Chapter 6
Chapter Six
I sighed. And then jumped as the front door burst open. Ewan nearly tripped over us but stopped himself. “What’s wrong? Abigail only texted emergency.” He stared down at the body.
“He was sitting outside the door,” I said. “I’m afraid he’s dead. No idea about the cause. We tried CPR and the paddles. Nothing worked, I’m afraid. Do you know who he is? He isn’t one of my patients, but he’s familiar.”
“I do.” He pulled out his phone and showed me a picture. “This is the other Duncan Craig.”
“Oh, no,” Abigail cried out. “That poor family.”
I had to agree. I’d only glanced at the photo when his wife had shown it to us. I should have remembered.
“He wasn’t stabbed?” Ewan asked. It was a reasonable question.
“No. He has no punctures as far as I could see. The body was still warm when we arrived. I’m sorry I couldn’t save him.”
“It’s not on you. I’ll need cause of death soon, though. I’m going to wait until morning to inform Flora Duncan.”
“Given what she went through earlier today, that’s best,” I said. She would need all her strength in the coming days.
Abigail had brought over a stretcher. Jasper and Ewan helped us to rotate him on to one of our tables. We wheeled him to the autopsy room.
“We’ll do the prelims tonight and run some tests, but I’ll do the autopsy in the morning. It’s late and I want to be at my best.”
“That’s understandable,” he said. “I’ll need statements from all of you.”
“We can do that now,” I said. “As long as you can talk to us while we work.”
“I’ll start with Jasper, so you two can begin what you need to do.”
“Sounds good,” I said. “And thank you, Jasper. You were a wonder.”
“It’s always exciting to watch you work,” he said. “I’m sorry he’s—you know.”
“Me too.”
We suited up. Our DNA would be all over the body, as well as Jasper’s. But we would be careful about taking samples from his clothing and body.
It wasn’t long before the door buzzed, and I opened the door for Ewan. “Do you want to suit up? We can’t be too careful since we have no idea how he died.”
“I have a good account from Jasper. I can get yours and Abigail’s statements in the morning. Do you have an idea of about what time Flora Duncan can come see the body?”
I frowned. “This isn’t like a stab wound. From what we’ve seen so far, there is no outward cause. Until I can go through everything, I can’t say. But maybe late afternoon tomorrow.”
“OK.”
“Did you find out any more about why he was missing?”
“No. We’ve followed up with some of the estate sales he was visiting, and he had been there. One woman remembered him buying several pieces of estate jewelry and that he seemed like a nervous fellow. Her words. The last anyone saw, he was a few towns north of us.”
“So no idea why he showed up at my door in a cheap Dracula mask?”
“That’s a new one,” he said. “And no, I don’t have any answers in either case. Though I’m set to speak to the other Duncan’s boss on Monday. We had to make a formal request through his company because he’s technically on holiday. Tracking down his workmates hasn’t been any easier.”
“Do you think he was killed accidentally?”
I glanced up to find him frowning. “It’s not a coincidence two men with the same name have died. But why would he have come to your door?”
“I’m a doctor. Maybe he was in distress and I was easy to find on the internet. Maybe he thought he was having a stroke or heart attack. I mean, he’s young for that, but it is a possibility. Until we run some tests and examine him, I couldn’t say.”
“Abigail, since you need to work in the morning, Tommy can stay at mine. They’re having a good time, the last I heard.”
She smiled. “That would be grand, thanks. Feel free to have someone drop him here in the morning. He’s still winterizing the garden.”
“I can do that when I come back to take your statements. I sent Jasper home.”
“OK,” I said.
He hesitated at the door.
“What’s wrong?”
“I don’t like the idea of the close proximity. I’m going to assign someone to watch your place tonight. I would, but I need to deal with another case.”
“You don’t have enough staff for that sort of thing. We’ll be fine,” I said. “You’ve given us a top-notch security system, steel doors, and locks that no one can get past.”
“And yet, that outdoor light wasn’t working. Jasper told me. I also know you won’t rest well, either. Best to have the body guarded until you finish up.”
I shrugged. There was no use arguing with him when he was like this.
“Thanks. I appreciate you looking after us.”
“Always,” he said, and left.
Abigail giggled, a noise seldom heard in this room.
“What?”
“He’s always looking out for you,” she said, grinning.
“He does the same for you.”
“I may be na?ve, but even I know that isn’t the same thing. You two used to butt heads, but it isn’t like that anymore.”
“I wouldn’t say that, but we do tend to give each other grace nowadays. He’s good at his job, and I think he appreciates what we’re doing here.”
“Right—appreciation,” she said under her breath.
I cleared my throat. “Don’t you have some tests to run?”
“I am. It’s sad, isn’t it? If we hadn’t been at the pub, maybe we could have saved him.”
I didn’t want to admit it, but I’d been thinking the same thing. It wasn’t our fault. But that didn’t stop the guilt. A few seconds earlier and maybe we would have had a chance.
“It’s odd, that he ended up here,” I said.
“I agree. Though anyone could look you up on the Internet. You said as much, yourself. You’re the only doctor for sixty miles or so in all directions.”
She had a point.
“Hmmmm.” We’d cut off his clothes. The right side of his body had seized at some point.
“Stroke?” she asked.
I nodded. “It’s a possibility. Again, he seems young, but it’s happening earlier and earlier these days. Could have also been brought on by drugs or an adrenaline spike. We’ll know more when your tests come back.”
I continued, “Let’s do prelim tests now, and I’ll examine the body. Then we’ll do the rest tomorrow. I don’t know about you, but I could crash right now.”
“I wouldn’t be far behind you.”
During the initial examination, I didn’t find anything outwardly that would have caused his heart to stop. There were marks on his wrists, but those alone would not have killed him.
Hopefully, we’d have better luck with the tests.
She pointed to the marks on his wrists. “Zip ties or rope? Maybe some kind of metal, like handcuffs?”
“Test for fibers. They are thin and barely visible. At some time, he was restrained, but there is no way of knowing if that helped lead to his death.”
We cleaned everything, and Abigail readied for the full autopsy the next day while I wrote up my notes. By the time we were finished, I was a zombie.
“Do you need some PJs?”
She smiled. “I keep clothes in my backpack, I’m good.”
The doorbell rang. “That must be our bodyguard,” I said. “I bet it’s Henry.”
She smiled shyly. “I’ll get it.”
I shut and locked the autopsy room. Then I checked the back door.
We’d lost a body before. It had been stolen while I slept.
I would never allow that to happen again.
We had a state-of-the-art security system now, and the only people who could get into the autopsy suite were myself, Abigail, and Ewan.
A lot had changed since I arrived a little over a year ago.
“Hey, Henry, thanks for helping out tonight,” I said when they walked into the kitchen.
“No problem. I’m glad to be here.” He and Abigail had been dating for a year, but they were still incredibly shy with one another.
“I’m going to make him something to eat and a coffee, if that’s OK?” she asked.
“It’s been a busy night,” he said. “No time to eat since this morning.”
“Whatever you need. Our place is your place. I tried to tell Ewan that we’d be fine.”
He shrugged. “With everything that’s going on, it’s best to be safe.”
“You two make yourselves at home. I’ll see you all in the morning.”
I climbed the stairs slowly. By the time I’d changed into my PJs I was half asleep.
The vampire mask flashed through my brain.
Something told me our second Mr. Duncan had been hiding his face.
But why?