The Coroner, page 6
“What? No way,” she said. Nick turned back into the room. “Nick, you can tell that Beavon guy he’s gotta approve the cost for an outside ME. There’s just no other way right now.”
“He hates spending money on the dead,” said Nick.
“Or the living,” Robert added.
“Then tell him you’ll have to delay the autopsy. I’m sure Senator Dobson will be happy to go on record to the press about it. Which will pressure Beavon into releasing the extra money,” said Emily. “Problem solved.”
“Emily, there’s no reason to waste taxpayer dollars or cause any more trouble or suffering to the Dobson family. You’re a qualified doctor, and you used to be my assistant,” said Robert.
“Your only problem right now is to get better,” Emily insisted.
“You remember how to do one, right? That’s not a problem, is it?” asked Nick.
Emily took offense. “I could do it in my sleep. But I didn’t come here to play coroner’s daughter.”
“If you don’t do it, I’ll have to either send Julie’s body to a stranger or bring in a stranger. I want to make sure we keep this close to home with people we trust,” Nick said.
“Emily, I’m asking you as the current active medical examiner. Will you please take on this case?” said Robert.
Nick looked at her, hopeful. Emily felt cornered between them, but she was reluctant to budge.
“Dad. That’s not why I’m home,” Emily said. “And have you thought about how this is going to look when the estranged daughter of the medical examiner swoops in and starts meddling in some local, high-profile case? Isn’t that a bit odd to you?” she pressed, hoping he would just drop it. She was tired, stressed, and the last thing she wanted to do was spent her night in the morgue. Yes, she knew her way around human anatomy, but this was different. Evidence might be misleading or inclusive. Witness testimony was often unreliable. But the corpse didn’t lie. What if she overlooked something? Some key piece of information about how Julie had died? This was already a high-profile case. It was a big responsibility to shoulder, especially with only two hours of sleep in the last thirty-six.
“Nobody’s going to doubt you, your position, or your expertise,” Robert said. “You may not know it, but the people here have always thought very highly of you.”
His compliment caught her off guard. She hadn’t ever thought that her former community took much notice of her, let alone had formed a favorable opinion about her.
“It’s been a devastating day for Freeport,” Nick said. “Please do this for your old town?”
Emily was reticent as she weighed her thoughts, mulling over the situation she had unwittingly stepped into. In Chicago, death investigation was a twenty-four-seven business. She understood that in Freeport, cases like these were the exception rather than the rule, and a certain small-town urgency did exist. She also found that the old familiar curiosity she fostered as a teen sleuth at her father’s side was quickly bubbling to the surface. The Dobsons’ emotional and mental future depended on her findings from Julie’s autopsy. And if something was amiss, the justice of this case was at stake as well. Julie’s family deserved to know the whole truth about how their daughter had died.
“Just a quick look. To make an assessment,” Nick suggested.
“Emily, it’s a small repayment to someone I owe my life to,” her father said, referring to Nick. “And I’ll rest a lot better tonight if you just go down there.”
Emily didn’t expect the comforting draw she now felt to revisit a place that had held many pleasant memories in her childhood. Here, alongside her father, she had learned the basics of anatomy and human biology. Her father had showed her how to unravel the riddles of death. And while so many were left mystified and fearful of dying, Emily wanted to peel back the layers and make sense of it. She liked being a part of how her father consoled loved ones by showing them how to comprehend tragedy. She had also inherited her father’s zealousness for furthering justice. All of these feelings came rushing back to her after twelve years of default mode.
“All right. I’ll take a look,” she said decisively. Emily would make sure that what happened with her mother’s death investigation would not happen to this family.
Just then Jo entered, holding a fresh IV bag, and took one look at the disparate trio. In her ever-cheery voice, she declared, “Well, looks like everything’s going just great in here.”
10
Emily and Nick traversed the long corridor of the familiar building toward the morgue in the basement level. The low voices of the night shift, the beeping of monitors, and the hum of soft lights were the only sounds echoing through the spa-like halls.
“The hospital has done a lot of remodeling since you were last here,” Nick said, trying to make conversation. “They added a whole wing and upgraded the emergency room. And across the street is a brand new medical center. Big city stuff, huh?”
“Maybe even better. The hospital I work in was built in the seventies, with nineties updates,” said Emily, unwilling to admit she was impressed, and a little envious, of the modern improvements. “But I like to think it’s the quality of the staff and surgeons that make it a state-of-the-art medical facility.”
Nick stepped into the morgue behind Emily, who moved methodically through the room, its familiarity harkening back to her first autopsy on her thirteenth birthday.
* * *
Thirteen year-old Emily reached the morgue door and glanced up at her father. He paused and held Emily back from entering, handing her one of his old sweaters.
“Put it on. It’s going to be cold in there,” Robert said, prepping her. “And it will smell bad.”
“How bad?” Emily asked, pulling the sweater over her head.
“Like nothing you’ve ever smelled before. It’s called decomposition. It’s what happens to human flesh when it starts to rot. It starts in the gut first, when the bacteria begins to eat the stomach juices and multiply,” he explained.
“Is that why bodies bloat up?” Emily asked him. “Because the bacteria create gas?”
