pathologists on blood evidence questions in California, much in demand by both defense and prosecution as an expert witness.
“Thanks for coming all the way down from Sacramento. I know how busy you always are, and I think you know I appreciate it. How are you?” she asked as Ginger took her seat. “It's been a while.”
“Good work, bad affair, new girlfriend, bought a glam condo near Oldtown Sac since we last worked together,” she said. “You?”
“Left Tahoe, came here with Paul, so old new love,” Nina said, attempting the same game and giving up. “Let's just say, after the court case in San Francisco in which my own State Bar tried to take me out and failed, I have been rethinking my life. I'm living too near my father, mostly at odds with him whenever we get together, getting together with Paul, and getting on Bob's case. He's mighty intense these days.”
Ginger spotted Nina's ring. She took Nina's hand into her own. “Wow. Fabulous! Art Deco, I do believe.” She lifted Nina's hand up and down, as if weighing it. “Heavy commitment, this dazzler.” Letting go, she looked into Nina's eyes, questioningly. “You're going to marry van Wagoner and stay here? You won't be going back to Tahoe?”
“I'm trying out the ring for size. Any words of wisdom?”
“He's a pig,” Ginger said, “but you know that, and we love him in spite of his flaws.”
Nina smiled.
“You're not imagining you'll reform him, are you?”
“Not really. No.”
“He's a macho control freak.”
“That's a little harsh. Anyway, so am I.”
Ginger thought about that. “True. So I don't know where that leaves you.”
“Making progress?”
“Right. Well, we're not going to resolve your life or mine, but maybe we can make some headway on this case.”
They got down to it.
“What I'm seeing,” Ginger said a half hour later, after examining some of the documents the D.A.'s office had provided them, “is that the victim apparently was killed in the kitchen of her apartment in Monterey on Friday night, April eleventh. That's what—nearly five months ago? It's a strangulation. Hands-on, no evidence of a cord or anything like that. There were small signs of a possible struggle—some broken glass. Some of the glass had blood on it.”
“Right,” Nina said. “And as you can see, it appears from this report that all of the blood samples found at the crime scene have been identified as Stefan Wyatt's.”
“Not good. The blood seems to have been reasonably fresh. The amounts were small for a decent analysis, so that's an area we might challenge.”
“Does the state lab work look like it will stand up?”
Ginger shook her head. “Too soon to draw conclusions for you, Nina. Did you request samples for independent analysis?”
“You can pick them up this afternoon in Salinas.”
“Well, you never know. Maybe they don't know what they're doing. Although Dr. Susan Misumi's supervising, and she's no slouch.”
“You know Monterey's assistant medical examiner?”
“Known her for years. We attend the same conferences, and we're both Asian females in a world of white, whiskery faces. We have some things in common.”
Nina nodded. “Here's another tricky aspect of this case,” she said. “I told you Stefan Wyatt took bones from the same grave where the victim, Christina Zhukovsky, was found? The bones of her father, a man named Constantin Zhukovsky?”
“Yeah, what's that about?”
“Wyatt says he was hired to dig them up. While he was digging, he found the second body, of the victim, in the grave.”
“Sounds like a setup.”
“I think so, too. The guy who Wyatt claims hired him is a professor at CSUMB named Alex Zhukovsky. And get this, Ginger—he's Constantin Zhukovsky's son and Christina's brother. He denies he hired Wyatt or had any knowledge about any of it.”
“Could he have tipped off the police to do a traffic stop on Wyatt?”
“Good question, but there's no evidence the police were
“Thanks for coming all the way down from Sacramento. I know how busy you always are, and I think you know I appreciate it. How are you?” she asked as Ginger took her seat. “It's been a while.”
“Good work, bad affair, new girlfriend, bought a glam condo near Oldtown Sac since we last worked together,” she said. “You?”
“Left Tahoe, came here with Paul, so old new love,” Nina said, attempting the same game and giving up. “Let's just say, after the court case in San Francisco in which my own State Bar tried to take me out and failed, I have been rethinking my life. I'm living too near my father, mostly at odds with him whenever we get together, getting together with Paul, and getting on Bob's case. He's mighty intense these days.”
Ginger spotted Nina's ring. She took Nina's hand into her own. “Wow. Fabulous! Art Deco, I do believe.” She lifted Nina's hand up and down, as if weighing it. “Heavy commitment, this dazzler.” Letting go, she looked into Nina's eyes, questioningly. “You're going to marry van Wagoner and stay here? You won't be going back to Tahoe?”
“I'm trying out the ring for size. Any words of wisdom?”
“He's a pig,” Ginger said, “but you know that, and we love him in spite of his flaws.”
Nina smiled.
“You're not imagining you'll reform him, are you?”
“Not really. No.”
“He's a macho control freak.”
“That's a little harsh. Anyway, so am I.”
Ginger thought about that. “True. So I don't know where that leaves you.”
“Making progress?”
“Right. Well, we're not going to resolve your life or mine, but maybe we can make some headway on this case.”
They got down to it.
“What I'm seeing,” Ginger said a half hour later, after examining some of the documents the D.A.'s office had provided them, “is that the victim apparently was killed in the kitchen of her apartment in Monterey on Friday night, April eleventh. That's what—nearly five months ago? It's a strangulation. Hands-on, no evidence of a cord or anything like that. There were small signs of a possible struggle—some broken glass. Some of the glass had blood on it.”
“Right,” Nina said. “And as you can see, it appears from this report that all of the blood samples found at the crime scene have been identified as Stefan Wyatt's.”
“Not good. The blood seems to have been reasonably fresh. The amounts were small for a decent analysis, so that's an area we might challenge.”
“Does the state lab work look like it will stand up?”
Ginger shook her head. “Too soon to draw conclusions for you, Nina. Did you request samples for independent analysis?”
“You can pick them up this afternoon in Salinas.”
“Well, you never know. Maybe they don't know what they're doing. Although Dr. Susan Misumi's supervising, and she's no slouch.”
“You know Monterey's assistant medical examiner?”
“Known her for years. We attend the same conferences, and we're both Asian females in a world of white, whiskery faces. We have some things in common.”
Nina nodded. “Here's another tricky aspect of this case,” she said. “I told you Stefan Wyatt took bones from the same grave where the victim, Christina Zhukovsky, was found? The bones of her father, a man named Constantin Zhukovsky?”
“Yeah, what's that about?”
“Wyatt says he was hired to dig them up. While he was digging, he found the second body, of the victim, in the grave.”
“Sounds like a setup.”
“I think so, too. The guy who Wyatt claims hired him is a professor at CSUMB named Alex Zhukovsky. And get this, Ginger—he's Constantin Zhukovsky's son and Christina's brother. He denies he hired Wyatt or had any knowledge about any of it.”
“Could he have tipped off the police to do a traffic stop on Wyatt?”
“Good question, but there's no evidence the police were
Similar Books
