Crescent City Murder Read online

  “The police indicated in their report that you believed that evil spirits had killed your son. Can you explain what you mean by that statement?"

  "My son was a good person and a good father. You would have to be an evil person with an evil spirit to have ended his life. If you're asking me if I believe in evil charms or witch doctors, or that my deceased relatives have come back to life the answer is no. Until I go to heaven I won't be reunited with my son,” Mrs. Cheval said with finality and tears in her voice.

  Chapter 8

  Alicia and Jill were discussing their conversation on the way back to the coroner's office.

  "That was a good lesson for me. I can't believe all the useful information from the victim's mother we received. I wonder why the police misinterpreted her statement about evil spirits?" mused Alicia.

  “I always find it very helpful to talk to the family members of the deceased, but I'd be the first to admit it's very draining of one's spirit. You generally learn more about what a good soul that person was and you feel for the friends and family left behind. I think when I worked for the state Medical Examiner's Office, I lacked that perspective on many cases. We were pushed to keep up with our workload and in probably ninety-five percent of the work I did, there was absolutely zero mystery as to how and why a person died; so talking to the family didn't impact the paperwork that we had to complete with each case. I think that now that I'm a consultant, I only end up with that rare one percent of weird death cases.”

  "The more the mother talked, the more I kept switching directions on which poison might have a role in Julien's death.”

  "Yeah, I was doing the same thing. It was like a Rolodex was flipping inside my brain each with a different flash card of the particular poison. Another issue for me is I'm not familiar with this part of the country and the plants that are native here. There might be a whole set of poisonous plants on the Gulf Coast that I haven't seen before,” Jill said.

  "If it makes you feel better I've never had a body in my morgue killed by an exotic plant poison. I think we should start with the run-of-the-mill drugs. I wonder if LSD is still available for purchase on the street? Usually, if people die of a drug overdose in New Orleans, it's either heroin or methamphetamine. Maybe I'll put a question to the narcotics squad and see if there are any new street drugs that might've produced these effects.”

  “Some of those analyzers in your lab will do some chemical analysis and that may give us a clue as well,” Jill said and then added, "Stop the car, I want to go back and sample the work truck to see if there's anything odd in or about it. We don't have a search warrant to do this and the state will wake up on someday and remember that the vehicle is here and will remove it back to the work location. So let's strike while the iron is hot!”

  A few short moments later they were back at the Cheval house notifying Mrs. Cheval that they were going to take a few minutes to examine Julien's work truck. She passed them the keys she'd found and waved them back signaling her agreement.

  The truck looked like a standard issue work pick-up truck. The bed of the truck had odds and ends in it at both sides had locked storage spaces. There was room on top to store ladders, cords, or hoses. The state seal was on the side of the door. The interior of the cab was generally clean with papers on the seat. Jill tried the locked compartments first to see if they were locked and they were. Fortunately, she carried specimen containers so they could sample the various surfaces of the truck.

  Jill took a swipe at the dashboard and steering wheel and the driver side air vent. She also sampled each of the locked compartments though she had zero expectation of finding any clues in that sampling. She studied the truck looking for something sinister, but nothing was obvious to her. They were just about to leave when she noticed the large water jug on the back of the truck. She had seen many outdoor workers carry those jugs as a means of re-hydrating while working outdoors and warmer temperatures. They wrapped up their sampling including the jug, gave Mrs. Cheval the keys and again began the return journey to the coroner's office.

  On the way, Alicia stopped in the French Quarter so they could grab po’boy sandwiches. Jill had never had one and found it quite delicious. The roll that the sandwich was on was quite different and while she found many of the seafood choices on the menu revolting, she recognized it was the native cuisine of a city on the Gulf Coast. Her chicken club sandwich was warm and tasty and the restaurant was an institution.

  Back at the coroner’s office they quickly finished their sandwiches and headed back to the lab. Jill walked around checking the analyzers and was delighted to see they all powered up. The two pathologists put together a list of all the specimens they had to process and drew up a plan based on what needed to be shipped out and which specimens would expire if not processed. Jill estimated the processing times of the various tests they would do themselves and then they got to work.

  Jill showed Alicia how to run the quality control kits for each machine and an hour after they finished lunch, they were seeing their first results. Chemical panels showed that Mr. Cheval was dehydrated at the time of his death which was not surprising given his reported nausea and vomiting, but like Alicia’s earlier testing, they were finding nothing out of the ordinary that a pathologist could conclude would cause death. So they moved on to the surface samples they had taken from the victim’s bedroom and truck. One of the analyzers separated chemical compounds using electron microscopy. Mostly they found a variety of farm soils and chemicals. The final sample was from the water reservoir.

  “This is weird,” Jill said. “Are there evergreen trees grown in Louisiana? Specifically, can you grow a form of nutmeg here?”

  “Nutmeg?

  “The water in the truck reservoir is contaminated with myristica, which is the Latin name for nutmeg.”

  “Just for the record, they didn’t teach us that in medical school,” Alicia said.