“Exactly. They teach you that in school?” Robert teased.
“It’s like yeast when it rises.” Emily could tell her father was impressed.
He took out a tube of vapor rub from his pants pocket and smeared a thin layer of the ointment over his upper lip. Then he handed the ointment to his daughter.
“It’ll help with the smell,” he told her as she dotted her upper lip. “Breath shallowly through the bottom of your nose.”
Emily slathered on the salve and practiced a few shallow breaths. The ointment made her upper lip tingle and heated her skin.
“Do you know what you’re about to see?” Robert asked, continuing to prep his daughter.
“It’s not the first time I’ve seen a dead body, Dad,” Emily retorted.
“I know, but this is different than the pictures and videos you’ve seen of some of my cases at home,” he tried to explain. “The body will be undressed, and the skin will look a little yellowish. There’ll be a lot of dried blood on the body, and the victim’s face is badly mangled.” He paused to see how Emily would take this. She listened, unflinching, as he described it.
“We’re going to have some company. I’ve told one of the ER nurses she can assist. She wants to learn how an autopsy is done,” he continued.
“Will I get to help?” Emily queried.
“We’ll see,” Robert said as the ER nurse arrived.
Emily stood near her father while he and the nurse removed the first body, a male, from the bag. Emily couldn’t take her eyes off the way the skin looked rubbery. It was the expressionless look on his face that she couldn’t look at. During the procedure, her dad explained each step to her. Emily remained very quiet, and a couple of times when her father used the blade saw on bone, she found her dinner surging up her throat. She cupped her hand over her mouth and forced it down.
“Take three deep, deep breaths, and say the colors of the rainbow,” said Robert.
“That’s weird advice,” said the nurse.
Emily thought so too. “Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet.”
It worked. Emily soon returned to the table.
“Dr. Hartford, is it even legal for her to be in here?” the nurse asked as she placed the victim’s kidneys on a scale.
“The state medical examiner’s office has no rules, regulations, or laws pertaining to who observes or assists with autopsies. As long as I remain in keeping with chain-of-custody procedures, then we’re all good.”
Emily knew that tone. It was her dad’s teaching tone, and it sounded authoritative and somewhat condescending. Emily knew it was a warning signal not to cross him. He used it at home when he didn’t want to have to raise his voice.
This time, Emily was glad he used it. She resented the nurse for treating her like a kid. Toward the end of the autopsy, much to Emily’s relief, the nurse got called back to the ER. She was glad it was just her and her dad because she could ask questions more freely. And he dropped the whole professor act.
Robert returned the victim’s organs to the body cavity and showed Emily a large needle and thread he was going to use to stitch the body back together. Emily watched him sew a few stitches. “I could do that. I know how to sew.”
“No harm in that, I guess. We’ve already recorded everything we need for the investigation.” Robert handed her the needle.
“Yeah, I mean, it’s not like I can do any more damage,” said Emily, trying her hand at the gallows humor her father used so often around the house.
“Guess we’ll see if your mother’s sewing lessons paid off,” he said, volleying the humor back at her.
“The skin is tough. It’s not like fabric. Put some force behind it,” Robert coached. “Start about an inch out from the incision.”
Emily slid the needle into the flesh on one side and brought it through to the other side, completing a tidy, straight stitch.
“Good. Now, keep the tension and try another one,” Robert said. But Emily was already a step ahead of her father. In just a few minutes, she had completed the job expertly.
* * *
“Dad used to keep the protective gear in the bottom drawer under the counter,” Emily told Nick as she went over and pulled open the drawer. It was stacked with sterilized vials and containers. “That’s strange. They’re not in here.”
Nick went over to a tall cart, unlocked it, and opened the top drawer.
“He moved it to this locked cabinet because things kept disappearing.” Nick pulled out two gowns, gloves, and goggles and handed a set to Emily.
“Someone was stealing aprons and masks?”
“Apparently a hot commodity. We never caught the thief. Or thieves.”
“How do you know your way around here so well?” Emily questioned.
“I help out from time to time,” said Nick. “Want me to slide the body out?”
“Please,” Emily said. “When was the last time you attended an autopsy?”
“Just a couple months ago. I worked on a triple-vehicle fatality with Doc—I mean, your dad. Between the three cars, there were seven bodies,” Nick said. “The driver of the third car was drunk. Killed everyone and walked away from the scene.”
“An all-too-common story,” said Emily as Nick rolled Julie’s body out and transferred it onto a gurney.
“I can help you get her out of the bag,” Emily said, pulling on a pair of gloves.
Together they wiggled and tugged the bag from Julie’s body. Nick let the bag fall to the floor and pushed it over to the wall with his boots.
“Yes. Thank you.” Emily took a cursory look while Nick stood nearby. She positioned Julie’s body on the table and started with a careful external examination. As she worked, she dictated notes on the condition of the body into her iPhone.
“Julie Dobson’s shirt and pants are damp. There is a rip in her jeans over the right knee. No abrasions on her hands or arms, indicating that she did not try to stop herself from a fall. No defense wounds on her hands. From where the jeans are torn, there seem to be cuts on her knee. Julie’s hair is damp, and there is a significant gash on her forehead. The flesh is cut, revealing bone underneath.”
