“Sometimes,” Marvin said. “But it only happens if two people come and if they’ve been here lots of times so they know the process. It’s just a way of speeding things up. One of them goes to the cooler to get the body while me and the other guy finish the documents.”

“How well do you know Mike Passano?” Laurie asked.

“As well as I know most of the other techs,” Marvin said.

“You and I have known each other for six years,” Laurie said. “I think of us as friends.”

“Yeah, I suppose,” Marvin said warily.

“I’d like you to do something for me as a friend,” Laurie said. “But only if it doesn’t make you feel uncomfortable.”

“Like what?” Marvin said.

“I’d like you to call Mike Passano and tell him that I found out that one of the bodies that he sent out the night Franconi disappeared was an unidentified corpse.”

“That’s strange, man!” Marvin said. “Why would I be calling him rather than just waiting for him to come on duty?”

“You can act like you just heard it, which is the case,” Laurie said. “And you can say that you thought he should know right away since he was on duty that night.”

“I don’t know, man,” Marvin said, unconvinced.

“The key thing is that coming from you, it won’t be confrontational,” Laurie said. “If I call, he’ll think I’m accusing him, and I’m interested to hear his reaction without his feeling defensive. But more important, I’d like you to ask him if there were two people from Spoletto Funeral Home that night, and if there were two, whether he can remember who actually went to get the body.”

“That’s like setting him up, man,” Marvin complained.

“I don’t see it that way,” Laurie said. “If anything, it gives him a chance to clear himself. You see, I think the Spoletto people took Franconi.”

“I don’t feel comfortable calling him,” Marvin said. “He’s going to know something is up. Why don’t you call him yourself, you know what I’m saying?”

“I already told you, I think he’ll be too defensive,” Laurie said. “Last time he was defensive when I asked him purely vague questions. But okay, if you feel uncomfortable, I don’t want you to do it. Instead, I want you to go on a little hunt with me.”

“Now what?” Marvin asked. His patience was wearing thin.

“Can you produce a list of all the refrigerator compartments that are occupied at the moment?” Laurie asked.

“Sure, that’s easy,” Marvin said.

“Please,” Laurie said, while gesturing toward Marvin’s computer terminal. “While you’re at it, make two copies.”

Marvin shrugged and sat down. Using a relatively rapid hunt-and-peck style, he directed the computer to produce the list Laurie wanted. He handed the two sheets to her the moment they came out of the printer.

“Excellent,” Laurie said, glancing at the sheets. “Come on!” As she left the mortuary office, she waved over her shoulder. Marvin followed at her heels.