Chapter 23

CHAPTER 23

T HERE IT IS,” SAID KING, waving his hand at a dark blue Genesis four-door sedan that sat next to a wrecked Dodge pickup.

“A G70?” said Devine. “Pretty fancy.”

“I wouldn’t know. I only buy American. Hyundai makes that. Chinese.” He said the word like it was feces on his tongue.

“Actually, Hyundai is South Korean based. One of our allies . I pulled duty over there.”

King expertly whipped his wheelchair around and stared up at Devine. “Army?”

“Yeah. You?”

“No. My big brother. I was the youngest with three sisters in between. He fought in Vietnam. He didn’t make it back.”

“Sorry to hear that.”

King nodded. “Key should be under the passenger wheel well. On a magnet. Help yourself.”

Devine bent down, retrieved it, and unlocked the car. He glanced at King. “I’m sure you have other stuff to do. Just let me know where I can pick up the autopsy reports. Oh.” He handed King a card. “And the first responders can call me directly.”

King took the card. When their fingers touched, Devine felt an icy stiffness in King’s. He figured that might be from the damage to the man’s spine.

He watched the man roll off and then turned his attention to the car. He found the registration in the name of Dwayne and Alice Odom in the glove box. The car had been purchased new and was only a year old. He Googled the Genesis and found that a model like this would cost anywhere from mid-forties to mid-fifties, depending on the bells and whistles.

He searched the car from trunk to engine compartment and underneath as well. He’d gotten good at that overseas when supervising the checking of vehicles for explosives. He found no Narcan, no duffel, no drugs, no unmarked bills wrapped with rubber bands, no copious amounts of poison. In fact, he found nothing. Not even dirt on the floor mats.

Meaning the vehicle’s been swept and stripped. That’s why he let me look at it.

As he turned away from the Genesis, a door to the building opened and a woman in her forties came out holding a file. She had on a white lab coat and her glasses rode low on her nose. She briskly walked toward him.

“Agent Devine?”

“Yes?”

“Here are the autopsy reports you requested on Dwayne and Alice Odom.”

She handed them over.

“Thanks. Uh, do you have whatever was found in the car?”

The woman hesitated. “It would be in the evidence room, I suppose.”

“Any way I can have access to that?”

“I’ll check,” she said.

“Thanks.”

“Will there be anything else?”

“Not for the time being, Miss…?”

“ Mrs. Doris Chandler.”

“So did you perform the posts on the Odoms?” he asked.

“Oh, heavens no. I just do the clerical work and processing for the medical examiner and other folks here. Dr. Coburn performed the autopsies.”

“Is he here?”

“ She. It’s Sara Coburn. And no, I’m afraid she’s not. She’s the ME for several counties and her work keeps her on the road.”

“Do you have her contact information?”

“I do but I’m afraid I can’t give it out without her permission.”

Devine handed her his card. “Well, here’s my info. Could you ask her to contact me at her earliest convenience?”

“Is this in regard to the autopsies? They were pretty straightforward, as I’m sure you’ll see when you read through the reports.”

“I’m sure they are, but I’d still like to speak with her.”

“I will pass along your request,” said Chandler.

“And check on the evidence room?”

She turned and went back inside without answering.

Devine watched her go and thought, How can everyone here seem so polite and helpful and not actually provide me a damn thing that’s useful?

He sat in the 4Runner and read through the postmortem results.

They were straightforward as far as they went. But the tox reports, which would definitively say what was in their systems at death, had not come back in yet, so there was no official cause of death. But all other forensic indications pointed to a fentanyl-induced drug overdose, or so said Dr. Coburn in clipped language that was as dry as burnt toast. She had also noted that Alice Odom had a small lump in her right breast that might have been cancerous. But, of course, it would not kill her now.

Dwayne’s post didn’t reveal anything out of the ordinary. He was healthy except for being dead. But what if the fentanyl had been administered to them in a larger dose without their knowledge as a way to murder them?

He walked over to the door where Doris Chandler had entered the building after giving him the report. There was a bell to ring. She came in response to his pushing it.

“Can I look at the bodies?” he asked.

“I’m afraid that’s impossible,” Chandler answered.

“Why?”

“They’ve been cremated.”

Devine exclaimed, “At whose request?”

“The next of kin,” replied Chandler.

“Betsy Odom is a minor, so she couldn’t have authorized it.”

“I wasn’t referring to her.”

“Then who?” said Devine.

“I believe the name was Daniel Glass.”