  Jill laughed and said, “No but I learned a lot of botany as an undergraduate, so I’m pretty good with plants.”

  “Have you heard of death by nutmeg? Do I need to stay away from eggnog? I love that.”

  “I haven’t heard of death by nutmeg, but then curious teenagers often find new and stupid ways to nearly kill themselves. Remember a couple of years ago, there was a cinnamon challenge where kids would try and swallow a whole teaspoon of cinnamon? It’s didn’t poison them, but their lungs didn’t like it either. I didn’t give up cinnamon buns after those reports, so you can continue with the eggnog. Let’s contact some poison experts and see if there are any reported toxic effects and what the slow ingestion might lead to. Remember his mother said he would hallucinate more on hot days? Perhaps that’s because he was drinking more water from that container.”

  “I just have an overall question of who and why would someone put nutmeg in a water container. Wouldn't you taste it in the water? Certainly, I taste it in eggnog. Is there a form of nutmeg that isn't so spicy?” Alicia asked.

  “We didn't get that far in my botany class for me to answer those questions. We'll have to do some research on it and perhaps we can find the answer. I suspect it is still potent as the scent comes from the leaves and just because the smell has dissipated, it doesn’t mean that the leaves’ chemicals have changed.”

  “True, I remember that from our pharmacology class,” Alicia said, then added with a smile, “I’m so glad I called you for help. I feel like we have several avenues to follow up here that might lead us to the real cause and mode of death.”

  “Let’s hope.” Jill agreed. “So what else do we have to test? We should find nutmeg in his stomach contents, and in his blood and we’ll want to examine his organs to quantify the amount he ingested.”

  “So besides vomiting and hallucinations, do you remember what else nutmeg intoxication causes? What would have killed him? Cardiac arrhythmia?”

  “It would have to be that unless excessive vomiting messed up the electrolytes.”

  Alicia left the laboratory to w
alk over to the specimen room where she had stored Mr. Cheval’s samples. She could have used his remains for sampling, but the body was decomposing; better to use the preserved tissue and organ samples.

  They worked through the afternoon and by the end of the day, Alicia was making a call to the coroner and then to the detectives as they had a murder to investigate.

  Detective Scott Briggs and Detective Julie Heyer listened as Alicia explained their findings. Clearly, they’d never had an outside PI and pathologist on the case. Jill described the interview with the mother and their exploration of the work truck. The two detectives had not originally been on the case, so it was all new to them. An hour later they understood that it was indeed a murder. Neither detective had ever investigated a case of murder by poisoning. Detective Heyer had the truck towed to their crime scene yard and they made an appointment with Mrs. Cheval to inform her that her son was murdered. The detectives asked many questions about nutmeg, taking notes, so they could thoroughly explain the case to the victim’s mother.

  Jill and Alicia worked into the evening to complete the testing they had the equipment for knowing that any significant findings would have to be officially tested by an accredited lab. Still, the work was interesting for Alicia who hadn’t performed such work since her residency. In the back of her mind, she was shaping a proposal to submit to the coroner to get the lab supplied and accredited for future cases. It was a workload she thought she and her fellow pathologists could handle and they could close cases faster and save money in the long run. She found she enjoyed running the analyzers as much as she had weighing organs. The results showed the victim to be dehydrated with other classic signs of someone who’d vomited a lot before his death. The examination of his stomach and intestines showed evidence of nutmeg ingestion. By the end of the day, Jill’s work was done and the detectives and Alicia would take it from there. Jill was booked for two additional days in New Orleans as she’d allotted extra time when she booked the trip to spend exploring the city. She now had two days in front of her to check out the museums and atmosphere of the Big Easy, the nickname of the city. Alicia would join her at night when she finished work. Tonight, fresh with the success of identifying a puzzling cause of death, they were celebrating with a fine dinner at a French restaurant.

  Chapter 9

  Jill was on a streetcar the next morning with a destination of the Café Du Monde. She’d never had the beignets that were famously served along with chicory coffee. She was looking forward to both. The café would place her squarely in the French Quarter which was a good starting place to start her exploration. Later she planned to catch the Katrina museum to learn about the devastating hurricane that hit the city eleven years prior. She’d never lived in an area that was prone to hurricanes, but unlike the earthquakes in her home state; hurricanes gave residents up to a week’s notice to get out of harm’s way.

  She was enjoying her coffee and reading her email. When she noted an email from Jo. She smiled as she read. Jo was arriving that evening from Wisconsin for a financial seminar at a hotel about five blocks away from her current position and remarked that she had time to do work for Jill after they had dinner if she needed help.

  Jill replied, making plans to meet and introduce her to Alicia. She provided a summary of Mr. Cheval and noted that the case was in the hands of the New Orleans police and she was no longer doing any work on it. She then called Nathan.

  “Hi sweetie.”

  “How’s the Big Easy? Are you enjoying it and is your case solved?”

  “I’m eating beignets and coffee at the Café Du Monde and enjoying the experience. The cause and mode of death has been determined for Alicia’s victim, and now there are detectives working the case, so my work is finished.”

