The Next Accident - Lisa Gardner [15]
In the good news department, the report provided a great number of details, mostly thanks to the state trooper beating EMS to the scene. As Rainie knew from her own experience, no one ruined a crime scene faster than EMTs, except maybe firemen.
She studied the Polaroids, as well as a small diagram indicating where the pedestrian and dog were found, and then the position of the vehicle against the utility pole. Records showed the vehicle to be a green 1994 Ford Explorer, registered to Amanda Jane Quincy, and purchased used three years earlier. It was a no-frills model, lacking automatic transmission, and more unfortunately for Mandy, a driver-side airbag.
At the time of the crash, the driver was not wearing her seat belt. According to a note made by the trooper, it was found to be “nonoperative.” Rainie didn’t know what that meant and when she flipped through the pages, she didn’t find any follow-up notes.
A designated auto-accident investigator had not been called, which disappointed her. In Oregon, the state police had a separate unit that specialized in analyzing and reconstructing motor vehicle accidents (MVAs). Either Virginia didn’t have one, or they didn’t feel it was necessary in this case. At least the trooper had run through the basics. No sign of skid marks going into the curve, indicating that the driver never made an attempt to brake. No signs of damage or paint on the rear or side of the Explorer, which would’ve signaled the involvement of another vehicle. No signs of other tire tracks or impressions at the scene.
The trooper’s conclusion was blunt: Single-car accident, at-fault driver lost control of vehicle, check for drugs and alcohol.
At the emergency room, the trooper got to add to his summary: Blood tests confirm blood alcohol level of .20. At-fault driver sustained massive head injury, not expected to live.
The file contained no more notes. The at-fault driver had never regained consciousness to be presented with criminal charges. Over a year later, she’d died. Case closed.
Rainie felt a chill.
She put away the notes, though the photos remained in her hands. Pictures of that poor man, out walking his dog. Pictures of the poor fox terrier who hadn’t had a long enough leash. Pictures of the twisted front end of a massive vehicle, which had crumpled like paper upon impact.
The EMTs had whisked Mandy to the emergency room, sparing everyone those images. The state trooper had captured the front windshield, however, including the shattered upper left quadrant, which bore a macabre mold of Amanda Quincy’s face.
Quincy had studied these photos. Rainie wondered how long it had taken him to look away.
She sighed. The report didn’t give her much hope. No evidence of any other vehicles involved. The lack of braking, which might bother an untrained investigator, was also consistent with DUI incidents. Also, no evidence of anyone else at the scene. The state trooper had written up a straightforward report, and at this juncture, Rainie had to agree.
But there was the issue of how Mandy came to be drunk at five-thirty in the morning when her friends had seen her sober just three hours before. And there was the “nonoperative” seat belt that had turned what should have been a survivable crash into tragedy. Finally, there was the mystery man, the supposed love of Amanda Quincy’s life, whom no one had ever met.
“Still not much of a case,” she murmured. But Quincy must be getting to her, because she no longer sounded convinced.
Greenwich Village, New York City
Kimberly August Quincy was having one of those spells again. She stood on the corner of Washington Square in the heart of New York University’s campus. The sun was shining brightly. The sky gleamed a vast, vast blue. The grass around the square’s signature arch was a deep, deep green. Residents strolled by, tidy in trendy suits and tiny John Lennon sunglasses. Summer students clad in ripped denim shorts and shrink-wrapped