“I’d say so,” Evan stated. “Was he drugged?”
“His blood alcohol level was well above the legal limit, but other than that, I found no drugs. I did, however, determine that he had sexual intercourse shortly before his TOD. I identified spermicide.”
“He wore a condom?” Evan inquired.
“Yes, that’s my finding.”
“And Brian Wright? Was he also suffocated?” Evan asked.
“He was not.” The medical examiner strolled to the other body, pulled back the sheet. “Mr. Wright ingested a lethal dose of nitroglycerin.”
Trey peeked at the body. Nope. Seeing another one didn’t make it any easier.
“Was it his prescription?” Evan asked.
The doctor shook his head. “Not that I found based on his medical history, nor did I find any reason to believe he should be during my autopsy. His heart was healthy. His liver, however, had seen better days. I’d say he’s been a heavy drinker for quite a number of years.”
Trey continued to listen to the questions Evan asked, the answers the ME gave him. It was obvious this wasn’t Evan’s first rodeo. Based on what Trey knew of the man, he’d been doing this for quite some time, which explained how he knew the right questions to ask, the professional way to respond. No doubt about it, he made Trey feel a bit inept.
“No foreign DNA found on either of them?”
“Found a couple of hairs, sent those off to the lab. Should have information back by the end of the week.”
Knowing Brantley and Reese wouldn’t be happy with that response, Trey spoke up. “We’ll need to push that through. We believe these deaths are directly related to a missing person.”
“The lab’s usually—”
“Just give me the details,” Trey told him. “I’ll get it pushed.”
The ME didn’t look as though he believed him, but he nodded. “Sure. I’m sorry I couldn’t be of more help.”
“Thank you for your time,” Evan replied.
The death doctor dug in his pocket, produced a small card. “If you have any other questions, feel free to contact me.”
Evan took the man’s card then led the way back toward fresh air.
“It’s not somethin’ you ever get used to,” Evan said now as they stepped outside.
Trey took a deep breath, prayed the stench of death would be washed away quickly. “No?”
“No. If you can get in the mindset that you work for them now, your only job to find who’s responsible for their deaths, it helps.”
“I’m not sure anything’ll help,” Trey admitted, grateful he hadn’t lost his breakfast, which had been a real possibility when they first stepped inside.
Of course, he wasn’t about to tell Evan that he had no desire to investigate homicides. Although he was getting better at the missing persons angle, he was figuring out he didn’t much care for that either. Granted, he wasn’t going to tell Brantley. Trey had no choice but to fight through. He figured eventually he would grow to like it.
He hoped.
Evan chuckled. “It takes time. But you did better than I did my first time in the morgue.”
“Yeah?”
“The first dozen times, if I’m being honest. I learned not to eat before I knew what the plan was for the day.”
Great.
Trey wasn’t sure he wanted to endure even one more, much less a dozen.
