The last problem that was weighing on Jack was the need to come up with some justification for his behavior at both the Brooklyn ME’s office and Strickland’s Funeral Home. Bing-ham had just bawled him out the day before for something that was tame by comparison. If and when Bingham got wind of what had happened in Brooklyn, he’d be livid, and would demand an explanation Jack was ill-prepared to give. For the first time in his career at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, he truly thought that come evening, he might be on forced administrative leave.

Not only did Jack have trouble getting to sleep, he also woke up earlier than usual. Still trying to come to terms with his various dilemmas, he bicycled to work just as dawn was breaking. That gave him an hour to work in his office before going down to the ID room.

When he arrived, Vinnie Amendola was in the process of making coffee, and Dr. George Fontworth had just begun looking over the cases that had come in during the night.

“Excuse me, George,” Jack said. “What kind of day does it look like autopsy-wise: heavy or light?”

George’s sleepy eyes ran down his list.

“I’d say the light side of normal.”

“Good,” Jack said. “I’d like to take a paper day if you wouldn’t mind.” A paper day was when one of the medical examiners chose not to do any autopsies, but rather, took the time to catch up on his never-ending paperwork. Normally paper days were scheduled in advance.

“What’s the matter?” George asked. “Are you ill?”

George wasn’t being sarcastic. It was well known around the office that Jack was a glutton for punishment when it came to doing postmortems. He did more than anyone else, and by choice. When anyone asked why, he said that keeping himself busy kept him out of trouble.

“Health-wise, I’m fine,” Jack said. “I’ve just got a lot of things piling up.”

“I don’t see it being a problem,” George said accommodatingly. “Of course, it might be a different story if someone calls in sick at the last moment.”

“If that happens,” Jack said, “just give a shout.”

Jack walked over to the coffeepot.

“Are you finished yet, maestro?” Jack asked Vinnie.

“You can have a cup in two seconds,” Vinnie said.

“Do you have any idea when Peter Letterman usually arrives?” Jack asked.

“The toxicology lab opens officially at nine,” Vinnie said. “But I happen to know that Peter gets in early, usually before eight.”

“Gosh, he spends a lot of time here,” Jack commented.

“You should talk,” Vinnie said.

With coffee in hand, Jack went back to the elevator to return to his office. He was surprised to run into Laurie, who was just arriving. Jack looked at his watch. He was amazed to see her.

“This is early for you, isn’t it?” he asked.