Chapter 8 #2
It was strange to see him hunched over his desk, scribbling in his notes. A deep frown marred his features as he muttered to himself, and he seemed so small and old.
“Hey, Doc.” Jake stepped further into the room, trying to ignore the sharp chemical smell he’d always associated with death.
“Ah, Deputy Gilbert.” Dr. Hughes straightened, pushing his spectacles back up the steep gradient of his nose. “I was expecting Chief Walcott.”
“Sorry. He was called away, but he asked me to collect Adam’s autopsy report since I was already here.”
Dr. Hughes nodded. “There’s something I need to show you first.” He stood up, and the grinding of his chair against the floor set Jake’s teeth on edge. “If you’ll follow me.”
Jake wandered along in the doctor’s wake as they entered the morgue and walked toward of a bank of small square stainless-steel doors.
“I hope you’ve got a strong stomach, Deputy,” Dr. Hughes warned as he opened one of the doors and pulled out a drawer.
Jake wasn’t shy about death, and it certainly wasn’t the first corpse he’d seen, but nothing had prepared him for the stark reality of Adam Miller’s remains.
When they’d found him in the woods, he’d barely resembled a man. However, with Adam, Dr. Hughes had obviously spent a great deal of time and painstaking effort to stitch Adam’s remains back together.
A long incision ran from the center of his forehead in a vertical line through his face, along the bridge of his nose to his chin, down his throat and chest before disappearing beneath the crisp, cold white sheet.
It was obvious Dr. Hughes had tried to give him some sort of dignity in death, but the result was a gruesome resemblance to Frankenstein’s monster.
“Doc.” Jake swallowed uncomfortably. “Why does he look so… flat?”
“That was one of things I wanted to discuss with the chief.” Dr. Hughes shook his head. “His bones are missing.”
“What?” Jake’s head snapped up. “Some of his bones are missing?”
“Not some,” the tired looking man confirmed. “All of them.”
“I’m sorry, how is that even possible?” Jake replied in confusion.
“Well, it’s not.” He scratched his head, seemingly at as much of a loss as Jake.
“I had the remains x-rayed to be sure, but it’s true.
There is not one single vertebra, phalange, or metatarsus left in his body.
Some of these bones are tiny. If the bones had been removed surgically, you would expect a few to be missed but… ”
“Hold on.” Jake held up his hand. “What do you mean, if they were removed surgically? What other way is there to remove bones?”
“I don’t know what to tell you.” He sighed. “All I know is that his internal organs were all still attached and in their correct positions.”
“I’m sorry, Doc.” Jake held up a hand. “Layman’s terms, please. It’s been a long night.”
“To remove the bones, you’d have to cut through layers of skin, soft tissue, and muscle, and you would have to use a certain amount of force to physically extract the bones from the body.
This would result in massive damage and displacement of all the internal organs and the central nervous system.
Now, here’s the weird part. All Adam’s internal organs were in perfect condition and still attached to his veins, arteries, and blood vessels.
I can’t explain it. It’s as if his bones simply disappeared. ”
“Jesus.” Jake raked his hand through his hair. “I guess that rules out animal attack then.”
“Definitely.” The doctor shook his head.
“No bite or claw marks on the body. Which is strange when you think about it. I mean, he was found in the woods, where his remains had been for at least twenty-four hours. You would have expected scavengers to have a nibble, but I can find no evidence of that.”
“Do you have an official cause of death?” Jake asked as he stared at the corpse.
Dr. Hughes shook his head, shrugging helplessly. “Massive trauma, shock, exsanguination, take your pick. Any and all of the above could have killed him.”
“Was he still alive?” Jake whispered, his mouth dry. “Was he still alive when they cut him open?”
Dr. Hughes nodded. “We can only hope that he lost consciousness quickly due to shock.”
“I hope you’re right, Doc,” Jake replied quietly. “I knew Adam, and he was a good guy. He sure as hell didn’t deserve this.”
