Vinnie leaned toward Jack and squinted. “Are you pulling my leg now or what?” He wasn’t certain.

“Half and half,” Jack said. “Meanwhile, let’s knock out this autopsy.”

They completed the pulmonary embolism case in near record time, too uncomfortable to talk. When they did finish, Jack said, “Sorry, my friend. I was definitely out of line.”

“You’re forgiven. To pay me back, you can promise me we won’t start autopsies until everyone else does.”

“Dreamer,” Jack said, snapping off his gloves and heading for the washroom.

Jack cleaned up and returned upstairs to his desk. Still feeling uncomfortable about his mini-blowup in the autopsy room, he closed his office door. For a while, at least, he didn’t want to see or talk to anyone. Forcing himself to work, he dictated all three autopsies he’d just completed so he was sure not to forget any of the details, using his scribbled notes to remind him of specific important points.

With the dictation out of the way, Jack looked at his crowded inbox, but, like many days of late, he couldn’t find the motivation to start. Instead, he opened up his center drawer and pulled out a large envelope where he’d been storing all his alternative-medicine data. As of that moment, he had a total of twelve cases from his colleagues. Keara Abelard made thirteen, and his herbal case that morning made a grand total of fourteen.

Jack should have been pleased with his progress, but he wasn’t. He’d come to the conclusion that the number of cases he was going to find, no matter what he did, was going to be seriously lower than the true number, for a complex of reasons. One problem was the lack of digitalization of the OCME records, meaning a search was not possible. Even if the records were digitalized, there would be no coding for alternative medicine in general, nor for specific types of alternative medicine in particular. On top of that, even if he was able to find VAD cases, there was no guarantee that the records would say anything about chiropractic, even if chiropractic therapy was involved in the cause of death.

In situations involving herbal medicine, the cases would be signed out as accidental poisoning, with the cause of death attributed to the specific poison involved. It would be the exception, not the rule, if herbal medicine was mentioned at all.

Although Jack thought his crusade of exposing the risks of chiropractic and other forms of alternative medicine was still a great idea and more than worth pursuing, his enthusiasm was being dampened by these tactical obstacles. Fourteen cases over some indeterminate period of time was not enough to attract the public’s attention. When he had started, he’d envisioned a grand exposé involving hundreds of cases capable of dominating the media for days. Jack could already assume that was not going to happen.