in common is my baby sister. I'm sure she thinks those faces and looks are sexy, but all I see is the dirty little tomboy who used to climb trees with Bekki. Through here." He pointed to the door to the right.
Kallie went through the door he held open and did a double take. Well, damn. "Nice."
"Yeah, and no smell." He moved down the small incline to the front row of a small theatre separated from the autopsy room by windows of glass and took a seat. The dead body on the slab was Treyson. From the looks of things, Dr. Carpenter was just about done. Her personal protective equipment was still in place, but the Y incision was sewn up, so she'd already finished the autopsy. Brock reached over and flipped the intercom. A gentle chime stopped Dr. Carpenter in her tracks. She looked up at the window above her. "Hello, Detective. I heard you caught this case."
"Hi Doc, yep. This is my new partner, Kallie Redman."
Kallie waved.
"Nice to meet you, Detective. What happened to Jordan? Did the feds finally pull their heads out of their asses?"
Brock laughed and nodded. "They did."
"Speaking from a strictly medical point of view, the position has to be uncomfortable. So, what questions can I answer? Pending histology, trace, and toxicology, of course."
"Of course. Let's start with the basics."
"All right. Male, thirty-seven-years old, identified as one Samuel Treyson by the next of kin. I conducted a forensic autopsy as required by state law due to unexplained, suspicious death. My examination revealed he died of exsanguination."
"That probably had something to do with the ear to ear throat slit." Brock chuckled when the doctor flipped him off.
"Smart ass. Based on the angle of the wounds, I would feel comfortable concluding the person was taller than Samuel or in a position behind the victim with the victim on his knees."
"From what I saw at the death scene, I agree, although I hadn't considered him kneeling." He glanced at Kallie. "We need to re-examine his clothing. I didn't look for anything on his slacks, but there was ash everywhere. "
Dr. Carpenter continued, "I already sent his clothing to the lab. Here is something you probably didn't know. In addition to what appeared to be ash covering his skin, over the mouth, cheek and chin area we found something that almost resembled adipocere."
Kallie leaned forward. "Isn't that when the fat of the body turns into soap due to wet environments?"
"Oh, Detective, you need to keep this woman. She's sharp. Yes, Detective, it is, but as this victim was transported within hours of his death and was not exposed to the elements, the appearance of this material makes no sense. Upon further examination, there was irritation, almost like a burn, which would explain the resemblance of the spot to adipocere. I took samples and sent them to the lab for analysis along with his clothes for examination for trace evidence."
"Did he inhale anything?" Kallie stood to look over the table.
"Ah, that is the most frustrating part of this job. Visually, I couldn't see anything, but we won't know for sure until we get the reports back."
Brock stood up. "Doc, this case needs to be jumped to the front of the line."
"Indeed. I've been called no less than seven times, each person stressing the importance of prompt resolution. The only person I haven't heard from is your father."
"He won't call."
"And that is why he is the best man for the job. Now if you'll excuse me, detectives, I need to finish up and start my report."
"Do you have any idea when we can expect the lab results?"
They could hear a long exhale of breath even though they couldn't see the woman's mouth because of the PPE she wore. "Normally, I'd say six to eight weeks, to account for redundancy testing. We're jumping the backlog, so that will eliminate maybe three weeks. That leaves secondary confirmation, the written report and the QC process. Hell, you'll be lucky to see the tox and histology reports in three to four weeks. The trace? That's inhouse up at Briar Hill, so you'll have that answer within a day, maybe two depending on their mass spectrometer backlog."
"Thanks, Doc." Brock reached for the intercom, but the doctor's voice stopped him.
"Sorry I couldn't give you more. This guy had a long life ahead of him. It's a shame someone decided to take that from him. Get that son of a bitch, will you?"