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“Wow, what the hell is going on? He acts like he’s getting ready to call it quits.”
Quickly ducking into her office, Laura shut the door, unwilling to get into any speculative conversation.
Thumbing through her messages, there wasn’t anything that demanded her attention, so she picked up the file. It was a new, crisp folder with the name Charlotte Timpson printed on the tab.
Opening it carefully, the folder contained scanned newspaper stories as well as printed stories from several online sources. The case was cold, but she vaguely remembered the story. Twenty-two-year-old Charlotte Timpson’s body had been found in the marshy areas off the beach about a mile north of Pam’s house, on the other side of the causeway. It was a popular public beach area with few houses. A large concrete block structure that was only unlocked during daylight hours housed male and female bathrooms.
Reading through the articles, it had been determined that Charlotte probably wasn’t murdered by the serial killer who had been charged with six other murders committed in the past two years. All of the bodies had been found in the same area as Charlotte’s, but where the other murders were from strangulation or asphyxiation, Charlotte was stabbed to death.
Then she had an idea and sent Will a text.Do you have a contact in the police department? I’m reading about the Charlotte Timpson case. Did you do the post?
Her phone rang; it was Will. “You want contacts? I have contacts. You want the case file? I’ll get you the case file. You want to see the coroner’s report? I’ll get you the coroner’s report.”
“Ha! I might have gotten really lucky the day I walked through the morgue door.”
“No. I’m the lucky one. I guess you’re at work?”
“I’m here. Jake disappeared to an appointment. I’m guessing he’s over by you somewhere.”
“I didn’t see him today because I’m up to my eyeballs. But I’d like to take my girlfriend to lunch. Let me make a few calls here, and then can you meet me? We’ll go out. I don’t want to eat in the cafeteria again for a long time to come. I think my last meal here gave me food poisoning.”
“Oh god, Will, no way.”
But he was laughing, so she let it go. “Meet me at Casson’s. I’ll see you at noon?”
“Noon it is. If something comes up, I’ll phone you.”
“Okay, thank you.”
As soon as they hung up, Will got on the phone with the detective who could get the case file for Laura.
“Okay, don’t laugh. My girlfriend is working for Jake Stevens.”
“Your girlfriend is a lucky girl,” Henry Wong replied, laughing.
“Trust me, it’s Jake who’s lucky. Laura is a looker.”
“Why’s she with you, then?”
“Wong, you really know how to hurt a guy.”
“I’m sorry. What do you want, anyway?”
“Can I get a copy of the Charlotte Timpson case file for Laura?”
“I’ll see what I can do. Since it’s cold, I can’t see how it will hurt. Are you helping her?”
“I hope so. We not only look good together, we work well together.”
“Will, if a girl makes you look good, she must be real special.”
“Just wait, smart-ass,” Will replied, but he laughed. They’d been teasing each other for ten years.
“I’ll package it up. Can you stop by after lunch today?”
They made small talk for another fifteen minutes, catching up with family gossip before saying goodbye.
For the next several hours, he did tissue dissections and dictated reports. Checking his watch, it wasn’t too early to duck out and meet Laura. They’d been trying to have lunch together at least once a week since Christmas, and now it was something he looked forward to, making room in a crazy schedule and begging his partner to cover for him so he could leave the hospital.
