CHAPTER46

Darrell sat in his car for a couple of minutes just trying to clear his mind before going in and watching the autopsies. He closed his eyes. As he slowly exhaled he felt his shoulders lower what felt like five feet. He opened his eyes and saw a sparrow fly by his windshield. His eyes followed the bird far into the close by field until he lost sight of it. He looked at his steering wheel and then sighed heavily.

“Better get to it” he thought to himself as he opened the car door and stepped out of the car. He felt a sense of uneasiness. Completely raw.

As Darrell walked into the morgue offices an overwhelming feeling of sadness settled into him. He rounded the corner to find Dr. Deveroux speaking with a coworker. Darrell nodded to the Doctor and then went up to the viewing room to observe the autopsies. Darrell settled into a chair and took out his notebook and pen. At the top of the page he wrote the date and the names of the three women that would be having autopsies done

The first woman was brought in on a stainless steel gurney. Darrell took a breath as he watched Dr. Deveraux and two others walk into the room. Wheeled metal trays were brought close to the gurney as were large opaque plastic containers. A scale was set on the counter and plugged in. As the doctor set up in the autopsy chamber, Darrell found himself fascinated with the scale on the counter. He watched as one assistant weighed each of the containers and placed what looked like a sticker on each one. Darrell watched intently. Soon the room’s microphone was turned on and the speaker in the viewing room crackled. Dr. Deveraux started.

“Autopsy 6774, 0927 hours, 22 of April 2012, Jane Doe 43”

Darrell sighed and wrote the number down. As the Doctor continued to speak about what he was doing with the body, Darrell wrote down what he thought was important and interesting. When the first autopsy was completed, Darrell looked down at his notepad and saw that he had 6 full pages. He stood up and turned looking at the wall with the clock and stretched his legs and cleared some of the thoughts from his head. As the Doctors were clearing and cleaning the room for the next autopsy, Agent McLaughlin came in and sat down. Darrell tuned from the wall and greeted the Agent.

“How many have they completed?” The Agent asked Darrell.

“That was the first; I'm going to guess that the doctor wants to get through all 3 today.” Darrell replied.

“Perhaps. If so, that makes for a very long day. We've released the four girls we had in protective custody.”

“Are you sure that is a wise choice?” Darrell retorted and without even thinking he continued,

“I think that's a mistake!”

“Detective, we cannot keep these girls locked up forever. I do realize the threat is still there; however, we need to be practical about this.” Agent McLaughlin spoke with determination.

“I see.” Darrell said frustrated and disappointed.

“I also came to tell you that all of my team except myself will be leaving first thing in the morning. We have several other cases that are just as pressing as this. The director has asked if we could re-assign our team members.”

Darrell just stared at the Agent, dumbfounded.

While the two men talked about the case, the autopsy room was re-set for the next autopsy. In the middle of their conversation the speaker came back to life.

“Autopsy 6775, 1415 hours, 22 of April 2012, Jane Doe 44.”

Dr. Deveraux continued on with the autopsy.

As Darrell and Liam McLaughlin observed the autopsy, Darrell reopened his notepad and again wrote down what he thought would be important. The two men sat, watched and listened to the Medical Examiner do his job. After four hours the second autopsy was completed and Darrell again found himself drained and introspective. After a short while the two men started to discuss the findings from the autopsy when they were interrupted by Dr. Deveaux.

“Gentlemen, we are going to take a dinner break. We will begin the last autopsy at 2010 hours exactly.” Dr. Deveraux looked at the two men and then left as quickly as he came in.

Darrell and Liam looked at each other, shrugged and smiled at one another.

“Dinner?” Liam asked.

“Sure.” said Darrell “I know the perfect spot, not too far from here. I hope you like breakfast for dinner?”

The agent nodded and said, “Ya! My favorite!”

The two men headed out and when they arrived at The Bistro they were greeted and brought a beer for each of them by the young girl who worked there. Bonnie the owner, made it her personal mission to befriend and feed Darrell after his last divorce.

“Usual hun?” she asked from across the room.

“Yep! Two please Bonnie.”

Bonnie went back to the kitchen to make her famous Western and cheese omelette. As always she added a few extra touches like fresh fruit as a garnish and little dishes of homemade jams for the toast.

The two men made idle chit-chat while they waited for their meals. When Liam’s' plate was put down in front of him, he was stunned.

“That's huge!”

Darrell had already begun eating and was stuffing the omelette into himself as quickly as possible. Darrell nodded and continued to eat.

Liam followed Darrell’s' lead and began to eat. When all was consumed Bonnie re appeared and gathered the plates. She returned in short order to get her mandatory hug from Darrell.

“As always Bon, fantastic!” Darrell said as she hugged him.

“Yes, thank you, Miss Bonnie, best I've had in a while.” Liam said.

When the two arrived back at the morgue’s viewing room they noticed the apprentices setting up for the last autopsy. Darrell looked at his watch.

“Whew! Made it with 10 minutes to spare.”

The men took their seats and watched the others work. The speaker popped and Dr. Deveraux’s voice came on.

“Autopsy 6776, 2010 hours, 22 April 2012, Jane Doe 45”

Darrell instinctively got out his notepad and pen and started to write. He had an uneasy feeling and when he looked down into the room he saw why. This girl had been beaten badly.

As he listened he focused on key words to write down so his dinner stayed where it was. When the autopsy was completed Darrell stood up, looked at his watch and saw that it was nearly 1 am. Just as Darrell and Liam were going to go find Dr. Deveraux, the man came walking into the viewing room.

“Detective, Agent.” The Doctor said,

“I will have the preliminary reports ready within the next 3 days. I will email them to you with my findings.”

“Thanks Doc.” Darrell spoke and nodded back.

Darrell and the Agent watched the Doctor leave and then they followed suit and went outside. In the parking lot the two men walked silently. When Darrell got to his car he waved to the Agent and spoke solemnly,

“See you in a few hours.”

The Agent waved and walked on.

Darrell started his car and drove home. When he arrived home Schrödinger mewed in disappointment and went directly to his food dish. Darrell automatically fed his sidekick, locked the door, then went to bed. Schrödinger soon followed and the two were sound asleep in minutes.