Chapter 16 #2
The best part? Both officers had the decency to look contrite… at least for a moment.
“We’ll need to take the body,” Pataki informed them.
“What? Take it where? To do what?” Lionel asked, looking panicked.
Natalie couldn’t blame him. Where Lionel’s body went, so did Lionel. At least that had always been what happened to spirits in her limited experience so far.
In some cases it was a good thing. Like when Liam returned the cadavers of the two old lady ghosts who hated her.
In some cases it was a bad thing. Like how Natalie’s chest got tight every time she remembered that Liam’s contract term for Gabe’s body would eventually expire.
Liam couldn’t, or more likely wouldn’t, tell her exactly when but they all lived with it hanging over them like a dark cloud.
Liam shook his head at Pataki’s declaration. “That cadaver is considered state property for research use, in this case, in my lab specifically. Albany Medical’s legal department will have to clear any changes to that.”
Liam had put up a small roadblock buying them some time by demanding the police contact and get permission from the medical college but this was still a serious situation.
If they impounded Lionel’s body and transported it anywhere farther than Carson’s office at the sheriff’s department, there went the book and the article.
“Where do you plan on taking him?” Natalie asked.
“Back to our morgue in New Haven,” Pataki answered.
“Connecticut? Why?” Natalie asked. She heard the panic in her own voice.
“For an autopsy,” Pataki said.
“Which was never performed,” Garland added, as if that was Natalie’s fault.
“You don’t need to go that far. The ME in Connecticut who signed the death certificate will have to reopen the case officially but the autopsy can be performed by the county coroners here in New York,” Liam suggested.
He knew a lot about this coroner stuff. And she knew that just from dating her he was familiar with the ghost stuff and their theory that spirits usually followed the body. No doubt he understood her concern and the ramifications of Lionel’s spirit getting yanked away from her.
“Is that acceptable?” Carson asked the two officers. “You good with our county coroner conducting the autopsy?”
Pataki scowled but nodded. “Yeah. I guess so. As long as our ME is.”
“I’m not sure what the coroner is going to say when he hears we want an autopsy performed on a body that’s already been embalmed but I’ll give him a call.” Carson cringed, then glanced at Liam. “It is embalmed, right?”
“Yes. And as far as the autopsy, the blood, and all fluids, would have been removed during the embalming process, but the coroner can still perform tests. On tissue. Hair. Fingernails. Organs.”
Garland made a strangling sound as she started to look green behind the hand pressed to her lips. Lionel didn’t look so great himself.
Meanwhile, Natalie had logistics to deal with. A deadline for a book whose author was about to be yanked away from her.
She raised one hand, like she was back in grade school.
Carson lifted one sandy brow. “Yes, Natalie.”
“Two questions. First, where is this county coroner’s office?”
“Morris.”
She resisted the urge to cringe. Where the hell was Morris? She’d lived in Mudville for years now and had never heard the town mentioned. Though, to be fair, she didn’t get out much.
“And how far away is Morris from here?”
“About twenty miles or so.”
Darn. Too far. Lionel’s spirit wouldn’t stay in Mudville if his body was twenty miles away in Morris.
“Okay, next question. How long does an autopsy take?” She pivoted to glance from Carson to Liam.
“The procedure itself? Only a few hours,” Liam answered.
“But the test results can take weeks. Months even to get the reports back from the lab,” Carson added.
“They won’t keep him there while they wait for results, though. Will they? Can’t they return him after the… procedure?” she asked.
She didn’t love any of this discussion, but it was necessary. For Lionel’s information as he looked on with an expression of concern. For her own as she calculated how to finish the book without him.
“I don’t know, Natalie,” Liam answered. “Carson, will the coroner keep the body?”
“I’ll ask when I speak with them to arrange the pick up.”
“After Albany is consulted,” Liam reminded.
“You seem very interested in this autopsy, Miss Chase.” Garland had recovered from her queasiness and was back to treating Natalie like a suspect.
Screw that.
“I am. Very interested. Liam’s research is important.
I don’t want it stopped in its tracks over this ridiculous investigation into the death of a very old man with a history of hypertension who, most likely, hit his head when he had a massive coronary, hit the floor and died.
But, you know, you do you. If you want to stand in the way of preventing veteran suicides, that’s your choice. ” She lifted one shoulder cockily.
She could afford to be cocky. The more they laid out the case, the more it became apparent there was no case.
Pataki drew in a breath that expanded his chest even broader and strained the fabric of his uniform. “This is not over. You two.” He pointed a sausage-like finger in Natalie and Liam’s direction. “Consider yourselves both persons of interest. Don’t leave town.”
Liam delivered another smile that somehow managed to look threatening. “We wouldn’t dream of it, officers.”