Page 35 of Long Time Gone

“Wendy Downing. They’re trying to track her down, but they don’t have much beyond the name, and they’re sure it was an alias. The FBI is working off the theory that I was abducted from my birth parents and sold into the black-market adoption world. The attorney who brokered the deal and created the paperwork was named Guy Menendez.”

Eric grabbed a legal pad and scribbled the names.

“My department here has some resources, but we can’t match the power of the FBI. We could spend a lot of time on these two and get nowhere. Let’s leave Wendy Downing and Guy Menendez to the feds, and you and I will concentrate on leads here in Cedar Creek.”

“Agreed. Last night Nora also mentioned the hit-and-run investigation Annabelle was involved in.”

“Yeah. I found something strange when I went through the files on that.”

Eric fingered through the pages on the table once more until he found the stack he was looking for.

“Look at this.”

Sloan took the page. It was letterhead from the chief medical examiner’s office in Washoe County.

“Because Baker Jauncey’s body had been discovered on a state highway,” Eric said, “and since Nevada Highway Patrol was involved, the body was transported to the ME’s office in Reno. But after a couple of days it was transferred to Harrison County for the autopsy.”

“If the body was taken to Reno out of formality, because Nevada Highway Patrol was involved in the investigation, why transfer it for autopsy two days later to a morgue a hundred miles away?”

“Good question. My first thought was that Baker Jauncey was a partner at the Margolis law firm, and someone wanted the autopsy performed by a doctor they could control. The Harrison County coroner would certainly fit the bill. I haven’t been able to find any paperwork on the transfer—why it was made or who requested it.”

“Sounds suspicious.”

“Par for the course around here. If the Margolises wanted to control the narrative, they’d want their doctor performing the autopsy.”

“Control what narrative?” Sloan asked.

“One of their bigwig partners had been killed. They wanted to control how that looked and how it reflected on the family and the law firm. It’s just how they do things around here. Bringing the body to Cedar Creek allowed the family to make sure the autopsy said anything the Margolises wanted it to say.”

“What did the autopsy say?”

“That Baker Jauncey died from head trauma caused by Annabelle Margolis’s car. Cause of death, traumatic brain bleed. Manner of death, involuntary manslaughter.”

“If that was concluded by the autopsy, why didn’t your father immediately arrest Annabelle?”

“Another good question, and one I have no idea how to answer. But you see now why I think this hit-and-run case is linked to your parents’ disappearance?”

Sloan thought for a moment before she spoke.

“But if Preston was worried that Annabelle would be charged with Baker Jauncey’s death, he would have used the Margolis family influence to pressure the coroner to find a way to explain Baker’s death as something other than Annabelle’s car having killed him.”

“Exactly,” Eric said. “That’s what I can’t figure out. If the Margolises were behind the unauthorized transfer of Baker Jauncey’s body so that only their doctor could perform the autopsy and determine the formal cause and manner of death, then why did the autopsy so clearly state that Annabelle Margolis’s car killed him? The only answer I can come up with is that someone wanted Annabelle to take the fall for Baker Jauncey’s death. And we need to figure out who that was.”

Sloan lifted the file from the Harrison County coroner. It contained the formal autopsy report on Baker Jauncey, as well as photos taken during the exam and those shot by scene investigators before the body was transferred to the morgue.

“Let me make a call,” Sloan said. “I know someone who could dive into this report and pick it apart to let us know how accurate it is.”

“Who?”

“My department chair back in Raleigh. Dr. Livia Cutty.”

Eric wrinkled his brow. “Isn’t she the lady I see on TV all the time on American Events?”

“That’s her. She’s an expert in forensic pathology and will be able to tell us if anything is off about the postmortem exam.”

Eric reached for another file that was mixed in with the stacks on the table.

“Can you have her look at this, too? It’s my dad’s autopsy report.”

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