  “Are you sure? Lately, it seems like every case has resulted in you doing the detective work. What about the evil spirits? Did you test for them?” Nathan asked with ample humor in his voice. He'd loved the idea of Jill chasing evil spirits.

  “That was really interesting. I now understand a little more about Hoodoo and Voodoo as Caribbean religions. The first set of detectives did sloppy work; when the mom said that her son was killed by evil spirits, if they asked her what she meant, they would have learned she meant someone who has an evil spirit killed him. Quite a distinction. These new detectives seem competent so I don’t anticipate having anything more to do with this case. I just got an email from Jo and she’s arriving tonight for a conference, so we’ll be together without a murder case for once.”

  “That’s great!”

  “We’re eating at a French restaurant tonight so maybe I can tell you about some great wine later.”

  “I don’t know about that. I think some of the finest wines in the world are produced here in California. If you see a label you like, take a picture for me.”

  Nathan was a famed wine label designer and created other marketing materials for vineyards and he was always looking for innovative designs.

  “Will do. Well, I better get moving, it’s going to get humid as the day rolls on and you know how much I hate humidity. Love you, bye.”

  “Love you too and have fun.”

  Jill started walking down the various streets of the Quarter, admiring the architecture of the buildings. She noted that she was in a residential area and pulled up the email on Mr. Cheval that Alicia had sent her. She was looking for the address of where the body was found as perhaps it might be nearby. Finding the address and locating it on a map on her phone as two blocks away, she decided to walk over and look.

  She was halfway down the block when she noticed police activity farther down the street. Perhaps it was the crime scene team. She arrived to find detectives Briggs and Heyer in an alley watching the crime scene technicians collecting evidence. She could see recognition in their eyes.

  “What are you doing on this street Dr. Quint? It’s not exactly a tourist destination,” Briggs asked.

  “Funny you should say that as I was playing tourist; I had breakfast at the Café Du Monde and was exploring the French Quarter and noted I was in a residential area. So I brought up Alicia’s notes on the case and noted the address was close by. I couldn’t resist coming by to see where Mr. Cheval was found.”

  Jill found herself being questioned by the detectives as they watched their technicians. Like Alicia, they were interested in some of her stranger cases. When she mentioned her work with the FBI, Interpol, and Police Scotland, she could see they accepted her level of expertise.

  “Have you discovered anything useful here? Did he die here or was he dumped here?”

  “Dumped or dragged,” Heyer replied.

  “Any video footage to document how he got here?” Jill asked.

  “We’re going to knock on doors and find out. He left his friend’s car at the end of this street,” Briggs said. “I’m guessing he weaved down the street and collapsed not far from here. I think then that someone dragged him into the alley to delay discovery of his body. The patrol officers that were the first responders to this scene found him partially covered by debris and it’s not something you do if you’re feeling nauseated. You don’t lay down and cover yourself with leaves.”

  “True,” Jill said. “Do you have any idea of a motive?”

  “None, but then we’ve only been on the case for a few hours,” Heyer said.

  “Did you learn anything from Mrs. Cheval?

  “Pretty much the same story as you and Alicia relayed to us.”

  Jill couldn’t think of anything more she could add to the scene and so said, “I’m going to continue on my tour of the Quarter. If I can be of any help, don’t hesitate to call.”

  Heyer said, “I don’t think the department could afford your consulting fees.”

  Jill detected sarcasm in the detective’s voice and replied with her hands forming quotes in the air, “Actually, my only ‘fee’ as you say was my plane ticket to get here. Alicia is housing me and my services are free to the Coroner’s office. Ali
cia pleaded poverty and paid me with an intriguing case.”

  She turned and walked the way she had come to return to the more touristy parts of the Quarter. She heard a conversation behind her, but ignored it and set out for her first of two museums. The Katrina museum was amazing as she learned so much about the hurricane - the erosion of the wetlands and the dikes that failed. It helped that she’d driven through the Ninth Ward and saw the lingering devastation.

  She had lunch at a wonderful little Creole restaurant and then took the trolley for a visit to the WWII museum. She didn’t know why, but it felt strange that the museum was in New Orleans as it didn’t seem like a military town. Perhaps there were a lot of veterans living there or maybe there was a military base nearby. She thought she knew most of the big points of the war, but found she learned many new facts about it. She hadn't studied the war since high school and there were new details about old wars discovered all of the time.

  As she was walking toward the exit, her cell phone rang with a New Orleans number. It was probably Alicia calling from an extension at the coroner's office she decided, and offered a friendly, “Hello”.

  “Hello Dr. Quint, this is Detective Heyer and we’ve decided to take you up on your offer of free help.”

  Jill was surprised by the caller and the request, “Okay, what can I do for you?”

  “We’d like you to come down to the station to consult with you on our findings so far. If you tell me your location, I’ll send a patrol car to give you a ride.”

  Jill shrugged over the request and said, “I’m at the exit of the WWII Museum. Your patrol car should be able to easily find me here.”

  There was a slight pause before Heyer asked, “Did you finish your tour? It’s a very good museum.”