Chapter 6
The Morgue
Saturday, October 25th 11:45 a.m.
Fletcher called Brannigan on the way to the County Coroner’s office. On the second ring she picked up. He told her that he was to meet Gloria at the morgue at 12 noon and wanted to see if he could stop by her office to see what they found after dumping Osborne’s cell phone and laptop.
“I have a meeting at 2 anytime after that would be fine.” She sounded distracted.
“I shouldn’t be long with Gloria I should be here by 2:30 p.m.” he pulled into the parking lot of the County Coroner’s office and found a space in the front row closest to the door. “ I will text you when I leave.”
“Okay. Have fun. I know how much you love autopsies.” They both laughed and Fletcher ended the call.
The last time he was in the Medical Examiner’s building was a year ago when a body of a teenage girl floated to the top and was spotted by two fishermen on Lake Norman. Tonya Shields disappeared Memorial Day weekend while boating with a group of her college friends. The body was missing for three weeks and when the body finally came to the top it was so badly bloated that the only way Gloria could make a positive I.D was a medical alert bracelet that was embedded into the girl's wrist. The gasses that filled the corpse’s body was so extreme that one of the examiner’s assisting Gloria on the autopsy had to cut the bracelet out of the skin that began to grow on the piece of jewelry. Fletcher had just entered the autopsy suite when Gloria cut into the body. The room filled with the odor of decomposition. It was too much for him and before he could turn and excuse himself he passed out. Gloria never lets him live it down.
“Good afternoon Beatrice”. He smiled as he approached a short plump woman sitting behind a desk eating a sandwich and flipping through a magazine. She looked up and smiled.
Beatrice Plant had been Gloria’s administrative assistance for over 9 years. She was tough and followed the rules very closely. The other cops nicknamed her “Gatekeeper”.
“Well hello handsome. Looking good. Been working out?” she scanned his physique and taking her index finger made a circling motion.
They did this same routine every time he came to see Gloria. He obliged and turned around.
“I always have been an ass woman. Nothing gets me going like a man with a tight ass.” He turned back to face her.
“The lady of the house is expecting me.” He stated with a British accent.
Putting her sandwich down Beatrice picked up the phone and dialed the morgue. “Hot stuff is here to see ya.” She winked at him.
He shook is head and laughed. She put the phone back and nodded in the direction of the two black swinging doors that led to the autopsy suites.
“She said go on back.” She resumed eating and flipping.”Oh and if ya feel like passing out let me know. I know CPR.”
Before entering any of the autopsy suites one had to put on full medical scrubs, an apron, hat and face mask. In the dressing room there was a laundry bin full of freshly washed and pressed green scrubs, a hat and mask. Once he was head to toe in green he entered Suite B and found Gloria weighing Wade Osborne’s liver.
“Come on in sugar pull up a seat the show has just begun.” Every inch of her was covered even her eyes were protected by a pair of goggles.
“I’ll stand.” He slowly walked to the table that held Wade Osborne’s body. There was a y incision cut from his sternum all the way to his groin. The rib cage was spread apart and he several of his organs had already been removed, weighed and documented.
“You sure? If a remember correctly…” She reached into the cavity of the body and began to remove the intestines.
“Beatrice already told me if I pass out again she would perform CPR.” They looked at each other over their face masks and nodded.
“So, tell me what killed Mr. Osborne.” He quickly changed the subject.
“I can tell ya what didn’t kill him.” She lowered her mask and placed the goggles on the top of her head. He followed her to a long table consisting of three computer terminals. Entering a code into the database she read from the screen. His blood work came back clean. There was no trace of any drugs or alcohol. In fact he was a very healthy young man.
“I did find another set of marks that supports my theory that he was strangled from behind.” She walked to the body and turned over both of his hands so they were facing palms up. “See these red lines running across both palms. That is a defensive wound.”
“How would you get marks like that if you were being strangled from behind?” Gloria rolled a chair from one of the investigator’s desk and motioned for him to sit.
“Let’s say the Vic is typing on his computer and completely engrossed in what he is doing. Then a split second before the weapon is placed around his neck he is alerted to the attack and when the object is on his neck the natural reaction is to keep the tension of your neck by pulling in the opposite direction.”
Gloria places a piece of surgical tubing around Fletcher's neck and slowly begins to tighten it around his neck. Immediately he grabbed the tube and tried to pull it away from his neck so he could breathe.
“The killer was stronger.” She said removing the tubing from around Fletcher’s neck.
The phone in his pocket vibrated and he heard the sound of a gong alerting him the receipt of a text. Taking his Iphone from his pocket he read the text from Brannigan.
“Gloria I gotta go Brannigan has discovered something from the Vic's laptop.” He started to untie the apron as he moved towards the exit of the suite.
“I will let you know if I find anything else.” She placed the goggles back over her eyes and moved over the body and resumed the autopsy.
He entered the changing room, removed his scrubs and apron and tossed them into a laundry bin that had “dirty” stenciled on the side in red letters. Beatrice was flirting with a young muscular man in a brown UPS uniform. She was too occupied to notice him walk by her desk and out the front entrance.
Getting into his car he pulled up his contact list and selected Brannigan’s office number. She answered in two rings.
“You on your way?” she asked.
“I just left the Coroner’s office. It seems Mr. Osborne was strangled. You found something?” he put the car in reverse and backed out of the space and drove out of the parking lot towards the city.
“The laptop was filled with files of projects he was working on and research notes. One file was encrypted.” The excitement in her voice told him exactly what he needed to know.
“It has been decrypted I assume.” He could almost see the smile on her face as she answered.
“Jackpot. It is better if you see what we found.” He looked at the clock on his car’s dashboard. “ I should be there in ten.”
He ended the call and pushed his foot down harder on the gas pedal. The city skyline could be seen in the distance. It was time he got some answers about what Osborne was working on and how it got himself murdered.
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