Secret Prey

reported that final collapse was accompanied by severe chest pains and rapid loss of consciousness. Myocardial infarction indicated.’’ There was no mention of a rash.
    Lucas looked at the woman with the book: ‘‘Is there a doctor around that I could talk to? Who’d have a little time?’’
    ‘‘I’m a fourth-year med student,’’ the woman said. ‘‘What’s the question?’’
    ‘‘Look at this blood pressure,’’ Lucas said. ‘‘Should she have been on medication?’’
    The woman bent over the screen, read the report, and said, ‘‘She would now. That’s definitely way high. But back then, the drugs weren’t so good. You’d have to talk to somebody older, who’d remember. But back then, she might not have been.’’
    ‘‘All right: then look at this. On her second visit, they do some tests. But the tests never show up in the records.’’
    The woman bent over the screen again, skimming through the records: ‘‘You know what?’’ she said finally. ‘‘It looks like she died before the tests could get back. So when they got back, they probably just tossed them.’’
    ‘‘Huh. And the body was sent directly out to a funeral home.’’
    ‘‘Yup.’’
    ‘‘Why wouldn’t they do an autopsy?’’
    ‘‘Again, they didn’t do them so often back then. Not for hospital deaths. And, uh, you’d have to keep this under your hat . . . or at least not say I told you. I’ve noticed this in other records . . .’’
    ‘‘Sure.’’
    ‘‘You see this funeral home?’’ She tapped the screen. ‘‘The predecessor organization to this hospital, which was called Dakota Mothers of Mercy, had a deal with the funeral home. If the relatives didn’t express a preference, they’d send the bodies out to this place, and the hospital would get a . . . consideration.’’
    ‘‘A kickback.’’
    ‘‘An emolument. If they sent them into Hennepin, for an autopsy, the body was up for grabs.’’
    ‘‘So there would be a bias against autopsies,’’ Lucas said.
    ‘‘Unnecessary autopsies.’’
    ‘‘You shoulda been a lawyer,’’ Lucas said.
    ‘‘Not enough money in it.’’ The woman tapped the screen: ‘‘Here’s something else for you. The insurance company called about it. That’s the code for Prudential.’’
    ‘‘They called?’’
    ‘‘Yup. That’s what that is—the files were sent out in response to a request from Prudential.’’
    ‘‘They send them out to Prudential, but they’re gonna make me get a subpoena?’’
    ‘‘This was a long time ago,’’ the woman said. ‘‘Things were really different.’’
    The woman went back to the novel while Lucas made notes. When he was finished, he shut down the screen and gave her the fiche. ‘‘Thank you very much,’’ he said.
    She looked up from the desk. ‘‘Do you think if I, like, xeroxed my breasts and sent a copy to Hiaasen with my phone number, he’d call me up?’’
    ‘‘Certainly worth a try,’’ Lucas said. ‘‘In fact, I’d recommend that you do it. How else will you know? If you don’t, you could be like two ships passing in the dark.’’
    ‘‘Cops are weird,’’ she said. But as Lucas left, she was looking at the copying machine.
    LUCAS DROVE TOWARDHOME, THINKINGIT ALL OVER: he’d call Prudential in the morning, hoping that they’d still have a record of the call. In any case, they must have paid somebody some money, if they bothered to make the call. He’d bet that Audrey was the recipient.
    As he crossed the Mendota Bridge, he noticed, for the second or third time, that there was no noise in the background of his brain: no chattering. He’d caught himself whistling again. In the last twenty-four hours, he’d gotten thoroughly laid, hugged by Helen Bell, and double entendred by a nice-looking medical student.
    ‘‘Glacier’s breaking up,’’ he said aloud. ‘‘Ice is going out.’’
    He wasn’t sure what it meant, but it felt right.

TWENTY-EIGHT

    SHERRILL SAW HIM WALKING IN, CAME DOWN TO meet him, took his hand. ‘‘Can I take you to dinner tomorrow night?’’
    ‘‘Sure. But things are starting to cook with Audrey McDonald. Shouldn’t mess us up, but if something comes up . . .’’ He was fumbling with his keys, opened the office door. She stepped in behind him.
    ‘‘Tell me about it,’’ she said. ‘‘About Audrey.’’ He told her, and she said, ‘‘Goddamnit. If we weren’t sleeping together, you could just come down and tell