regaining her composure. “That way we’ll know tonight if Oliver Rhodes had lung cancer.”
Murdock looked over to Lori. “You tell that pathologist he’d better get in fast if he values his job.”
Lori relayed the message and then returned to the stainless steel autopsy table. She distanced herself from Murdock, fearing the man as much as she disliked him.
“All right,” Joanna said, getting back to business, “let’s examine the heart.”
Murdock put on reading glasses and moved in closer to the autopsy table.
Joanna picked up the heart and carefully studied its size and consistency. It was smaller than she expected and had a healthy red color. There was no evidence of ventricular
“He probably has lung cancer,” Joanna said.
“But that didn’t kill him, did it?” Murdock asked quickly.
“No. Lung cancer doesn’t kill suddenly unless it erodes into a major blood vessel.”
Murdock nodded, breathing a sigh of relief. He was sorry that Oliver Rhodes was dead, but he’d be sorrier yet if Rhodes died of anything other than heart disease. It had to be heart disease that caused Oliver’s death. That was the condition that needed to be met for the Rhodes family to donate ten million dollars for a new cardiac institute at Memorial. “Have you looked at his heart yet?”
“Not yet,” Joanna replied, spreading the lobes of the lungs apart so she could examine the central area where the lymph nodes were located. They weren’t enlarged. The cancer probably hadn’t spread beyond the nodule.
Murdock glanced up at the wall clock. It was 10:40 P.M. “How much longer?”
“As long as it takes,” Joanna said, focusing all of her attention on an area of thickened pleura. It looked like a scar, not a tumor.
“Do I need to remind you that the Rhodes family is waiting?”
“They’re going to have to wait a little longer.”
Murdock’s face tightened. “There would be no delay at all had you not used up the afternoon on police work.”
Joanna exhaled heavily. “That was a very important case, Simon.”
“Nothing—I repeat—nothing is more important at Memorial than the Rhodes family,” Murdock snapped. “Do you understand that?”
Joanna dropped the mass of lung tissue onto the stainless steel table. It landed with a loud thud. She moved in closer to Murdock. “I understand that the Rhodes family has suffered a tragic loss. And I understand that they want the autopsy results as soon as possible. But you and I arguing down here won’t get the work done any faster.”
“That may be so,” Murdock countered. “But I still think your order of priorities is inappropriate. Your police cases should
always
come after your patients from Memorial.”
“Not always,” Joanna said firmly. “Every now and then there are cases in which the search for evidence can’t wait. In some instances the evidence can change or even disappear with time.”
“Those must be very rare exceptions.”
“Well, a rare exception happened today.”
Murdock gave her a long, hard look. “Maybe we should discuss this before the entire department of pathology.”
“You just let me know when.” Joanna fixed her eyes on Murdock, disliking him even more than usual.
They glared at each other, the tension rising close to the breaking point. Neither blinked or backed down.
Lori McKay watched the confrontation, despising Murdock almost as much as she liked Joanna. He was a bully who seemed to enjoy manipulating people and keeping them under his thumb. And he did it to just about everybody at Memorial except Joanna. She never tolerated his abusive behavior and never backed down.
The wall phone rang. Lori picked it up and spoke briefly; then she called over to Joanna, “It’s the pathologist on call. He wants to know if the frozen section can wait until morning.”
Murdock asked, “What’s this all about?”
“I want a frozen section study done on the pulmonary nodule we found,” Joanna explained, regaining her composure. “That way we’ll know tonight if Oliver Rhodes had lung cancer.”
Murdock looked over to Lori. “You tell that pathologist he’d better get in fast if he values his job.”
Lori relayed the message and then returned to the stainless steel autopsy table. She distanced herself from Murdock, fearing the man as much as she disliked him.
“All right,” Joanna said, getting back to business, “let’s examine the heart.”
Murdock put on reading glasses and moved in closer to the autopsy table.
Joanna picked up the heart and carefully studied its size and consistency. It was smaller than she expected and had a healthy red color. There was no evidence of ventricular
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