Murder in the Morgue: A Senoia Cozy Mystery

by Susan Harper

  “Okay, my theory is magnets,” Jack declared. “She uses magnets to—”

  “No way,” Jefferson countered. “I checked that table out top and bottom. It’s just wood. And Felicity and I had the table walking with just the two of us touching it. So unless Felicity is in on it and isn’t telling me, there’s just no way.”

  Felicity laughed and held up both hands. “I assure you, I’m innocent.”

  “I already told you guys, there’s no trick. It just walks,” Linda insisted.

  “Jack! Jack!” a panicky voice called out from near the elevators. The group turned and saw Autumn jutting out of the elevator doors, her face incredibly pale. Autumn darted over, not even noticing when her witch’s hat fell off her head; she scurried over to them, her eyes wide.

  “What’s going on?” Jack asked. “Are you all right?”

  “I’m not all right,” Autumn spoke softly. “I just had to throw everyone out of the haunted house. We need the police down here. I just found a dead woman in the haunted house.”

  Felicity cringed, and Jack’s eyes opened wide in alarm. “What? Are you sure she’s dead?” he asked. He was already marching toward the elevator.

  Felicity, Jefferson, and Linda exchanged glances. Linda tossed her food in the nearby trash bin, and the three of them scurried after the frantic Autumn, who was trailing closely behind Jack. Autumn was shaking a bit as they entered into the morgue. There were still people standing around looking incredibly confused. “Turn off all this crap,” Jack ordered, waving his hand toward the Halloween decorations that were making lights and causing noise. “Shut it down.”

  Felicity and Jefferson went to work shutting down the haunted house, and Autumn found the lights for the morgue. Jack followed Autumn into the haunted house while Felicity, Jefferson, and Linda remained outside to calm down the small line of guests. “What’s going on?” a man in a cheap werewolf costume asked.

  “Someone might have gotten hurt,” Felicity said.

  Jack exited the haunted house; he was on his phone speaking to the local police. “Yes, sir. Yes, Officer Jack Hudson. That’s correct,” he was saying. “Yes, sir. Okay, thank you, sir.” He hung up the phone and went over to the group of patrons. He took down their names and information and sent them back up the elevator, asking that they all remain in the lobby and not wander too far.

  “Jack, is the woman dead?” Jefferson asked.

  “Yeah,” Jack said, pained. “It’s an old lady in a wheelchair. I think she must have had a heart attack.”

  Linda’s eyes shot open. “What woman in a wheelchair?” she exclaimed and pushed past Jack, darting into the haunted house.

  “Wait!” Jack called, but Linda had already gotten past him.

  Jack hurried after Linda, and Felicity and Jefferson followed close behind. Even with the lights turned on and all of the creepy decorations turned off, Felicity still found the room to be unbearably eerie. The fog machine, though it had been shut off, had done its job at filling the entire room with a smelly fog. The walls were lined with black trash bags to ensure complete darkness when the lights were out, and the ceiling was lined with strobe lights that were thankfully shut off as well.

  There were a few volunteers still standing around who had been part of the inner workings of the haunted house, and most of them had removed their masks or parts of their costumes. They all wore sad, nervous expressions. Felicity spotted Autumn first; she was standing in a corner shaking her head, her arms crossed and her face paling. As a forensic pathologist, Autumn was used to the dead, but she probably was not used to being the one to find someone in that state. She looked sickly, and a part of Felicity was reassured to see her friend that way. Autumn’s callous persona toward the deceased had always given Felicity nerves, and it was almost a relief to see that Autumn was also affected by these sorts of things.

  Felicity turned to her left, spotting a rather upset Linda standing by Jack. Felicity leaned to her side to peer around the two in order to see who it was that had been found dead in the morgue. She frowned. There was a little old woman in a wheelchair, her hair a bit messy and a collection of stuffed cats sitting in her lap. Clearly, she had cleverly decided to “dress up” as a crazy cat lady. Much to Felicity’s dismay, she knew the poor woman. It was Grandma Rose, the matriarch of the Youngling family.

