George ended the call. He stared at his cell for a few minutes before he went to the bathroom to get ready for the night.
THE NEXTmorning, he got up half an hour earlier than the day before to avoid the rush at the Starbucks. After he had gotten Andi’s tea and bagel, as well as some coffee for himself (no muffins this time, he had to stop slouching off), he drove to the precinct. When George approached their desks, he spied Andi, who looked almost worse than the day before, as if he hadn’t slept a wink.
“You look like shit,” George said in greeting before he could contemplate the wisdom of being so blatant with his very recent partner. Andi lifted his head, brows furrowed. His mouth opened, no doubt to give a harsh answer, but George beat him to it. “Here, your tea and a bagel.”
Andi’s mouth closed. He still looked kind of annoyed, which didn’t stop him from taking George’s offerings. It seemed the grumpy god could be placated with food. He had to remember that. Hadn’t Rose said something about winning horses over with treats? If this was the way to Andi’s heart, George would walk it without hesitation.
“The coroner called. We can come down now,” Andi announced after chewing and swallowing a piece of his bagel. “And the report from forensics has come in. I haven’t looked at it yet. What do you want to do first?”
George didn’t have to think. “The report can wait. It’s rude to keep a lady waiting.” Truth be told, he’d only met Evangeline Melcort briefly when she had bagged the three bodies two days ago, so he didn’t actually know how ladylike she was. To be fair, she looked more like a professional shot putter than a coroner, with long wavy black hair and tribal tattoos on her face that told of her Samoan heritage. Evangeline was a stunning, if intimidating, woman.
Andi got up. “Let’s go.”
They went downstairs into the basement. George wondered briefly why so many pathology departments were underground. Almost as if people wanted the dead to feel at home already. Theoretically he knew it was mainly for practical reasons, such as accessibility and climate control, but his overactive imagination had no problems coming up with totally different explanations. George wasn’t too proud to admit that the pathology department weirded him out. If Andi had similar problems, he didn’t show it. His stride was determined, even though at closer inspection he looked even worse than George had initially assumed. The need to take care of his obviously stressed partner rode George hard, especially after the talk with his brother Daniel, and it was only the knowledge that Andi wouldn’t appreciate his concerns that kept him from reaching out and touching him.
They arrived at the heavy metal door leading into pathology itself. It swung open as if they had been expected. Evangeline invited them in with a grim smile on her full lips. She, too, looked as if she had missed more than a night’s sleep.
“Come in. I have news for you, none of it good,” she said instead of a formal greeting.
Andi followed her with furrowed brows. “How bad is it?”
George strode in after the two with the distinct impression they’d had this exact conversation too many times before.
“Bad enough to have me reconsidering how much I value my integrity.” Evangeline sounded grim. “Mind you, I’ve only done Lilly Cordon so far, because she was the one we could ID. The other two are next on my list, and I just wish I was already done.”
She entered the room where the bodies were kept and stopped in front of a metal drawer that was pulled out all the way. A blindingly white sheet obscured the body underneath, and George felt even more like an intruder in this cold, sterile world where the dead had to give up the last of their secrets. Evangeline took the sheet off Lilly’s body with a quick, practiced movement, and George had to remind himself there was nothing left of Lilly in this sack of rotting meat and bones, or otherwise the incision in her skin, the ugly black stitches, and the bruises all over her body would have made him puke.
“Before we start, let me just say, if you manage to get your hands on the sons of bitches who are responsible, I wouldn’t mind having a private chat with them. Here, in the morgue, after hours, when nobody can hear their screams.”
Andi lifted his hands in a placating gesture. “You know me, Evangeline. If there’s a chance to make it happen, I’d do it for you.”
The ghost of a smile crossed Evangeline’s lips. “You’re always such a charmer, Andi. The perfect gentleman.”
George did a double-take. Andi a charmer? A gentleman? Granted, he wasn’t as grumpy with Evangeline as with everybody else, though he had assumed it was professional courtesy. Pissing off such a vital well of information as the coroner was one of the single most stupid things a detective could do. And yet these two seemed to share a connection George still hoped to establish with Andi sometime soon. Because he didn’t want to disrupt whatever flow was going on between them, George kept his mouth shut and tried to appear alert.
“As you can see, she was beaten brutally, and not just once. I found trauma easily a year old, which also fits the time of her abduction. At one point, three of her ribs were broken. She must have been one hell of a fighter. Tough girl.” Evangeline gestured to various bruises on Lilly’s body, an almost proud smile on her face. “I hope you got some of them real good.” She cleared her throat. “Cause of death, as you probably already assumed, was a couple of hits to the head with a blunt object, namely the crowbar you found with the other two victims. The first hit came from behind and at an odd angle, which suggests her pursuer aimed for her while running. It didn’t stop her, though. She kept on running, or rather stumbling. The second blow killed her. It came from the side, and it’s obvious the murderer went for the temple. It was still sloppy. He didn’t hit where a professional would have to end her quickly, which could mean the man was either in a panic or is an amateur or both.”
She held up her hand when Andi opened his mouth. “Before you ask, yes, I’m almost a hundred percent sure the murderer is male. He was definitely taller than her five six by at least seven to eight inches, and while there are women that big—” She gestured at her own stature of easily six three. “—the strength and brutality of the blows suggest a male attacker.”
Andi stared at Lilly’s body, his brows drawn together in concentration. “There’s more?”
It was as much a question as it was a statement. Evangeline’s face contorted into an angry mask. “Yes. I found traces of sexual activity and proof of rape. Multiple times.” She hesitated, and the rage in her dark eyes burned holes in George’s mind. “If you can’t get me some time alone with them, perhaps you could shoot off their balls? Totally accidentally, of course.”
“Of course.” Andi did something George would have never thought possible. He briefly touched Evangeline’s hand, as if he wanted to soothe her. It was a surprising gesture from a man who appeared so closed off most of the time. “We’ll do what we can. I promise.”
“I know. Just get them. I’ve already sent the blood tests up. She had traces of cocaine and benzodiazepines in her blood. And you can bet your ass she didn’t take those voluntarily.”
“Thank you, Evangeline. Call us when you find something on the other two victims.”
“Will do.”
Apparently this was their cue to leave. George followed Andi to the door. When he cast a last glance back, he saw Evangeline dragging the sheet back over Lilly’s body with a soft, sad smile on her face. Her lips were moving, but George couldn’t understand what she was saying.
“She’s either telling her what a brave girl she’d been or saying some prayers to help her passage into the next world.” As if he had read his thoughts, Andi offered this explanation while holding the door for him.
“That’s—nice of her, I guess. Most coroners I’ve met were a lot more jaded.”
“Not Evangeline, no. She has kept her compassion.” The admiration in Andi’s voice told George how much his partner respected Evangeline. It was good to know, because so far, he’d gotten the impression Andi didn’t have a high opinion of most people.
