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The parking lot was blessedly empty, and I tried to put out of my mind the disaster from the funeral earlier in the day. The truth was, Mrs. Lichner had made poor decisions in her grief and it had cost her life. Other people’s decisions weren’t something any of us could control. I knew our safety protocols had been in place for an open grave in the cemetery. We’d roped off the area and covered the hole. But unfortunately, we lived in a society where people thought it made sense to sue someone for their own stupidity. The city would probably end up having to settle with the family. And hopefully Mrs. Lichner’s funeral would be held at the Here and Now Funeral Home over in King George.
I keyed myself in the side entrance and locked the door behind me. I’d forgotten to get my candy bar from the vending machine in my hurry to look at Cami’s body again, so I figured I didn’t need to eat anything green to counteract it.
I let myself in the lab and took the stairs quickly, my footsteps echoing on the metal steps. I didn’t turn on music like I normally did. I went straight to the refrigeration unit and rolled Cami’s body out on the gurney and over to my table. Once I got her lifted onto the table, I started the initial process of the autopsy again.
I turned my lights on high and pulled them low over the body, so I could see every hair and fiber on her skin. I looked for bruises or puncture marks I might have missed that I’d thought had been caused by debris from the creek. But there was nothing except for the bruising along her jaw.
The bruising was visible on her skin, but that was understandable considering that area of the face isn’t a deep tissue area. It is a sensitive area and a person wouldn’t need a lot of force if they knew where to hit to knock a person incapacitated. Because the bruising had already been at the surface, I hadn’t looked any deeper. I’d measured the bruise and notated it in her chart. And the size and spread of the bruising was large enough for a man’s hand.
I went to my tool cabinet and got out a device that looked like a large flashlight. It was an alternate light source and it worked perfectly for seeing things beneath the surface. I wanted to take a closer look at that bruise.
“And there you are,” I said less than five minutes later.
I set up the light, took new measurements, and took several photographs to add to the file. Jack called just as I was cleaning up and getting ready to text him.
“Just heard back from Cheney,” Jack said. “She found strands of hair in the trunk of Kevin’s car. And a very small trace amount of blood. Kevin’s car was just as clean as John’s. Apparently John had hired a detail company to take care of both vehicles.”
“Convenient timing,” I said.
“Apparently someone made the suggestion and John decided it was a good idea,” Jack said. “Will was very talkative once we started talking about prison and finding enough cocaine and cash in his drawer to charge him with distribution.”
“Well, I found something on my end too,” I said. “Come pick me up. I’m ready to put this thing to bed.”
We were silent as we made our way back to King George Proper. The windshield wipers swished rhythmically and water that had collected at the side of the road splashed up into a wave across the sidewalks.
“Maybe we’re not meant to have kids,” I said out of the blue. It was something that had been on my heart that I’d been too afraid to say out loud. My fists were knotted in my lap, waiting to hear what Jack would say.
I could see him glance at me out of my periphery and he was silent while he thought things through. That’s one of the many reasons Jack was good at what he did. The words he spoke were always well thought and had purpose.
“Maybe we’re not,” he said. “But that’s a bridge we’ll cross when we get to it. Right now the desire of our hearts is to start a family. And I believe that desire will come to fruition. Maybe the waiting is a lesson in patience. Or maybe the waiting is because we’re supposed to practice on a dog first.”
“I like the dog answer much better than practicing patience,” I said.
“I figured you would,” he said. “I love you. You know that, right?”
“Yeah,” I said, squeezing his hand. “I know that.”
“You heard from Lily?” Jack asked.
“I texted her and asked if she and Cole wanted to have dinner tomorrow night,” I said.
“Sneaky,” Jack said. “She answer back?”
“She said she’d let me know and then wished us happy hunting. And she let me know she’d be attending the Walling funeral tomorrow with Sheldon to make sure there were no catastrophes. Apparently the Lichner funeral will make the second page in the King George Gazette for the Sunday paper.”
“Free advertisement for the funeral home,” Jack said, grinning.
“Shut up,” I said, mouth twitching.
Even this early on a Saturday it was impossible to find parking in front of the Mad King. The rain was apparently driving everyone crazy, and no one wanted to be stuck in their homes anymore.
Jack found a space where he could pull up on the sidewalk again, and he flipped on his lights. The two units behind him positioned themselves so the street was partially blocked.
We walked into the bar and scanned over curious faces. And then we saw Thea behind the bar, serving a customer and laughing at something they said. She looked up and caught sight of us and her smile faded. She knew why we were there. I could see it in her face.
People moved out of the way as we walked toward her, and those sitting on the stools at the bar scattered, taking their drinks with them.
“You guys here for a drink?” Thea said, her smile back in place.
