Chapter Thirty-Four
The next morning, a couple of uniformed officers and electronic experts searched Patrick’s house for bugs and hidden cameras. The threat against him from that other case was very real. I sidestepped the men several times as they scanned everything from the floorboards, furniture, lamps, to the ceilings and even the attic. At the front door, I gave Patrick a quick kiss before heading out to work.
Patrick kept hold of my hand. “I can’t wait to get you back upstairs,” he said.
An officer walked by us and scratched his shaved head. “Well, you’ll have to wait a little longer. There’s a crew in the bedroom.”
Patrick chuckled, and my cheeks blew up in flames as I rushed out of the house.
In the lab, I stayed clear of the fume hood area, where there was tension between Ursula and Vinny. Ursula had contaminated some samples, and Vinny watched her pipetting technique as if she was a new grad. Her face glowed red, and her lips flattened as she pressed them together. I empathized. We’d all been humbled by the job at one time or another.
On the other side of the lab, I sat at a computer, evaluating results and writing reports. My mind wandered to my case. It wasn’t over until it was over. The death of David Moreno became a coroner’s case, and Aram was performing the autopsy at this very moment. He had asked if I wanted to assist, but I declined. My attempt at assisting last time hadn’t worked out so well, and attending the postmortem on David Moreno would certainly be more daunting.
The phone rang, and Edward answered. He waved me over.
“For me?”
“Yeah,” Edward said and put the receiver on the bench top.
Who could be calling? Another prank? But David Moreno was dead. I stood and hesitated before walking over to pick up the telephone.
“Hello?” I said tentatively.
“June, it’s Aram.”
I let out a breath. “Oh, hi. What can I do for you, Dr. Hamid?”
“Could you come down to the autopsy suite? There is something here I think you’ll want to see.”
“Aram, I can’t,” I whispered.
“I completely understand, but I promise this won’t take long, and, more importantly, it will answer some of your questions.”
What could he be referring to? “Okay. I’ll be right there.”
“Heading to the morgue?” Edward said.
“Yes, is it all right if I leave for a bit?”
“Yeah. You better do what the doc wants,” he said.
I nodded. “Right,” I said, with no idea of what the doc really wanted.
My hand trembled as I pushed the elevator button to go down to the dreaded basement. I scanned my badge to get into the autopsy suit foyer and knocked on the door that was open a crack. Inside, Aram was fully dressed in a protective gown, gloves, and mask. He had been mindful enough to put a sheet over the body.
“Come in, June. I finished the examination, and I’ll make this as quick as possible.”
“I appreciate that,” I said and also put on protective wear. The danger was over, but being here was still traumatizing. My chest constricted, and my heart hammered.
“Around here.”
I walked around the gurney and put fingers to my forehead, ready to shield my face.
“I’m sorry. I thought this would be good closure for you. Would you prefer I show you photographs instead?”
“No, no. I’m good.” My heart still pounded, but I didn’t feel woozy like the last time.
“All right. Here it goes.” He lifted the sheet to reveal David Moreno’s shoulder wound. I stared at a crimson hole surrounded by jagged skin.
“Anterior wound,” he said.
I couldn’t speak.
“Now, I will show you the posterior wound.” He rolled David over enough for me to see the back of his shoulder. There was a tiny round hole, no blood, barely noticeable. Aram carefully released David onto his back again.
I made eye contact with Aram. “He was hit twice?”
“No, June. Just once. Mr. Moreno was shot posteriorly.”
“How could I have done that? Did the bullet ricochet off the concrete wall?”
“No, again. I won’t get technical, but in a nutshell, David Moreno was hit point blank. He received a bullet in the back that exited the front. See how the exit wound is larger, more irregular, and has an outward beveling of tissue? From where you were standing, the bullet couldn’t have been from your gun.”
I stepped back and exhaled the breath I was holding. My eyes welled up with moisture. “Whoa. You have no idea what a relief that is.” A heavy burden dropped from my heart. “Wait, Aram. If I didn’t shoot him, then who did?”
“Good question. My guess would be someone who had it out for him.”
