Read A Good Man Gone (Mercy Watts Mysteries) for Free Online Page B

hope.”
    “No, on Mr. Flouder’s actually.”
    “Did you do a full autopsy?”
    “Had to. It’s a suspicious death now.”
    “Why?”
    “It seems Dr. Forester wasn’t as thorough as I would’ve liked,” said Dr. Grace.
    “Meaning?”
    “Meaning, the cause of death is no longer certain.”
    “How come?”
    “Walk with me.” He stood up, rubbed his eyes again, and we walked down to the autopsy suite. Someone was still on the table. I presumed it was Gavin. A glimpse of a foot was enough to get me to avert my eyes.
    “Sorry. I shouldn’t have brought you in here. For some reason, I was thinking of your father,” Dr. Grace apologized.
    That was a new one. I’d never gotten confused for a six-foot-four redhead before.
    “It’s okay. I can take it. If you would’ve brought Dad in here, then you’d better show me what you would’ve shown him.”
    “Are you sure?” he asked.
    “Uh huh.” I was by no means sure, but I knew it would get around that I wussed out. If Chuck could handle autopsies, then I could, too.
    “Let me get a sheet,” said Dr. Grace. He covered Gavin and I was able to look up.
    “At first I expected just to do a quick review and exam, but should’ve known it wouldn’t be that easy. Your father is rarely wrong,” said Dr. Grace.
    “What did you turn up?”
    “I believe Gavin had an MI, but I doubt it was natural.”
    “Why do you say that?”
    Dr. Grace assumed a lecturing pose, and the teacher in him surfaced. I was going to find out more than I wanted to know.
    “First I reviewed his blood work, all within normal levels. I went over his chart and then proceeded to examine the body. Come here.” He gestured to the table. I made myself walk forward and stand beside him. He lifted the sheet back while I counted the tiles on the wall, careful not to look at Gavin’s torso.
    “At first glance, everything appeared normal. Nothing to indicate trauma other than the staff’s attempts to revive him. Sometimes that can be violent in and of itself, as I’m sure you know. See the minor bruising along the midline?” Dr. Grace pointed, and I looked down. “He has two broken ribs as well. All of this is from the paramedics and ER staff.”
    “How can you tell?”
    “I took tissue samples of the bruising from here, here, and here.” Dr. Grace pointed to three cuts on Gavin’s chest. I found the longer I stared at Gavin, the less it felt like him. It was just a body. The man I’d known for most of my life wasn’t there, lying on cold metal. I could get through whatever it was Dr. Grace wanted to show me because it no longer mattered to Gavin what was done to the flesh. It only mattered to Dr. Grace, me, and the detectives catching the case.
    “Okay,” I said.
    “Come look at this.” He led me to a microscope. I looked, but all I saw was a typical tissue sample. Granted I wasn’t a whiz in the lab, but it looked normal to me.
    “What am I supposed to be seeing?” I asked.
    “All the red blood cells, no white. The body never tried to repair itself. That and the fact the bruising is minor tells me that all this bruising,” he waved his hand over the Y incision, “is from resuscitation.”
    “Didn’t you already know that?”
    “Yes, but when I examined the rest of the body I saw this.” Dr. Grace went back to the table with me in tow, rolled Gavin on to his side and pointed to a shaved section of his shoulder. There was a large reddish bruise outlining the shape of his shoulder blade.
    “That was not caused by resuscitation,” said Dr. Grace.
    He took me back to the microscope, changed slides, and I took another look. I could see some white cells among the red. Dr. Grace smiled at me when I straightened up. “The repair process had begun, but it didn’t get very far. There was at least an hour between this bruise and those the paramedics gave him. This is pretty deep damage. It took some force to cause it. I don’t believe it was from a fall resulting from the MI.