Emily lifted Julie’s head to reveal blood-matted hair on the back. She then smoothed back the hair to uncover a large gash.
“Anybody get X-rays of her skull yet?” Emily asked.
“Not that I’m aware of. The ER doc just sent her to the fridge as soon as she arrived.”
Emily noticed that Nick was hanging back, much like she did her first time. Not sure how to help.
“Should be a camera in here,” said Emily. “I need to photograph everything first.”
“Doc installed one overhead,” said Nick pointing above her.
Emily looked up. “Oh. Wow. That’s actually a great idea. Can you make sure the batteries in the flash are charged?”
“Yeah, sure.” Nick brushed her hand as he reached above her for the camera. It sent a tingle up her arm. How can he still do that to me?
“This is so weird, huh? You here. Me here. Like no time has gone by.”
“I guess.” She wanted to play it off and leave it alone.
“When you first disappeared, I tried really hard to try to understand why you just up and ran away and didn’t tell me,” said Nick.
“I didn’t disappear. I went to live with my aunt,” Emily said, making a note of the size and location of the head wounds on Julie’s skull. “In all fairness, I did write you a note.”
“Yeah, I know that now,” said Nick with a smile that disarmed Emily.
“Looking back, it wasn’t the best plan I’ve ever executed, but I was sixteen, and I just needed to get outta there. I never wished for things to play out that way,” she said, adjusting Julie’s head. “It wasn’t personal.”
“Yeah, I figured that out later. Grief is a strange animal.” Nick replaced the old batteries in the flash.
“How’s that flash coming?”
“We’re all set.” Nick held up the flash, and Emily stepped aside so he could click it back into place on the camera without brushing into her.
“Great. I’m going to start by taking some photographs of the body clothed. I need you to turn her so I can get everything. Okay?”
She reached up for the lens and readied the camera and caught him staring at her.
“What? Is something wrong?”
“No. It’s just … you did it. You’ve become that brilliant doctor you always talked about being,” he said in a thoughtful voice. “It’s really impressive, Em.”
“Thanks.” She didn’t know what else to say. So she stood there for a moment, adjusting the focus, her fingers trembling slightly under the latex gloves, hoping he didn’t notice. How can he unnerve me so fast? It’s a compliment. Read nothing more into it. You’re tired and stressed.
For the next thirty minutes, Emily snapped pictures as Nick rotated Julie’s body so she could report on all angles of her person. Except for Emily giving Nick directives on how to position the body, they worked in awkward silence.
“I’m going to prep the X-ray machine so we can take a look at her skull,” Emily stated. “Can you get her on her stomach?”
After being dead for under twenty-four hours, Julie was still rigored, and her stiff limbs worked against him at every turn and angle. Emily was glad he was there to help. How would she have done this by herself? In the hospital, she had nurses to help her move patients.
More uncomfortable silence ensued as they moved Julie’s body into position for the autopsy. As Emily selected the instruments she would need, her mind started racing with curiosity about Nick’s life for the past twelve years. With several hours of autopsy ahead of them, she decided she might as well just ask him directly.
“So, I know you’re the sheriff and that you saved my dad’s life, but what else have you been up to the last twelve years?”
“I’m coaching football at the high school,” he said.
Emily looked up at Nick. “That’s nice. And so … what happened to your football dream?”
“Oh wow, you really have been out of the loop,” he said, grinning. “Let’s see, so senior year I tore my hamstring in the final game of the season, and that was it. I was damaged goods. Thankfully, my grades got me into Michigan State University, and I studied criminology. A position opened up in Freeport, and I figured why not?”
“Freeport? Why not Lansing? Detroit? Traverse?”
“Okay, you got me. There was a girl.”
“Ah-ha! Anyone I know?”
“Remember Katie Fisher? No, wait. Of course, you wouldn’t. You were already gone. She was a freshman when we were seniors.”
“What happened?”
“We dated all year. Then I went off to college. We kept dating. We dated all through her high school and my college years. After her graduation, she went to cosmetology school. I graduated MSU a semester early to take a job here. To be with her.”
“And then … you got married? Had a couple kids?”
“Well … she decided she wanted those things … but with someone else.”
“Oh gosh, I’m sorry,” she said. “Who?”
“A client. At her first salon.”
“Ouch.”
“It’s okay. I’m fine. They moved outta state, so at least I don’t have to see them. One big, happy family.” Nick laughed, but Emily could tell that Katie had hollowed out some part of him. A thought flitted through her mind. Had she done the same when she left Freeport?
“So why didn’t you leave after that? Hit the big city? Spread your wild oats.”
“I was settled in. Had bought a place. And, hey, I’ve always loved it here. And I love my job,” he said.
“Fair enough.” Emily had to remember that not everyone in the world wants to run screaming from their small hometowns. “And what about the other loves in your life?”
“Not a whole lot of selection up here,” Nick said.
“Try online?”
“Disaster. The whole process seems kinda badly choreographed. Enough about my love life. What’s that huge object bulging out of your glove?”
