The Guilty - Jason Pinter [20]
my story. From that encounter I assumed most MEs were
similarly professional.
But when I met Leon Binks, New York County Medical
Examiner, behind the rusty Dumpster on Thirty-first and First,
let's just say it wasn't quite the professionalism I was hoping for.
Leon was wearing blue jeans and an unbuttoned work shirt,
both dirty and disheveled. My guess was they were spare clothes
for the times he had to run out and meet people behind Dumpsters. He was a fairly young man, mid to late thirties, with a wisp
of a mustache and hair in desperate need of some Pert Plus.
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He rubbed his hands together as he spoke, and I wondered
what sort of compulsion that came from.
"So you know Jack," Binks said, more of a statement of
fact than a question.
"I work with him at the Gazette, " I replied.
Jack had called Binks and told him to meet me as soon as
possible. Didn't ask Binks. Told him. I wondered what sort
of coverage Jack had given--or shielded--to have the New
York City medical examiner wrapped around his little finger.
"Good guy, O'Donnell," Binks said, his hands rubbing
rhythmically.
"Yeah, he is." I waited for Binks to continue.
"Had a lot of good times with him," Binks said. "Well, not
good times, but good conversations. Like he's always been a
good egg with me, a good egg. I figure any friend of Jack's
has gotta be a friend of mine."
"That's right," I said. "So, Leon, if I can call you that..."
"You can call me Binky," he said. "S'what my friends
do, anyway."
"Right. So... Binky... you've done the initial on Joe Mauser?"
Binky nodded. "You'd be correct. Listen, Henry." Binky
leaned in close. I could smell chemicals. Iodine and cheap
aftershave. "Did Jack tell you about that... thing? "
"Uh..."
"I get it, you're playing dumb. It's okay, better you don't
answer so neither of us have to lie. You know in case anyone
comes asking."
No need to tell the Binkster that I wasn't playing dumb,
since I had no idea what he was talking about.
"Just tell Jack I appreciate it, and so does my wife. I
promise the bite marks will clear up and we'll be careful not
to go out in public next time we want to role play."
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Jason Pinter
"Yeah, anyway, let's talk about Mauser."
"Right," Binky said, winking. "Let's. Officer Mauser
suffered from a single gunshot wound fired from a highvelocity rifle."
"I knew it," I said.
"Knew what?"
"High-powered rifle," I said. "I know more about guns than
I'd like to."
"Really? Well, would you like to tell me the rest of the
autopsy? Please, go right ahead." Binky folded his arms
across his chest petulantly. Finally he said, "May I continue?"
"Please, didn't mean to interrupt."
"No apology necessary. Anyway, the bullet entered Officer
Mauser's chest and the left subclavian artery, causing a traumatic aortic rupture."
"Which means..."
"Which means Officer Mauser never had a chance."
I wiped my brow, took this in. Mauser wasn't the target of
that bullet. This much was clear. Dozens of news crews had
caught the whole speech and murder on tape, and a split
second before the gun went off, Mauser dove in front of
Mayor Perez. Gave his life in the line of duty.
"The bullet then lodged in one of Officer Mauser's vertebrae, where I extracted it this morning. The bullet was turned
over to ballistics for examination."
"Can you tell me anything about the bullet itself?"
"Hey, Sherlock, I work at the coroner's office, not ballistics." Again I stayed silent. Hoping maybe Binky thought
himself an amateur Man With No Name. "It was pretty big,"
Binky finally volunteered.
"Like how big?"
"Inch and a half, two inches long," he said. "Bullet was ob -
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67
viously distorted but I can't say for sure. Caused a whole lot
of damage, whoever took that shot wasn't screwing around,
wasn't looking to wing anyone. Even if the bullet had somehow miraculously missed the aorta, it shattered two surrounding vertebrae and severed Mauser's spinal cord. Guess we can
be thankful the guy didn't suffer. I work a lot of GSWs, but
I