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could feel the warmth from
his skin. The sensation was pleasant and she found that reaction oddly
irritating.
    “In addition to the Campanero case,” he said, “I still need
to get your statement on what happened to you. You ducked out on me before, Dr.
St. Clair.”
    Censuring now, his tone implied that she owed him the
interview. Maybe she did. After all, he wasn’t just a cop on this case. Brian
had been his friend too.
    Her irritation with him caved beneath sudden guilt. “All
right. I’m meeting a friend downtown at Rodolpho’s at twelve-thirty. Do you
know the restaurant?”
    “I know it.”
    “Meet me there at one-thirty and you can ask your questions.”
    “I’ll be there.”
    He followed her out of the chapel and along the corridor.
The control door to the autopsy area opened as they approached it and Skitch
stepped through. The young man’s curious eyes darted from her to the detective
and back again.
    “Sorry I took so long.” Skitch lifted a file folder. “I had
to dig it out from under a pile of candy wrappers. When I got back, you’d
disappeared on me, Doc. And I heard that security guards are looking all over
the place for some woman you said was in the autopsy suite.”
    Detective MacKenzie frowned. “Is that the woman you were
asking me about?”
    Emma tangled her fingers together. If she really had just
imagined the woman, she didn’t want anyone else to know. “Yes, she must have
wandered in there by mistake.”
    Skitch frowned too. “No one can get back there without a
card key.”
    “Well, she seems to be gone now.” She fumbled her hands into
the pockets of her scrub pants and then pulled them out again. “Um, Detective
Jason MacKenzie, this is Skitch Reid. He works with me.”
    “Yeah, we’ve met a few times.” The detective offered his
hand to the younger man. “Nice to see you, Skitch.”
    The curiosity in Skitch’s eyes brightened. “Detective
MacKenzie.”
    Backing away, the detective inclined his head toward Emma. “I’ll
see you later.”
    “Goodbye.” As he walked away, Emma resisted the urge to
watch him. With effort, she grabbed the handle of the door to the inner
corridor. It wouldn’t open.
    “I’ll get it.” Reaching around her, Skitch swiped his card
key through the reader and then opened the door. “I guess Security will be
reviewing all our systems this afternoon, trying to figure out how someone got
into the autopsy suite.”
    “Yes, I guess so.” Emma stepped through the doorway, crossed
the narrow corridor and entered the locker room. She felt bad that the security
team would have extra work because of her but she couldn’t admit that she had
imagined the woman. Fists clenched inside her pockets, she favored her aching
leg as she passed the rows of lockers and entered the prep room.
    Skitch followed her. “You’ll see him later?”
    “Him?”
    “Detective MacKenzie?”
    “Oh. Yes.” Emma quickly donned a clean lab coat, shoe covers
and a hair cap. Then she washed up for the second time that morning, avoiding
her assistant’s eyes as she did so. “He has some questions about the Campanero
case.”
    Stepping to the other sink, Skitch washed up again too. He
whistled quietly as he scrubbed his hands and arms, not questioning her
further. But Emma could tell that curiosity was eating him up. Skitch was a
confessed gossip. But there was nothing for him to gossip about here. As long
as he didn’t find out she’d been seeing things. Or dreaming about a certain
handsome detective.
    Stop it, she warned herself. Focus on what’s more important.
    Turning off the faucet with her elbow, Emma shook the loose
water from her hands and headed for the autopsy suite. Still whistling, Skitch
finished his scrubbing and followed her. His long legs brought him to the
swinging door first.
    “Have you met Detective MacKenzie before?” he asked, nudging
the door open with his foot.
    Stopping on the threshold, Emma looked at the body at the
third workstation.