Beneath the still sheet lay a lifeless body, housing so many unrevealed secrets.
“June, could you meet me in my office later today? To go over the rest of the autopsy findings.”
“Yes, of course.” I backed away. I removed my personal protective equipment, washed my hands, and left the morgue area. Instead of returning to the lab, I made a beeline to the end of the hallway. I slammed the door open and burst outside. I leaned against the rough brick wall and gulped a lungful of fresh air. I hadn’t killed David Moreno. I hadn’t even injured him. In silent prayer, I closed my eyes and listened to wind gusts and rustling leaves. The crisp temperature invigorated me like a dunk in a glacial lake. The burden of guilt broke free from my soul.
David Moreno, I don’t know what happened to you, but I’m going to do my best to find out.
I returned to work with a renewed purpose to find answers. I kept checking the time and shifted restlessly in my chair. I couldn’t wait another second and went to Aram’s office. When I arrived, his office was empty. I should have been more patient. I turned to retreat and saw him walking toward me. He smiled disarmingly, catching me off guard.
“Looking for me?” he said.
Busted. “Yes, I’m a bit early.”
“Come in.” We entered his office. He closed the door, pulled out a chair for me, and sat behind his desk. “How are you doing? Have you recovered from this morning?”
“I am enormously better now, knowing I wasn’t responsible for David’s death. Aram, I’ve been so self-absorbed through all of this. Thank you for always being so kind and for putting my mind at ease.”
“You’ve never been self-absorbed. I’m glad to have helped.”
I needed to keep this conversation focused on business. “So, what did you find during the autopsy? And please leave nothing out.”
He leaned into his chair and crinkled his brow before he spoke. “Upon examination, it appeared David had a lot of internal bleeding. A distended abdomen, hemorrhagic areas around the organs, skin bruises.”
“He was beat up?”
“He was likely assaulted, which wouldn’t have caused the serious injuries he sustained if he didn’t have a bleeding disorder. Any blunt force injury could be made one-hundred times worse.”
“Von Willebrand’s disease,” I said.
“Yes, Von Willebrand’s. It’s more common than hemophilia, but less known about.”
“Poor guy,” I said. “And then he gets shot. Did he die from extreme blood loss?”
“June, that is the main reason I wanted to speak with you. Because of his condition, and lack of medical care, David Moreno did indeed suffer severe blood loss. Yes, he was anemic, but the cause of death wasn’t blood loss. It was a brain hemorrhage.”
“Oh my God.”
“I’ve taken representative samples from the brain, other organs, veins, arteries. Also, all fluids—urine, blood, eye. And I submitted a request for a toxicology screen as well.”
“Is excessive bleeding the reason people with Von Willebrand’s die? And so young?”
“It’s possible, but cases like this aren’t well documented.”
“Aram, I appreciate how you always make time to help.”
“Of course,” he said.
I stood.
“Did you ever figure out who those people are on that flash drive?”
All this time, I’d been obsessing about who the drive belonged to. The only logical answer was David Moreno. He had hid it in my basement, and it appeared people were after him. But the next question was, what was its significance?
“No. I’m more curious than ever as to who those people are.”
“I don’t have time at this moment, but do you want me to have another look? I can search each number in the hospital database to see if they are actually patient ID numbers?”
“I’d be really interested to know that.”
“Would you like to come to my place one evening and check it out together?”
“Your place?”
There was a knock on the door. I hesitated, then looked at Aram before I answered it. The distraction saved me from responding to his invitation. I opened the door. It was Ursula, with freshly applied lip gloss.
“Oh, you’re here,” she said.
“Yes, here I am,” I said.
“There was a call for you. I left a note on your bench.”
“I appreciate that, Ursula. I was just leaving. Aram, thank you for the preliminary autopsy report.”
“You’re welcome, June. We’ll connect again when the bloodwork results have been completed.”
“The sooner the better,” I said. “Have a great evening.”
I stepped out of the office and heard Ursula laughing in the distance. It was obvious she had her sights on Aram.
Who was I to criticize?