  Chapter 4

  Felicity sat beside Linda outside of the elevator, a short distance from the lobby where all of the dancing and partying was taking place. Jefferson stood nearby, closer to the elevator doors, while Felicity attempted to offer Linda some comfort. Jack and Autumn were both still in the morgue; Jack was helping her clear out some of the Halloween decorations so she could do her job and assess Grandma Rose.

  “I mean, we all knew it was coming,” Linda grumbled, wiping a single tear that had formed on her cheek. “She was getting old, and she had had a heart attack just last year. We thought we were going to lose her then, but she always just bounced back. You know, she was really excited about this Halloween party? I didn’t know she could still get excited about anything anymore. Tommy should have been with her, though! I can’t believe he would just leave her alone in a haunted house! Oh, I hope she didn’t have a heart attack because something scared her! That would be just awful!”

  “She seemed very peaceful,” Felicity assured her.

  The elevator door opened, and Jack stepped out. He had ditched his little basket of lemons, but he was still wearing his Life t-shirt. “Does she know what happened exactly?” Linda asked, standing up as Jack made his way over to them.

  “Not yet, but we’re pretty sure it was a heart attack or possibly a stroke. We had to clear out the morgue so that Autumn could do her job. The coroner is on his way,” he said to Linda in a soothing voice. He turned to Felicity. “The hospital is out of my jurisdiction, but since I was the unintended on-scene officer, boss wants me to throw on my uniform and head this up. I’ll be back in a second.”

  “You have your uniform on you?” Jefferson asked.

  “It’s in the car. I changed here,” said Jack and then hurried out the door.

  Linda began to sulk again. Jack hadn’t felt the need to shut down the party or anything, so Linda’s family was all still unaware of what had happened. Almost as soon as Jack left for the parking lot, Linda’s younger brother Tommy came walking up to them holding two cups of punch. Linda jumped to her feet, suddenly seeming to be overcome with a rage. “Tommy!” she snapped. “Where were you?”

  He was taken aback by his sister’s tone to the point where he spilled one of the cups of punch all over his ghostly costume, staining the white drapery pink. “Ah! Seriously, Linda?” Tommy snapped right back at her. “This costume was sixty bucks!”

  “You look like you’re wearing a stupid sheet,” Linda retorted.

  “Now I’ve got to go get Grandma some more punch,” Tommy griped.

  “Grandma just had a heart attack, Tommy,” Linda said. “She’s dead.”

  Tommy didn’t seem to believe his sister. He frowned. “That’s not funny,” he said.

  Linda hit her brother in the chest. “No, it’s not! You left her in a haunted house by herself, and she had a heart attack!”

  “Okay, easy, Linda,” Jefferson said, separating the two siblings.

  “She’s not serious?” Tommy asked, tossing the spilled cups into a nearby trashcan. He suddenly looked pale. “I didn’t leave her in the haunted house! She wanted to go in, but as soon as we got in the morgue, she started complaining that she was thirsty, so I left her sitting outside of the haunted house while I went and got us some punch. She must have gone in herself! I should have just brought her back up here with me!”

  “Don’t think this is your fault, Tommy,” Felicity said as she stood. “If she was going to have a heart attack, she was going to have a heart attack.”

  “But she must have been all by herself!” Tommy exclaimed. “So she’s down in the morgue, then? Is a doctor looking at her or what?”r />
  “Not yet. The forensic pathologist has to wait on the coroner,” Felicity explained. As she was saying this, Jack re-entered the building wearing his uniform with a tall man in a suit following close behind. “That’s him,” Felicity said, nodding at the man in the suit. She smiled as he approached.

  “Felicity,” the man said with a slight smile; he turned toward Linda and Tommy. “You two must be the next of kin? I’m so sorry to be meeting you two like this. I’m the local coroner, Roderick Smitz. I’m going to go do my job so my daughter can do hers, and we can take care of all this for you.”

  “Your daughter?” Linda questioned.

  “Mr. Smitz is the forensic pathologist’s father. This is Autumn’s dad,” Felicity explained to the two Younglings.

  “So I guess working with the dead just runs in the family,” Tommy muttered.

