“I’m right behind you,” Lou said.

Jack hesitated for a moment then hurried after them. He was mystified why Laurie was so interested in doing the autopsy. From his perspective she would have done better to stay clear. Such politically charged cases were always hot potatoes. You couldn’t win.

Laurie was moving quickly, and Jack didn’t catch up to her and Lou until they were beyond communications. Laurie stopped abruptly to lean into Janice Jaeger’s office. Janice was one of the forensic investigators, also called physicians’ assistants or PAs. Janice ran the graveyard shift and took her job very seriously. She always stayed late.

“Will you be seeing Bart Arnold before you leave?” Laurie asked Janice. Bart Arnold was the chief of the PAs.

“I usually do,” Janice said. She was a tiny, dark-haired woman with prominent circles under her eyes.

“Do me a favor,” Laurie said. “Ask him to call CNN and get a copy of the video of Carlo Franconi’s assassination. I’d like to have it as soon as possible.”

“Will do,” Janice said cheerfully.

Laurie and Lou continued on their way.

“Hey, slow down, you two,” Jack said. He had to run a couple of steps to catch up to them.

“We’ve got work to do,” Laurie said without breaking stride.

“I’ve never seen you so eager to do an autopsy,” Jack said. He and Lou flanked her as she hurried to the autopsy room. “What’s the attraction?”

“A lot of things,” Laurie said. She reached the elevator and pressed the button.

“Give me an example,” Jack said. “I don’t mean to rain on your parade, but this is a politically sensitive case. No matter what you do or say, you’ll be irritating someone. I think Calvin was right. This one ought to be done by the chief.”

“You’re entitled to your opinion,” Laurie said. She hit the button again. The back elevator was inordinately slow. “But I feel differently. With the work I’ve been doing on the forensics of gunshot wounds, I’m fascinated to have a case where there is a video of the event to corroborate my reconstruction of what happened. I was planning on writing a paper on gunshot wounds, and this could be the crowning case.”