Read Online Intervention by Robin Cook - Free Book Online

identification?”
    “That I don’t know. If I had to guess, I’d say no, because Janice is so thorough—if she’d spoken with the mother, she would have written it down. But why don’t you call her and ask? What’s the problem, not enough info?”
    Jack nodded. “It’s a curious case. The woman died from occlusion of both her vertebral arteries. Unless she had had some connective-tissue disease like Marfan syndrome, which I seriously doubt, she had to have suffered serious trauma. Her vessels dissected, meaning the lining came off, blocking them up. Vinnie suggested whiplash injury from an auto accident, and he might be right. I think her friends or her mom might have some information. It could be extremely important. If someone ran into the back of her, he or she would now be looking at possible manslaughter, even murder, if the parties knew each other and there was some kind of conflict or controversy between them. I’d give the mother a call myself, but I’d hate to bother her if Janice has already spoken with her.”
    “As I said, why not give Janice a call?”
    With his left hand, Jack twisted up the bezel of his watch tied with the cincture of his scrub pants. “It’s a quarter to ten. Isn’t that too late?”
    “She’s a perfectionist. She’ll want to help you out,” Bart said, handing him Janice’s home number. “Call her! Trust me!”
    Using the front stairs, Jack hurried up to his office. After propping open his office door, he placed Janice’s card in the center of his blotter and pulled over his phone. Before he dialed the woman, he called down to Vinnie.
    “I’m bringing in the body of the kid as we speak,” Vinnie said. “Five minutes and we’ll be ready to go. Calvin, our lovable deputy chief, wants us to do it in the decomposed room.” The decomposed room was a separate, small autopsy room with a single table. It was used mostly for putrid bodies.
    “Make sure we have plenty of culture tubes,” Jack said. “See you in five.” He disconnected.
    He was about to dial Janice’s number when the photo he had on his desk of Laurie and John Junior caught his eye. It had been taken at a happier time, the day Laurie and the baby were leaving the hospital after the delivery. At the moment there had been no symptoms or signs of the disaster that was to come.
    Impulsively, Jack reached out, grabbed the photo, and tossed it into his bottom drawer, pushing it closed with his foot. “God!” he murmured. It was embarrassing how quickly he could be yanked back into a depressing thought, especially since Laurie was the one bearing ninety-nine percent of the burden. He wondered how she’d been able to do it. At least he’d been able to go to work to take his mind off the reality of the disaster.
    For a moment Jack rubbed his eyes, causing a squishy sound from both sockets. With his elbows on the desk, he then roughly massaged his scalp. He was back to realizing how much he needed to find something professional to occupy his mind to rein in his fragile emotions.
    Opening his eyes, Jack snatched up the telephone receiver and angrily poked the sequence of buttons corresponding to Janice’s phone number. When she answered, he snapped back with his name in such a way that he knew he sounded angry. Before Janice could even respond, he excused himself. “That didn’t come out right,” he said. “I’m sorry.”
    “Is something the matter?” Janice questioned. As conscientious as she was, her first concern was that she’d done something terribly wrong.
    “No! No!” Jack assured her. “My mind was elsewhere for a second. I hope I’m not disturbing you.”
    “Not at all. I can’t sleep for three or four hours after getting off shift.”
    “I’m looking for more information on Keara Abelard.”
    “I’m not surprised. There was so little available. Such a sad case, so young, attractive, and seemingly healthy.”
    “Did you speak to any of the woman’s friends who brought her into the