Chapter 38
THIRTY-EIGHT
It was dusk by the time Morgan and Ben arrived at the side entrance to the mortuary.
The car park had only been half full because the hospital appointments were almost over for the day and visiting hours not yet started.
Ben had parked the car with ease which made a change from the usual driving around for twenty minutes waiting for someone else to pull out of a space.
Morgan pressed the video doorbell and smiled at the tiny camera, and moments later the door was opened by Susie, sporting a shaved head.
If Ben’s reaction to her usual crazy hair colours was normally uncomfortable, this was next level. He stared at her.
‘Oh, my gosh. Are you ill, Susie? I didn’t realise.’
Susie squinted at him, looked to Morgan, then realised what he was saying.
‘No, I’m quite well, thank you, Ben. I fancied a change.
It was a bit of a mess; all the bleach and colouring had made my hair so brittle and in terrible condition, so I told my hairdresser to shave it off so I could start again.
I’ll tell you what though, it’s bloody freezing. I’ve never worn a hat so much.’
To give Ben his due, he looked mortified. Morgan grinned at her. ‘I like it, you really suit it.’
‘Declan hates it, he keeps calling it my coming out, mid-life crisis even though I’m not even thirty.’
Ben shook his head. Morgan laughed.
‘Is he allowed to talk to you like that?’ Ben asked her.
Susie shrugged. ‘He’s not wrong though, is he? It is a bit full-on, but I don’t mind. It’s saving me a fortune on hair colours.’
‘He’s looking at it from a supervisor point of view. If Ben said that to you when you worked for him, he’d be up in front of the bosses in no time at all, and in front of a disciplinary.’
‘Ah, but you lot can’t change the colour of your socks without getting in trouble, can you?
It’s so strict. It’s only me and Declan and he doesn’t mean it in a nasty way; it’s how we are with each other.
I mean he’s the gayest guy I’ve ever worked with.
If he denies that he listens to the Wicked soundtrack on his lunch break, don’t believe him. I’ve caught him multiple times.’
Morgan snorted. ‘Wicked?’
‘Yep, ask him how many times he and Theo went to the cinema to watch it.’
‘I will.’
Susie turned and looked Ben straight in the eye. ‘Tell me what you’re currently reading.’
Panic washed over his face, and he shook his head. ‘I’m not, I’ve been too busy, but I have a couple of old school James Herbert books on my list.’
Susie turned to Morgan. ‘He’s getting better at this. So which James Herberts are you reading, Morgan?’
‘Moon and Haunted; I read The Fog and The Magic Cottage years ago. I picked these up in a bookshop in New York.’
‘Oh my God, I forgot about New York. Was it everything you imagined?’
‘Susie, what is this, a book club meeting, or are we working?’ Declan’s voice echoed down the empty corridor.
‘Sorry, was just giving you a chance to finish listening to your music.’ She winked at Morgan and led them down towards the changing rooms.
‘Wendy and Joe are here, they were much keener than you two,’ Susie whispered, then she walked through the mortuary doors, leaving them looking at each other.
Declan had upgraded his vintage Roberts radio and next to it was an Alexa. He asked it to play eighties music and Wham began to sing ‘Jitterbug’; it was upbeat and made the freezing mortuary feel a little bit warmer. Morgan nodded at Wendy and Joe who were ready to go, and Ben walked in.
‘Hi, thanks for coming at short notice, everyone. I didn’t see the point in delaying until the morning when we could get this done now, and just to cheer you all up Declan intends to move on to Lynsey’s PM after he’s completed this one.’
Wendy smiled at him. ‘No problem, Ben.’
Joe, who looked miserable, just nodded, and she wondered if he’d been due to finish his shift at four and been asked to stay on. On the other hand, Declan was smiling despite this being his day off and all his plans being cancelled.
‘Are we ready?’
Everyone nodded, and Morgan stood next to Ben, watching as Declan checked the tag on the body bag before Susie cut it off.
It didn’t matter how many post-mortem examinations Morgan watched, she always felt her mouth go dry and her stomach begin to churn at what was about to unfold.
How did those two do this day in, day out without batting an eyelid?
Joe looked as miserable as she felt. Ben gently nudged her, and she realised she was supposed to be scribing and felt in her pocket for her notepad and pen.
At least she didn’t have to watch the whole process.
Declan finished his preliminary examination, and Lauren’s clothing was removed and passed to Wendy to photograph and bag up. As Lauren lay naked on the steel table the wounds on her body looked brutal.
‘The body is that of a well-developed white female.
The hair is brown, shoulder length. There is blood smearing over the left side of the face down to the neck.
Conjunctivae are white and show no petechiae.
There are two ear piercings in both ears.
No blood in the nose, mouth or ear canals.
Inside the mouth is unremarkable. The neck shows one large, incised wound.
The chest shows multiple incised wounds, mainly over the left breast and shoulder. The weapon is still in situ.
‘Joe, are you ready for me to remove the blade, have you got enough pictures?’
Morgan looked up and her eyes fell to the hilt of the knife that had been buried inside of Lauren’s chest. She couldn’t begin to imagine the pain and fear she had felt being chased through that abandoned hotel all on her own, and she shuddered violently.
Ben touched her arm, his fingers gently brushing against her, reassuring her she could do this.
She decided not to watch as Declan pulled out the blade, looking down at the notepad instead until she heard the clatter as the knife hit a metal tray that Susie was holding.
Declan was studying the entrance wound. ‘That took a bit of brute strength. He pushed that in so hard and deep that if the neck incision hadn’t made her bleed out, I’m pretty sure this would have killed her instantly.
Not sure why he felt the need to stab her multiple times before finishing up with this one.
Same method as with Lydia Williams, and Sharon Montgomery, too.
He was making sure they were dead, that was for sure, and not taking any chances that they may survive.
Have you got a suspect in your line of sight yet? ’
Ben shrugged. ‘We have a person of interest, yes. We haven’t identified them yet.’
Susie stared at Ben, then asked, ‘What does that mean?’
‘It means they don’t really know,’ replied Declan.
‘We do; we just don’t have a name which makes it really difficult.’ Morgan was staring at him, willing him to meet her gaze.
Declan was measuring the wounds. He looked up. ‘Hey, I’m not saying that to be disrespectful. I’m just saying that you’re doing your best under difficult circumstances.’
‘Are you? It didn’t sound like it,’ muttered Ben.
Every person in the mortuary looked up, all eyes on Ben and Declan. They were best of friends out of work, but the atmosphere was fraught with unspoken tension.
‘This case has more twists and turns to it than anything else I’ve worked in my entire career; we are doing our best.’
Declan held the palms of his bloodstained gloved hands out. ‘I know you are, I didn’t mean that to sound as nonchalant as it did, please forgive me, Ben. My big mouth sometimes forgets to consult my brain before it puts its vocal cords to use.’
Ben grunted, and Declan smiled. He went back to measuring the wounds.
When all the swabs and photographs had been taken, he nodded at Susie who positioned a small rubber block under Lauren’s neck, so that her head was raised at the right angle. Then Declan took a scalpel and began to make the Y-incision across her breastbone and down to her pubis area.
Morgan felt herself wobble a little and planted her feet slightly apart to steady herself ready for the next part of the procedure, repeating in her mind that she could do this, she had to do it for Lauren’s sake.