“There is one more thing.” Dr. Hughes pulled down the sheet further to reveal an ugly, blackened welt over Adam’s heart. It was a circle containing two coiled serpents entwined in the shape of an infinity symbol.
“What the hell is that?” Jake muttered, pulling out his phone and taking a picture. “Looks like a brand of some sort.”
“That would be my guess,” Dr. Hughes agreed as he covered Adam’s remains with the sheet. He slid the drawer back in and closed the door with a quiet click. Jake followed him back toward the office.
“I honestly never thought I’d see anything like that again.” Dr. Hughes dropped back into his desk chair heavily.
“Again?” Jake’s head snapped up so quickly, he almost gave himself whiplash.
“Didn’t the chief tell you?” he replied in confusion.
“No, he didn’t.” Jake’s eyes narrowed suspiciously.
“It was about twenty years ago.” Dr. Hughes settled back in his seat.
“Late summer. There was a spate of murders, four in total I believe. I wasn’t the M.E.
in charge at the time, as I’d taken a leave of absence to care for my wife after her cancer diagnosis.
Dr. Newman was the M.E. on duty. I remember him telling me the victim had all his bones removed.
He was absolutely baffled by it, and now, I can understand why. ”
“You said there were other victims?” Jake pressed.
Dr. Hughes nodded as he thought back. “I don’t recall the details, but from what I remember, each victim had body parts removed.”
“Was anyone ever arrested?” Jake asked.
“Not that I know of.” He shook his head. “Chief Walcott was just a deputy at the time, so you’d have to ask him. He had more access to the case than I did, but from what I understand, the killings stopped as abruptly as they started.”
Jake stared at Dr. Hughes. “When did they stop?”
“Sometime in August,” he replied. “I remember because it was around the same time as all that unpleasantness with the Wests. Maryann was a friend of Isabel West. Even though she was still sick, Maryann insisted on attending the funeral. I still can’t believe Charlie was arrested for Isabel’s murder.
I knew Charlie, and he loved Isabel and Olivia.
I never thought he’d be capable of something like that. ”
Dr. Hughes stood and offered Jake a sealed envelope to take back to Chief Walcott.
“Thanks, Doc.” Jake took it with a nod. “The chief will be in contact if he has any questions.”
Jake stepped out into the silent corridor and took a deep breath, allowing his head to fall back against the wall. God damn it. If the original murders had stopped right after Charles Connell had been arrested, it didn’t take a genius to figure out why Chief Walcott hadn’t mentioned it to him.
Jake scrubbed his hand over his face feeling unease churning in the pit of his stomach. He needed to get his hands on the original files from that case and see if Olivia’s father was ever a suspect. He also needed to check that Charles was still firmly behind bars.
A sudden ringing startled him from his thoughts, breaking the stillness of the corridor.
“Hey, Brody,” he muttered into his cell. “Did you get a good look at Olivia’s car? Was there any damage?”
“Not that I could see. The front end seems fine. I don’t think she hit anything. I did tell the chief that when I dropped the car off.”
“What do you mean?” He stopped walking abruptly. “Why was Chief Walcott at Olivia’s place?”
“He wasn’t,” Brody replied. “He was at the station.”
“Why didn’t you just take her car straight back to her place if it was clear it hadn’t been in an accident?” Jake asked.
“Sorry, Jake.” Brody sighed. “My brother called and said the chief wanted it towed to the station to be checked for forensics.”
“Shit,” Jake hissed.
“I’m sorry, man.” Brody winced.
“It’s not your fault, Brody. Thanks anyway.”
“Look, as soon as they’re done with it, I’ll pick it up and drop it back to her free of charge,” he offered.
“Appreciate it,” Jake muttered as he hung up the phone.
* * *
Chief Walcott stood silently with his arms crossed, his lips pursed pensively as the pale blue Camaro was scrutinized by one of the crime lab techs.
