IT REALLY IS CRAZY for me to be meeting you like this, Mace,” said Lowell Cassell.
“Why? I’m just an ordinary citizen.”
“An ordinary citizen who I believe is assisting in the defense of an alleged murderer who is right now cooling his heels in a D.C. lockup.” When she looked surprised that he knew this, Cassell added, “The water-cooler gossip does reach the morgue, you know.”
“Well, I wouldn’t really call what I’m doing assisting. And I really did want a nice cup of coffee. I used to come here a lot when I was a cop. Open twenty-four hours. We’d pop in here after hoodling for a bit if the radio was quiet.”
Cassell leaned forward and spoke in a low voice even though there wasn’t another customer in the place. “I really went out on a limb by allowing you access to my files. In fact, if that comes out, my career is over.”
“It will never come out, Lowell. I will die before that comes out.”
He sat back, apparently satisfied. “I think you would.”
“So why did you do it then?”
“The files?” He spooned more sugar into his cup. “Because I like you.”
“Not a good enough answer for a possible career-ender.”
“Blunt, just like your sister.”
“I like to think I’m more diplomatic.”
“I understand that Mona Danforth is personally trying this case?”
“That’s right. I’m sure it’s only for altruistic reasons.”
Cassell took a sip of his coffee and picked at a pastry on his plate.
“Come on, Doc. I know the sperm was pure, no yolk stuff.”
“That’s right. I assumed you were the reason Beth had me check that.”
“The guy said someone paid him two hundred bucks to do it in a cup.”
“The homeless vet?”
“Yep,” answered Mace.
“You think he just made that up? I mean, sperm in a dead woman is pretty convincing evidence.”
“I agree, and no, I don’t think he made it up. The guy spends most of his time thinking about Twinkies.”
“Circumstantial is also pretty strong.”
“Right again. Our work is cut out for us.”
“So you are working this one?” said Cassell.
“If I can’t be a cop, you know.”
“I know. Solve a big one.”
“Only thing keeping me going.”
“What happened to you was an injustice, Mace.”
“Thirty percent.”
“What?
“That’s roughly the percentage of cops at MPD who think I was bad.”
“That means seventy percent think you were railroaded. A politician would love to have those approval ratings.”
“Well, for me anything less than a hundred sucks.”
“You can’t live your life trying to make people understand something they don’t want to understand.”
“I’m not doing it for them. I’m doing it for me.”
“I guess I can see that.”
She tapped his hand with her finger. “So why did you agree to meet with me tonight?”
“To tell the truth, I’m not sure.”
“Something’s bugging you, isn’t it?”
“The sperm.”
“But it wasn’t yolked.”
“Planted sperm.”
“Okay.”
“It’s happened before, but not very often. In fact, it’s about as rare a forensic misdirection as there is, but not impossible. But the thing is, if you do it and do it well, a conviction is almost inevitable.”
“So you think it wasplanted?”
“The cervix.”
“Come again?”
“The semen was high up on the cervix. I mean really high. I’ve read Dockery’s arrest file. Nearly sixty. Living on the streets for years. I actually saw him in the jail. I haven’t examined him, of course, but to my doctor’s eye he has many serious health problems. Arteriosclerosis almost certainly, high blood pressure, probable diabetes, basal cell carcinomas on his face. He’s at high risk for stroke, aneurysm, and various cancers. And I would bet a thousand dollars that he has an enlarged prostate and possibly even cancer there.”
“Meaning?”
“Meaning that for him to be able to even get it up is a miracle, much less rape the woman and shoot his semen that far up in her cervix.”
“Well, he said he did it in a cup.”
“A cup is not a woman’s vagina. Did he say how long it took him to do it in the cup?”
“He said it took some time. He also told us they gave him a girlie magazine.”
“I would bet it took him a long time even with the girlie magazine.”
“That could be important, because Tolliver wasn’t at the office more than two hours before she was killed. And chances are it was a lot less than that. Maybe thirty minutes to an hour.”
“No problem for an eighteen-year-old. But if a guy in Dockery’s condition can get an erection in less than four hours, if at all, you can give me what he’s taking. Do you know why the pharmaceutical companies make billions of dollars off stuff like Viagra and Cialis?”
“Because older guys can’t get it up without help?”
“Exactly, especially for guys Dockery’s age. And keep in mind this is just between you and me. I won’t repeat this on the witness stand. You can get your own expert. Under the law my findings are an open book for the defendant’s counsel to use. But he has to draw his own conclusions and what I’ve said is just speculation. I really can’t form an opinion about it.”
“Understood. But speculate on one more thing. Do you think they might have given Dockery a pill to help him do it in the cup?”
“I wouldn’t bet against it.”
“Hopefully, he’ll remember when we ask him. He’s not that stellar on details. And they could’ve stuck it in a Twinkie. But how long would the sperm last in her? If Dockery is telling the truth, they had to get it from him, store it, transport it to the crime scene, and shoot it into her. Someone I talked to said the stuff breaks down after a while. That’s why they have to yolk it.”
“It does. The motility and other elements do degrade. The sample I examined hadn’t been there longer than seventy-two hours.”
Mace sat back. “How about less than twenty-four? Say he gave the sample on Sunday and she was killed on Monday?”
“No. Longer than that. At least three days.”
“You’re sure?”
“I’d stake my reputation on it.”
“That’s good enough for me.” She stood. “Thanks, Doc.”
“For what? I’m not sure I was very helpful.”
“No, I think you cleared up a lot. The only problem is, if what I’m thinking is right, I’ve got a ton of new questions that need answers.”
“I hope you get them.”
“Me too.”
A few minutes later Mace burned down the road. She wasn’t heading back to Abe Altman’s manse. She was heading to Georgetown. If she was right then there was a force behind all of this that scared her. In fact, it might just scare her right to death.