“Yes, sir.”
“Oh, and Deputy.” Walcott stopped as he reached the door, staring pointedly at Jake. “I’m sure it’s not necessary for me to remind you that anything pertaining to the autopsy and the investigation is confidential and not to be disclosed to non-law enforcement personnel.”
“Like you said, Chief,” Jake replied, his expression carefully neutral. “Not necessary.”
The chief grunted and walked out of the room.
“Jackass.” Louisa scowled.
“Louisa,” Jake warned.
“You can’t tell me you aren’t worried,” she replied with tight lips. “You heard that. He’s just looking for a reason when it comes to Olivia, and she’s barely been back in town a few days. I’ve got a really bad feeling about this. What the hell is going on?”
“I don’t know.” Jake reached for his sister, pulling her into a hug. “But I’m going to figure it out, I promise.”
She nodded, unconvinced. “Go on. You’d better go see Doc Hughes, he’ll be heading home soon.”
“Okay.” He stepped back. “After I’ve dropped the report down to the station, I’ll come back for Olive. I had Brody tow her car home. She shouldn’t be driving until she’s fully rested.”
“I’ll let her know when she wakes up.” Louisa nodded, and Jake headed out of the room.
Dr. Hughes was generally a very happy-go-lucky type of guy. He had a well past middle-aged paunch, a beard as gray as what was left of his hair, and a quick smile. Jake couldn’t remember a time when the old guy didn’t have a wink and a roll of cherry Life Savers in his pocket.
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.”