  “It’s how I met my wife,” said Mr. Smitz. “She’s a funeral director.”

  Felicity saw Tommy and Linda both cringe. Yes, the Smitz family were an unusual bunch. Mr. Smitz shook Jefferson’s hand quickly, his way of saying a quick hello to a familiar face before taking the elevator down into the morgue.

  “We should probably let the rest of the family know what’s going on,” said Tommy. “Half of the clan is here at the party.”

  Felicity noted that Tommy’s eyes were glossed over. He was in no condition to be running around the hospital talking about his suddenly deceased grandmother. Clearly, he was holding it together with extreme efforts. “Tommy, why don’t you sit down?” Felicity suggested, hooking her arm in his. He followed her to the bench she and Linda had been sitting on only moments ago.

  Linda lost her condemning demeanor, and she sighed and stood by them. “Tommy, are you all right?” Linda asked. “I’m sorry I got so mad when I saw you.”

  “I’m all right,” he said a bit shakily. “It’s just weird. I’ve been taking care of her and living with her for the past two years. That’s all I’ve done, you know? I guess I just don’t know what I’m going to do now.”

  Jack and Jefferson remained standing by Linda, and a few moments later, the coroner reemerged from the elevator. Jack came over to him, and the two spoke privately for a moment. From what Felicity gathered from eavesdropping, it sounded like Mr. Smitz had confirmed Grandma Rose’s death, and now Autumn was beginning the autopsy. Mr. Smitz spoke with Linda and Tommy for a bit; he was soothing. He had been doing this job for a long time, and he always knew exactly what to say to people in these situations. He gave each of them a card and told them to call him if they needed anything.

  As Mr. Smitz was leaving, Monte, Dawn, and Veronica arrived from within the party. Veronica skipped happily, smiling ear to ear. “What’s going on?” Veronica called to the group. “Why are we all hiding out from the party over here?” Jefferson shook his head at her to let her know to lose the peppiness, and he quickly explained what had just taken place. Veronica blushed and looked at Linda and Tommy sympathetically. “I’m so sorry!” she said. “I had no idea.”

  “We really do need to get the rest of the family,” Tommy said again, rising from his seat.

  Dawn scurried over to him. “Let me go with you, hon.”

  “Thanks,” he said and turned to his sister. “Are you going to stay here?”

  “I want to wait to hear what the doctor says,” said Linda.

  Tommy nodded, and he left with Dawn in search of his numerous family members spread all throughout the building. The remaining crowd—Jack, Felicity, Jefferson, Linda, Monte, and Veronica—all stood or sat around the elevators, mostly in silence, one of them occasionally offering Linda words of condolence. Felicity asked her about her grandmother, about what sort of person she was, and Linda smiled, clearly happy to speak about the woman. “Oh, she was a spitfire,” said Linda. “She did get pretty irritable in the last couple of years, but that was the disease. Alzheimer’s is just awful. She was a great cook, though. That’s probably how half the family will remember Grandma Rose—a mouthy woman who knew her way around the kitchen. She had a big heart, too. She took care of the family, you know?”

  “Code Orange!” the loud speakers in the hospital rang out. “Code Orange in the morgue! Code Orange!”

  Monte and Veronica both seemed to jump uneasily.

  “What’s a Code Orange?” Felicity asked nervously.

  “It’s a hazardous spill emergency,” Veronica said, her eyes darting toward the elevator. “I hope Autumn’s okay. It’s been years since we had something like that happen here.”

  Within minutes, a pair of nurses donning hazmat suits darted in their direction. “Step away from the elevator,” one of them demanded of Jack, and he did so willingly.

  The pair hopped on the elevator and disappeared. “What in the world!” Linda exclaimed, rising from where she had been seated on the bench. “I thought she was doing an autopsy! Why was there a chemical spill?”

  “I don’t know,” said Veronica. “It must be something pretty serious if they’re sending in a team with suits.”

