The old man stared at her.“Besides sending him off to the mortuary?”
A sick feeling settled deep in Samantha’s stomach.“The mortuary?”
“That tends to be where dead folk wind up,” the old man explained as though she were daft.
“I see.”She turned to Adrian and noted the stricken look on his face even as she said, “I don’t think Mr.Booker will be able to help us.”
* * *
Adrian stepped up to the table on which Mr.Booker lay.Sure enough, he had been found in an unresponsive state half an hour before Samantha and Adrian’s arrival at St.George’s.
“I’d like to examine him,” Adrian told Ashburry.The physician had shown him and Samantha to the morgue after collecting Mr.Booker’s medical record, which he’d reviewed for them on their way here.
“Maybe we should check with Doctor Fellowes,” Ashburry suggested.“This is his domain.”
“He’ll agree to it,” Adrian said.“But if it eases your mind, do ask.”
As expected, Fellowes didn’t protest.He even agreed to let Adrian start without him since he was otherwise occupied.
“Are you looking for something particular?”Ashburry asked once the sheet draped over Mr.Booker’s body had been removed.
“Evidence of foul play,” Adrian muttered while pushing back the loosely fitted sleeve of the hospital-issued nightshirt.Red marks marred the skin on Mr.Booker’s wrists, though they weren’t anywhere near as pronounced as they had been on Miss Griffin.
Perhaps Mr.Booker had been more at ease?
Adrian pondered this possibility.Mr.Booker was young.Most likely in his early twenties.The musculature in his arms and torso suggested he’d been physically strong.It was unlikely he’d been overpowered and restrained, as Adrian believed might have been the case with Miss Griffin.
He also wasn’t prepared to profess an irrefutable connection between the two cases.More information would be required in order to do so.He would therefore do his best to examine the evidence available to him without bias.
“You said the medical notes made a mention of his having undergone surgery prior to his admittance here?”Adrian glanced at Ashburry.
The physician peered at the paper he held.“An incision to the lower right side of his abdomen.Doctor Lawrence has noted that the location is compatible with the removal of Mr.Booker’s appendix.”
“And what’s your opinion?”Samantha asked.Having circled the table on which Mr.Booker lay, she stood opposite the men, brow puckered while she examined the corpse with her sharp gaze.
“I…um…I’d have to take a closer look,” Ashburry said.
Adrian shifted sideways, granting the man additional space.He gestured toward Mr.Booker’s body.“By all means.”
Ashburry cleared his throat, then scratched the back of his neck before sending a hesitant look in Samantha’s direction.“He’s only wearing a hospital gown.”
Adrian snorted.The thought of his wife taking issue with what she would see – the fact that Ashburry worried for her sensibilities – was rather amusing.Samantha was made of stronger stuff and highly capable of dismissing a man’s private bits when it came to searching for clues.Still, he was aware of how rare this was.He also accepted that most people would think it inappropriate for a woman to study a naked man for any reason, regardless of her marital state.
He therefore suggested Samantha turn away while he and Ashburry took a closer look.As expected, she huffed a breath and looked very disgruntled.But when Ashburry made no move to proceed until she averted her gaze, she gave them her back with a muttered complaint so imaginative the good doctor’s eyes bulged.
“If you will,” Adrian told him before he could change his mind and order them both to leave.
Ashburry pressed his lips together, a scowl forming on his brow even as he pulled Mr.Booker’s nightshirt up past his navel.A bright red wound, neatly stitched together, came into view.
“The placement does align with the appendix,” Ashburry said, “but a proper autopsy would have to be conducted in order to be certain it was removed.”
“How long will that take?”Samantha asked, her back still turned.
“You’d have to check with Doctor Fellowes,” Ashburry said.“Of course, this also brings up the question of whether or not an autopsy will be done on the body.”
Samantha spun to face Ashburry, outrage brewing in her blue gaze.“Why wouldn’t it be?”
When Ashburry gaped at her, she glanced at Adrian, then at Mr.Booker, and finally back at Ashburry, upon which she rolled her eyes.“Oh for heaven’s sake.”She grabbed the sheet with which the body had been concealed and placed it over Mr.Booker’s groin.“Satisfied?”
