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copy of a collection of Raymond Chandler stories that I had picked up for a
dollar at the Chilmark flea market.
I had expected Mike's call after the autopsy, but with the morgue understaffed
on weekends and a recent upsurge of violent deaths, there was no predicting
when he would report in to me.
I had just turned on the ten o'clock nightly news when the phone rang.
"Not much to help us with," Mike said. "The fall killed her, pretty much like
we expected."
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"Kestenbaum is certain Talya was alive when she was thrown over?"
"A lot of bleeding in the brain when he opened the skull, so her heart was
still pumping when she hit. Terminal velocity, going head-first down the shaft
with hands tied behind her back, slamming into the fan casing at about a
hundred twenty miles an hour. Fractured skull, ribs, pelvis and massive
internal injuries. And the doc was right when he said you might not be along
for this ride, kid. No sign of sexual assault. No semen in the vaginal vault,
so that won't even solve who she was cozy with yesterday."
"Has Talya's husband flown over to claim the body?"
"Nope. He told the morgue attendant that he and Talya had separated several
months ago, that her lawyers had notified him she'd be filing for divorce.
They talked frequently but that was all basi-ness. He wasn't having anything
to do with this."
"Well, how about her agent? What's his name again?"
"Rinaldo Vicci. He came down to do the I.D., but we're still waiting for
someone to confirm the arrangements. Vicci has no authority to make any
decisions either. Galinova's husband claims she fired him more than a week
ago."
"Why? Did he say why?"
"Vicci denies it. Says she often threatened to do that whenever she had
tantrums, but the husband says this time it was meant to stick. The husband's
been in constant contact with Talya's lawyers because of the legal separation
status and that's what they told him as recently as a week ago. It's one more
thing to sort out."
"You just can't let her lay there on ice indefinitely, Mike."
I clamped my jaw shut as soon as I said the words.
"Why?" he asked. "She deserves any better than Val?"
The accidental death of Mike's girlfriend in a glacial crevasse was still
foremost on his mind. There was an edge to him now, a bitterness that had
never hung between us before. I struggled to bring back the intimacy of our
friendship but was beginning to realize it was going to be a very long road to
regain it.
"How about the evidence you submitted to the lab? The physical items, and the
blood and hair?"
"Calm down, Coop. Nobody worked today. They'll get going on it tomorrow."
"And the Met employees? Has their screening started?"
"Those guys won't know what hit them. Forget the borough. Every squad in the
city is giving us some men to do interviews, run rap sheets, check
backgrounds. We'll saturate the place. How'd you like the morning papers?"
"I've often thought of putting my English Lit background to work and helping
them out. You just hold your breath and hope nobody who cared about the victim
ever sees those tabloid bombs."
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The courthouse pressroom was plastered from ceiling to floor with page-one
stories that had won it the nickname of the wall of shame. High-profile cases
like this one would result in several more offerings for the coveted space.
"Don't think tomorrow won't top this one, kid. I got a chance for "you to come
scoop up some of those long white hairs you were dying to get your mitts on
yesterday when we were in Joe Berk's office. Ready for a late-night date on
Broadway?"
"Where are you? What's "
"A little too much juice on the street, Coop. Berk was electrocuted tonight."
"What ? Joe Berk? How'd that happen?"
"Stepped on a manhole cover outside the theater an hour ago. Faulty insulation
in the junction box."
"But he's our prime "
"Accidents happen, kid. Con Ed has these freak hot spots all over town and Joe
Berk happened to put his fat foot on this one. Sometimes justice is swift and
certain, and I wouldn't want to miss an opportunity like that."
"You're sure it's an accident?"
"The Lord works in strange and mysterious ways. Berk stepped on the wrong
manhole cover and spared the state some aggravation. I'm going upstairs to
take a peek at his apartment. Wanna come?"
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