The End of Her

The coroner’s inquest is in open court, with the public and the media permitted to attend. And they’ve taken advantage; the place is almost full. The press is keen to hear salacious details about how he might have deliberately murdered his wife and unborn child. How they will love this, Patrick thinks, his bitterness growing. Patrick sits down in the first row of seats, with Stephanie rigid beside him. The sheriff who questioned him after the accident, and the coroner, will be called as witnesses. He and Erica will be called. There shouldn’t be any surprises. He glances at Stephanie, tense beside him.

Patrick’s gaze sweeps the courtroom nervously. Then, suddenly, he sees the sheriff, Michael Bewdly. Patrick almost didn’t recognize him because he’s not in uniform. He’s in plain clothes now – he’s not the Grant County sheriff any more. Patrick’s attorney, Robert Lange, has told him that the former sheriff will probably be adamant that they made the right finding. Next he sees the current sheriff arrive – his uniform gives him away – and take a seat on the other side of the courtroom. He will be at the inquest to listen to the evidence, Lange warned, in case, after the jury returns its verdict, he needs to decide whether to move ahead with further investigation or criminal charges. Patrick looks at the sheriff and swallows, then turns away, his eyes searching the courtroom. He recognizes Lauren, Lindsey’s sister, sitting towards the back, as if she doesn’t want anyone to know she’s there. Then – another face he recognizes, although the man is somewhat older. It’s the coroner, George Yancik. He was there that day, leaning over Lindsey’s body in the snow, studying the car in the snowbank. But it’s Erica who worries him. It’s her word against his. Where is she?

He hears a slight commotion behind him and turns to look. It’s her, as if he’d summoned her somehow. She’s in a charcoal-grey business suit, her hair up, make-up kept to a minimum. She looks professional, and he feels a tremor of fear run up his spine. He’s afraid she will come across better than he will – it has been his fear all along that they will believe her over him. He feels Stephanie stiffen as Erica sits in the front row on the opposite side of the room without looking at either of them.

Lange comes up to Patrick then and leans in close. ‘You okay?’ He glances quickly at Stephanie, as if worried about how she’s holding up.

Patrick nods. ‘We’re fine.’

‘Good, we’re about to start.’ Lange moves away and sits at counsel’s table.

Moments later, the six jurors file in and take their seats with a minimum of fuss. Patrick, unsettled, watches them come in. These six people might determine the course of the rest of his life. The idea frightens him. He has never thought of himself as a coward, but right now, he’s scared. He feels himself clenching his jaw and forces himself to relax as the judge enters from a side door and sits at the dais. The jurors are sworn in. The coroner is represented by an attorney by the name of Susan Spellman. Patrick has elected to be represented by his own counsel.

They begin. The judge addresses the court with opening remarks. Coroner’s counsel then addresses the jury and calls the first witness. Patrick knows that as each witness is called, Lange will have the opportunity to ask relevant questions of the witnesses and challenge them in cross-examination.

First the coroner’s attorney calls the coroner, George Yancik.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

YANCIK WALKS BRISKLY to the witness box. As he takes his place, Patrick notes that he seems slightly nervous as he’s sworn in. That’s not what they want. They don’t want the coroner to be on the defensive. It makes Patrick anxious too.

Once they establish his credentials, the attorney asks, ‘Did you, as the Grant County coroner at the time, attend at 712 Dupont Street, Creemore, on the morning of January 10, 2009?’

‘Yes, I did.’

‘Tell us about that morning, and what you found there.’

The coroner says, in a clipped voice, ‘A 911 call had come in at eight twenty-nine a.m. I was notified of the sudden death of a woman and made my way there immediately. When I got there, a woman had been pulled out of a vehicle and laid out on the snow.’ He clears his throat. ‘I observed the heightened colour indicative of carbon monoxide poisoning and declared her dead at the scene.’

‘Can you tell us what you did then?’