  Felicity felt very anxious; Autumn was her best friend, and Veronica and Monte’s statements about this so-called Code Orange were unsettling her. A few minutes ticked by, and the elevator doors opened. Felicity felt her stomach tighten to see the nurses in the hazmat suits pushing Autumn out of the elevator in a wheelchair. Autumn was holding an oxygen mask against her face. One of the nurses held an oxygen tank while the other pushed the chair. “Come on, let’s get her to the emergency room,” one of them said frantically, and they zipped out of the elevator.

  “Autumn!” Felicity shrieked. “What’s going on?”

  Neither nurse answered; they were clearly quite concerned with getting Autumn to the emergency wing of the hospital, which was a considerable distance away. Felicity and her friends exchanged glances. “I’m coming with you,” Linda declared, probably realizing that she wouldn’t get any information about her grandmother waiting around the morgue when there was no one down there with the woman’s body.

  Jack, Jefferson, Monte, Veronica, and Linda all chased after Felicity, close on her heels. They arrived just behind Autumn and the nurses in the waiting room of the emergency area. The nurses pushed Autumn right through the room and took her directly to the back, so Felicity and the others were abruptly stopped by nurses to keep them from following. “We’ll let you all know what’s going on,” one of the nurses assured them.

  “I need to speak with her immediately,” Jack said, in a clear attempt at using his uniform to get the group information quickly.

  “Well, Officer, you’re going to have to wait,” said the nurse. “As soon as we know what’s going on and we know that she’s okay, we’ll let you back there.”

  Jack huffed, and Felicity gave a slight pull of his arm to encourage him to not make a scene. The group gathered in a corner of the emergency room’s waiting area. A few people in the waiting area complained about someone being let in before them, and Felicity rolled her eyes. That means you’re not dying, so be grateful, she thought but didn’t vocalize it toward the upset patients. Then the thought made her even more nervous. Why had they rushed Autumn in front of everyone else? How serious of a thing was this?

  They sat together for several minutes until Linda received a text message. She sighed. “Tommy says the family is gathered in a waiting room on the other end of the hospital. He’s waiting on me to tell everyone what’s going on,” she said. “I think this is just a little too much for him. He and my grandmother were very close.”

  “It’s okay,” Felicity said. “You should go.”

  “I’ll walk you,” Monte said.

  Linda thanked him and stood up. “Felicity, please let me know when you hear something about your friend.”

  “We will,” said Felicity. “Thank you, Linda.”

  Monte and Linda left the emergency room, and Felicity sunk down in her seat. She felt sick. The thought of something happening to Autumn made her nervous. She decided to call Mr. Smitz; he had ju
st been here, so she was sure he would want to turn back around to be with his daughter. She explained to the man that she didn’t know much, only that there had been a Code Orange at the hospital and that Autumn had been taken to the emergency room. The man asserted he was going to go pick up his wife and return shortly.

  For the next hour, Felicity, Jefferson, Veronica, and Jack sat nervously waiting to hear about what had happened to their friend.

  Chapter 5

  An hour had slowly and painfully ticked by, and so far, Felicity and her friends had heard nothing of Autumn’s well-being. Jack had disappeared to go speak with some other officers who had arrived, but at the moment, she was still unaware as to why so many officers had been called in. Monte had arrived back to their little group after walking Linda across the hospital, so it was Felicity along with Monte, Jefferson, Dawn, and Veronica, who had all huddled together in a corner of the waiting room, all becoming increasingly anxious to hear any news. Felicity had hoped that with Monte, Dawn, and Veronica all being employed at the hospital, they would have been able to get some information, but the ER was packed with delinquents, it being Halloween, so they hadn’t been able to snag a nurse friend to fill them in.

  Some of the emergency room personnel were helping a man into one of the rooms. Others were picking glass out of a child’s hair after a prank gone wrong. Other people were just waiting to hear if their wrists were broken or sprained after being chased by locals. Some children had decided to toilet paper their neighbors’ houses. The children thought the neighbors weren’t home, but were surprised when the lights came on. While trying to make their escape, they tripped in the dark. The neighbor was nice enough to bring them to the emergency room. He had just wanted them off his lawn. The children were making plans to stop by his house the next day and clean up their mess. They were more concerned about what their parents were going to say when they got to the hospital then a little cleaning up.