“That’s why you were the right pick for our team.” I lifted my phone and wine glass from the table. After finishing the wine, I entered the passcode on my phone. My momentary smile faded. “Oh shit. I turned off the volume.”
“Did you miss any messages?”
Scrolling, I saw that I’d missed many. There was a missed call from Preston, but that wasn’t what garnered my attention. “Two calls from Uncle Darin. He left a text message.” I looked at the time stamp. “Shit, this was over two hours ago.” I read the message. “Autopsy results are in. Answer your phone.”
I looked up at Fin. “It hasn’t been twenty-four hours.”
Fin shrugged. “I’m not sure how it works. Maybe they fast-tracked it?”
“It’s after ten. Should I call?”
“If you don’t, will you be able to sleep?”
I shook my head and hit the call button.
Chapter 9
Fin
“I just saw the message. Well, I’m calling now,” Vee said, her volume increasing. “I didn’t think they’d have answers this soon.” She pressed her lips together. “Tell me about the autopsy results.” Biting her lip, she nodded. “Wait. I want to write this down.”
I followed Vee to her office near the entry to her condo. After flipping on the light, she went to her desk, laid the phone on the glass surface, and hit the speaker button.
“I’m ready.” Her green stare came to me, and she motioned for me to stay.
The voice coming from her phone was Darin Marsh, Vee’s uncle. “The police emphasized that these results are preliminary.”
The muscles on the side of her face pulled tight as she looked up at me. “What did they find?”
“Preliminary cause of death was basilar skull fracture. They believe in the impact with the truck, his neck snapped forward and back. The injury was so severe it was instantly fatal. The basilar is a bone at the base of the skull.”
Vee wrote the words and swallowed. She underlined the word instantly.
Darin continued, “They did an external and internal inspection, examined Reid’s organs, and collected samples for toxicology. So far, they’ve gotten the initial test results. They were looking for the presence or absence of general drug classes. He warned that these early tests may have false positives.”
“Did they find anything?”
“Reid’s blood alcohol level was only trace, below the legal limit.”
“He had drinks at the game,” Vee said.
“And Daphne said he had a whiskey before bed.”
“Anything else?”
“Benzodiazepines, beta blockers, and antihistamines were also found. They haven’t yet determined the amount.”
“Was Dad taking those?”
“Daphne only said he took a beta blocker for high blood pressure. She didn’t mention the other two medications,” Darin replied.
“Are they releasing his body?”
“It’s already been transported to the mortuary. Now you and Daphne need to decide on the schedule for services.”
Vee stopped writing. “Thanks, Uncle Darin. I’ll be in touch with Daphne in the morning.”
“Vee?” Darin hesitated. “Did Joe Eads talk to you about the will he drafted?”
