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your office a call?'
    'Go
ahead.'
    She
reached for her phone, then thought better of it. It felt petty to question his
credentials. She knew the name of O'Donnagh & Drew from her days in
practice. They were a long-established firm chiefly known for having cornered
Bristol's market in major criminal litigation.
    She
turned to Dr Kerr. 'Would you mind if we have a quick look? It won't take a
minute.'
    'It's
your body, Mrs Cooper. I'll be in my office.' He turned and walked swiftly
across the corridor, pulling the door hard shut behind him.
    'You're
sure he's old enough to be doing this job?' McAvoy said. 'He's hardly out of
short trousers.'
    'Shall
we get this done?'
    She
led the way to the refrigerator, passing half a dozen bodies parked on
trolleys, aware of McAvoy's eyes on her as he followed. He was one of those men
who didn't even try to pretend they weren't looking.
    She
took a latex glove from a dispenser screwed to the wall. 'Have you got a
photograph of your client's daughter? It can sometimes be hard —’
    'No
need. I've known her from a baby.'
    'What's
her name?'
    'Abigail.'
    She
opened the fridge door - a heavy hunk of metal eight feet by four - and pulled
out the drawer. She observed McAvoy instinctively cross himself as she reached
down to pull the plastic back from the face. They both started at the sight
that met them: the face staring up with empty eye sockets.
    'Dear
God,' McAvoy whispered.
    Jenny
flinched and looked away. 'Sorry about that. She did have glass ones. Someone
must have removed them.'
    He
leaned down for a closer examination. With her peripheral vision Jenny watched
him examining every detail of the face, then tug back the plastic a little
further to reveal the top portion of the torso.
    'No.
It's not Abigail,' he said, straightening up. 'She'd a dimple in her chin and a
wee birthmark on the side of her neck. Thanks anyway.'
    Jenny
nodded, hesitating to look down again and cover the face.
    'Let
me,' McAvoy said, and pulled the sheet across before she could reach out a
hand. 'Nothing but dust once the soul's departed - that's what you've got to
tell yourself.' He pushed the drawer back into the cabinet. 'Another torment
the godless majority have to live with - thinking flesh and blood are all there
is.' He pulled the fridge door shut and glanced at the bodies lined up on
trolleys along the corridor. 'Leave an unbeliever down here for the night, he'd
soon be crying out for his Maker.' He flashed her a wicked smile. 'I've not
seen you before, have I?'
    'No.'
She pulled off the glove and dropped it in the bin.
    'New?'
    'Relatively.'
    'Some
job for a woman.' He studied her for a moment then nodded, as if having
satisfied his curiosity. 'Yes, I can see it now.' His smile became kinder: a
window to a gentler side of him, perhaps. 'Oh well, don't spend too much time
with these fellas. See you around.' He turned and walked away, tossing his hair
away from his eyes, hands pushed deep into his coat pockets.
    She
stood and watched him until he'd gone, half-expecting him to steal something on
the way out.
     
    Jenny
entered Dr Kerr's office to find him busy at his computer, his scrubs replaced
with a T-shirt that hugged his pecs. She guessed he was thirty or so and still
single, with plenty of time to spend on himself.
    'Have
we got rid of him yet?' he said, firing off an email.
    'Yes.
She wasn't the one he was looking for.'
    Dr
Kerr swivelled on his chair to face her. She noticed he'd rearranged the
furniture, and replaced the shelving and carpet. The row of textbooks on the
shelf behind his desk looked new and unthumbed; next to them were a number of Men's
Health and Muscle and Fitness magazines.
    'Pleased
to meet you, Mrs Cooper.'
    He
extended his hand. She tried and failed to match his powerful grip.
    'And
you. I've had just about all I can take of dealing with locums.'
    'Then
you'll be glad to know I type my own post-mortem reports and like to get them
out of the way before I go home each