Read Skull Creek Stakeout (Caden Chronicles, The) for Free Online Page B

a window shade, stopping about halfway down. The sight can be unsettling to family members viewing the body, so funeral homes will usually glue the eyelids shut, and superglue the lips together.
    No one had taken such care with Barnabas Forester. The sight of Forester laid out on the cold, slab of steel sickened me. I pocketed my phone. Calvin would howl once he found out I’d skipped the chance to snap a shot, but he’d have to get over it. Make light of something as precious as life, and you cheapen yourself.

    “Mercy, mercy,” Aunt Vivian said softly.
    I leaned over and examined the puncture wound in his chest. The weapon had left a jagged crater in his chest, exposing bone and tissue and a pummeled mass of what I assumed was the heart. The entry point was as big around as a half dollar and slightly concaved where hardened flesh curled inward.
    I captured it all with my mind’s eye.
    “Cause of death?” I asked. “Sounds stupid, I know, but I need to verify for the article.”
    “Just like it looks. Stab wound to the chest.”
    “Any sign of blunt-force trauma to the head? Like maybe someone knocked him out first, then stabbed him? Evidence of a struggle, maybe?”
    “Not that we can tell. Dr. Edwards checked for tissue under the nails. They’re clean. But then, we’re not set up to do an autopsy here.”
    “Did he bleed out at the scene?” I saw the surprised look on her face. “What I mean is, if the victim
was
a vampire — not that I believe in that sort of thing — but if he was, then the lack of blood might be important to the story.”
    “I honestly don’t know.”
    “Who called it in?”
    “Again, I do not know.”
    “How about the murder weapon? Do you know anything about
that
?”
    “Are you always this obnoxious?”
    “Only on Wednesdays.”
    “Today is Thursday.”
    “I’m expanding my range.”
    “There was a wooden stake in his chest. Dr. Edwards thinks it might be white pine or maybe spruce. But I believe it was put there after death. Forensics will tell us more. The weapon and victim’s clothes were sent to the police.”
    “How about his teeth? Anything odd there?”
    “See for yourself.”
    With the tip of a pencil she carefully lifted Forester’s upper lip, exposing two fangs. Both tapered to a needle-sharp tip. They certainly looked real, but I had a hunch they were fake and glued on with denture cement, just like the ones sold in Halloween stores.
    “Have you tested the gums for glue residue?”
    “Dr. Edwards wondered about that too. When I got buzzed to come up, I thought that was the oral surgeon from Asheville arriving to inspect the body. Then there’s this.”
    Using a gloved hand Meg rolled the victim’s head toward us and touched a place on the right side of his neck just below his jaw.
    “Bite marks?” I asked.
    “I feel light-headed,” Aunt Vivian said. “I think I’m goingto wait by the door.” She waddled away, leaving the two of us together with the body exposed.
    “The puncture marks are pretty recent but occured before the time of death.” With her pencil she touched the victim’s neck. “See this discoloration? Indicates it was starting to heal.”
    “Wow. Bite marks and fangs.”
    The assistant rolled the body back into the drawer and hustled us out of the morgue.
    Back in the lobby I said, “Is there anything else you can tell me about the victim?”
    “Like?”
    “Where he lived, any strange habits he might have had? How he made a living?” She frowned as though wondering if she could trust me. “Come on, I’m not going to get you in trouble, I swear.”
    “Sure, okay, but if you quote me, I’ll … do something. Not sure what, but it won’t be pleasant.”
    “Nick, honey, I’m going to step into the ladies room, if that’s okay.”
    “Take your time.” I waited until Aunt Vivian was gone, then said, “You were saying …”
    “Last winter a few of us snuck up to the Randolph Manor. You know where that is?”
    “I