‘I spoke to the woman’s husband, Patrick Kilgour. He was obviously distraught. I asked him what had happened and he told me that his wife had been waiting inside the running car while he shovelled it out. It had been snowing heavily for a couple of days before. I immediately examined the vehicle. It was parked at the end of a cul-de-sac, backed almost into a snowbank. The exhaust pipe was packed with snow. From this I determined that it was most likely the victim had died of carbon monoxide poisoning, but I ordered an autopsy, to be sure.’

‘And who performed the autopsy?’

‘I contracted it out to one of the forensic pathologists we use, Karen Soley.’

‘Did you make any further investigations into the death of Lindsey Kilgour?’

Yancik shifts uncomfortably in his chair. ‘Well, as coroner, it is my responsibility to investigate deaths. I took charge of the scene, ordered the body to be taken away and autopsied. The sheriff at the time, Mike Bewdly, questioned the husband, Patrick Kilgour, down at the Sheriff’s Office, as he appeared to be the only actual witness. The sheriff spoke to me afterwards about that conversation.’

‘And what did the autopsy show?’

‘The autopsy confirmed that the victim died of carbon monoxide poisoning.’

‘And was there anything revealed in the questioning of Patrick Kilgour, as reported to you by the sheriff, that led you to have any suspicions as to the manner of death?’

‘No, not at all.’

‘And based on your observations, your investigation, and the autopsy, what was your conclusion?’

‘I concluded that the death had been accidental.’

‘Thank you.’

Patrick’s attorney stands and says, ‘No questions, your honour.’

The coroner leaves the stand and retakes his seat.

Susan Spellman says, ‘I call Michael Bewdly to the stand.’

Michael Bewdly rises and moves heavily to the witness stand. Patrick watches him closely.

‘You were the Grant County sheriff at the time of the death of Lindsey Kilgour, is that right?’ the attorney asks, once the witness has been sworn in.

‘Yes.’

‘Tell us what happened after the coroner arrived.’

‘The coroner arrived and took control of the scene, as was proper. Once that was done, I escorted Patrick Kilgour to the Sheriff’s Office to speak to him about what had happened.’

‘And what did he tell you?’

‘He told us – myself and my investigating officer at the time, Dan Abbott – that his wife had got in the car to stay warm until he’d finished shovelling. When questioned, he said he was unaware that the exhaust pipe of the car was plugged, and unaware of the dangers of such an occurrence.’ The former sheriff clears his throat and volunteers, ‘This happens every year somewhere in the United States after a heavy snowfall – people aren’t as aware of the dangers as they should be.’

‘Did you have any suspicion at all that it might have been deliberate?’

‘None at all.’

‘Did you ask him if he had a policy of life insurance on his wife?’

‘No.’

‘Did you ask him about the state of his marriage?’

‘No.’

‘Thank you.’

Again, Lange stands up and says, ‘Why did you not ask Patrick Kilgour about his marriage, or about possible life insurance?’

‘It – it was just so obviously a tragic accident, I didn’t think it was necessary.’

‘No more questions, your honour,’ Lange says and sits down.

So far, everything is going their way, of course. Patrick has nothing to worry about until Erica takes the stand. He tries to relax, but knowing she will appear makes that impossible.

Ms Spellman says, ‘Next I’d like to call Ken Dingwall.’

Once the witness is sworn in, the attorney asks, ‘Mr Dingwall, did you underwrite a life insurance policy on Lindsey Kilgour?’

‘Yes.’

‘And what were the circumstances surrounding the purchase of that policy?’

‘The two of them, Patrick and Lindsey Kilgour, came into the office in November of 2008. They explained that they were newlyweds – they were obviously expecting a baby – and wanted life insurance policies on both of them.’

‘And how much were these policies for?’

‘One hundred thousand dollars each, with a further one hundred thousand each in the event of accidental death.’

Patrick hears a buzz of excitement travel around the courtroom.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

STEPHANIE HEARS THE whispers and feels anger at everyone in the courtroom. They all want her husband to be guilty.

Ms Spellman asks, ‘Is it … unusual to have an additional amount in the event of accidental death?’

The insurance professional is clear and confident. ‘No, not at all. Most young people are more likely to die from accidental death than from natural causes. So accidental death coverage is something we encourage.’

Lange has no further questions, and the witness is sent back to his seat.