The tech looked up from his crouched position in by the front fender. “Gotta say, Chief, I agree with Brody. There’s no damage or evidence to suggest any impact with the victim.”
“Check the whole car,” Chief Walcott growled. “Inside and out.”
The tech blinked. “What for? The report said it was a suspected front impact, so what are you trying to find?”
“I want you to check for any physical evidence. Blood, DNA…”
“Chief!” Jake’s voice echoed across the bay.
“Do your job,” Chief Walcott instructed the tech, “and keep your mouth shut. You report only to me.”
“Yes, sir.” He swallowed, turning back to the car as the chief moved to intercept Jake.
“Jake.” The chief nodded, noting the way his deputy’s gaze darted toward Olivia’s car, causing Jake’s jaw to tense angrily.
“A word, if you don’t mind.” Jake forced the words out between clenched teeth.
“My office,” he snapped as he turned.
Jake followed the chief as they made their way back through the building to his office. Once the door had clicked closed behind them, the chief had sat down at his cluttered desk, propping his elbows on the surface and lacing his fingers together as he regarded Jake with an assessing gaze.
“Is there a problem, Deputy?” he asked.
“Yeah, there’s a problem.” Jake bit out. “You had no right to keep Olivia’s car. She hasn’t done anything wrong.”
“That remains to be seen,” the chief murmured. “And I have every right. The car was involved in an accident. I am simply being thorough.”
“You’re not going to find what you’re looking for,” Jake snapped.
“And what exactly is that?” he countered.
“You’re looking for evidence that Adam Miller was in that car.”
“Am I?” the chief replied.
“Olivia had nothing to do with his death,” Jake stated.
“You’re so sure of that, are you?” His brow rose as he studied Jake. “I appreciate loyalty, no matter how misguided, but, by your own admission, you haven’t seen her in over twenty years. Do you really think you know her? Know what she’s capable of?”
“Maybe, maybe not,” Jake answered. “But the fact remains, the only things tying her to the case is that she met Adam the night of his abduction and lives close to the body’s dump site. That’s not enough to make her a murderer.”
“Maybe I’m just working a hunch,” Walcott declared.
“Maybe you’re just punishing her for her father’s sins,” Jake hissed. “The autopsy results.” He flung the manila envelope down on the desk angrily. “Adam’s bones were missing, just like the case from twenty years ago.”
The chief curled his fingers around the envelope, a clammy sweat breaking out on his neck. He swallowed, his throat giving a loud clicking sound as he stared at the sealed report. “Just like before,” he whispered, more to himself than Jake.
“Was Olivia’s father a suspect in the original murders?” Jake pressed as he placed his hands on the edge of the desk and leaned in.
“That’s not your concern,” the chief stated blankly.
“Excuse me?”
“You’re not working the Miller case.” He leaned back in his seat, staring at Jake. “Your friendship with Miss West compromises your objectivity.”
“And your obvious preoccupation with her father compromises yours,” Jake countered.
“Be very careful, Deputy,” Walcott warned. “Or you may just end up with a suspension for insubordination.”
Jake straightened, his jaw tense as he glared at the chief. “If that’s all, sir,” he ground out the word, “my shift is over.”
Walcott nodded, his calculating gaze following Jake as he left the office.
* * *
Jake clicked the door closed with deliberate calmness when all he wanted to do was slam it like a surly teenager who’d just been grounded.
Things were worse than he thought, and he was worried. The chief seemed firmly fixated on Olivia as a suspect in Adam’s murder, and now this connection between Adam’s death and an old cold case just seemed to make matters worse. He needed to get a look at the original case files somehow.
Jake pulled out his phone as he began walking to put as much distance between himself and the chief’s office as he could. After several rings, he was about to hang up when a sleep-roughened voice answered.
“Hey, Erica.” Jake glanced around to make sure he wasn’t overheard. “I’m sorry to be calling so late, but I need a favor.”