Strangers & Secrets

by Jai T J

  She placed the camera on the table covered in blue cloth, next to the wide metallic dissecting table and took out a small rectangular voice recorder. She pushed the record button and checked it. She kept the recorder next to the camera after hearing her own voice clearly from the speaker.

  She saw a steel tray of neatly arranged surgical knives, syringe, and other tools in their size order. She pulled two more trays from the cupboard and took it to the cabinet on the other side. She took out the wide tray of tools and brought it to the supporting table next to the dissection area.

  She took out two different sizes of scalpels, forceps, bone-saw, and scissors and kept them aside. She placed them parallelly with even gaps between them in her tray. She searched for a pm-40 scalpel and when she picked it up, it slipped through her latex glove. She pulled her hands, trying to avoid the contact. It fell on the floor with an echoing clinging noise. She checked her hand and saw a tiny slit on her upper latex glove as she rubbed it.

  She picked the knife and threw it on the plastic box on the bottom cabinet. When she rose up, she saw one of the square-shaped cadaver storage doors open with an empty body tray sticking out of it. She tried to recall the door’s position when she entered. She couldn’t put it together, pushed the thought on the back burner and began to pick up the utensils.

  The place was extremely quiet as she filled both her trays in similar ways and kept them both along with the previous tray. The metallic sound echoed in the silence. She returned the wide tray back to the cabinet and opened the cupboard next to it. She took out the pack of sponges, ladle and a measuring jug with a roll of string and clumps in it. She kept them all in the same table, next to the trays leaving equidistant between each item.

  She went toward the storage compartment and pushed the cadaver tray inside and locked the door. When she turned back, she saw Nazeer bringing a body of female covered in a black sheet on the trolley. She went to the drawer near the computer and pulled out a fresh pair of gloves from it. She removed the latex from her hand, leaving the inner neoprene glove and donned the new one.

  He handed over the bunch of medical reports and a thick file to her. He moved the trolley to the center of the hall.

  “You got the consent form?”

  “Yes” He came near to her and opened one of the identical top drawers attached on the wall. He pulled out a thick head block, probe, t-peg and few containers from the next drawer. He arranged the containers next to the jars filled with prepared formalin.

  “I’ll fill the risk assessment and you take care of Pro-forma” He looked at the blackboard on his left. A large human figure outline was drawn on it. He assessed the tray of knives and double-checked every necessary thing before the performance.

  She entered the known factoids and medical histories about the case and typed it into the computer. She went toward the body and took the tag hanging on its toe. She studied the data entered in it and cross verified with the one in her computer.

  She attached the pro forma for observed findings in the writing pad and kept it next to the microscope. After filling up the prerequisites, they both came toward the center of the room. She handed over the writing pad to him and turned on the voice recorder.

  “The case number is 17745-S. My name is Dr. Yuleika, primary pathologist of this case and with me, I have Mr. Nazeer” She said keeping the voice recorder on the table.

  “And I will be assisting her throughout this process” He said.

  “Today’s date is December 31, 2019, and the time of autopsy is 11:47” She said looking at the large circular clock on the wall.

  He removed the protective black sheet, revealing the bright yellow colored kurti of her. She picked the camera and took a picture of her. She saw the dirt smeared all over the dress and studied the still face.

  “The subject is female. Age approximately around 26 based on the features. The hair color is black with no trace of dye or extra coloring”

  She took the picture of dark scratches next to the temple. “Skin color is cream white. Subject may be from northern India. The clothes and the hairs are mixed in dirt. A series of thin lines of scratches along the right temple is present”

  He began to write down the important details on the board.

  She saw the rusty, brown dust in the hair along with a piece of chewing gum stuck in it. She removed a small piece of hairs with the help of scissors and sealed inside a small Ziploc bag. She moved the hair and checked her scalp, ears and inside her mouth. Everything was clean and clear. She lifted the eyelid. “Eye color is dark brown”

  She came down and saw light maroon traces of marks and clotting around her neck. She clicked the picture by turning her face on both sides. “There is a deep finger mark around her neck. It looks like someone strangled her”

  She checked her arms carefully for any trace of needle marks. She clicked the pictures of open wound on the left elbow. She studied every fingernail cautiously. She took a swab from the tray and rubbed the dirt underneath the nails. She put the swab into the small thin container which was of the same size and closed it before sticking it with the marked label.

  She checked the arms carefully by palpating and rechecked her face again. “It looks like the rigor mortis at the minimal level. The face muscles have begun to stiffen up but the arms are still soft and the body is cold. So the probability for the time of death being 6 to 10 hours”

  She checked the feet and took the pictures of marks and dirt. He took the tape and measured from head to toe.

  “It’s 5 feet and 4 inches” He said and wrote down on the form.

  She took the wide edged scissors and began to cut the dress along the side. Once she reached the sleeve, she pushed the kurti top to fall on one side, revealing the multitude of bruises and nail marks around the naked breast. The nail marks were dug deep around the arch. Few marks were open and dry blood was in it.

  She took the ruler and kept it next to the marks and took the pictures of it while describing the details of each mark. Both the breast were in reddish purple color near the bottom. She observed the nail marks and red straining traces around the belly button and recited to Nazeer as she continued to take the pictures. The bruises along the right side of the waist were in bright reddish color.

  “The nail marks looks like it might be in there for one or two days but the bruises on the waist look fresh”

  She captured each and every inch of all the marks, bruising, and discoloration present on her torso. She kept the camera on the side and used her fingers to palpate around the rib and the arm to check for broken bones or dislocation. She folded the arms, fingers and checked for any internal abnormality in bone structures.

  She took a larger scissor and began ripping the jeans from the foot. The cloth was thick and she cut inch by inch. Eventually, she pushed the pant to the other side and saw a huge blood stain on the underwear. She clicked again and with the help of scissors, she removed every clothes from the lying body. When she lifted the stained panties, she saw a small piece of papers sticking on it.

  “There are some pieces of papers in the underwear and blood all around the genitals” She said studying the papers and capturing it. “There seems to be a sign of trauma around the outer wall. It could be internal damage or period”

  “Is it a message or something?”

  “No, it looks like a newspaper. Tiny printed letters” She put the clothes on the black plastic cover on the corner. She pointed her camera between the legs and captured the blood splattered across. She saw a similar piece of paper sticking on the top of the lower lip. Using her finger she took it out and placed them in the cover after taking the pictures.

  She took a fresh swab and rubbed the blood in it before sealing it in the sleek container. She saw a few dark spots near the edge of her thighs. She took another swab and tried to grab the dust, and she put them in the same way as before.

  She took a magnifier and saw the blood filled zone. “There is a small flesh wound on the right side
of outer vulva” She tried to investigate with her latex fingers. She moved it around slowly, observing the lesions and saw a small block of object stuck inside the entrance of the opening.

  She kept the magnifier down and tried to open it with her right hand as she tried to pull the blocking object by grabbing with the scissors. She delicately held the stone-like object and pulled slowly out of the lady part. It wasn’t tiny as she expected as it grew longer into a cylindrical shape as she pulled out and finally it came out. At first, she thought it was a tampon but despite her experience in the field she was shocked to see the piece of foreign object she held in her palm.

  “I think I found out the mystery of the paper pieces” She said staring at the object in her hand.

  He was facing the other way, busy writing on the form about the findings in the session. “What is it?” When he turned around, he too froze for a minute not looking at the object but looking at her.

  She showed him the red drenching cylindrical object of about the size of her finger with a small thin wire protruding out of one end. “Someone celebrated their New year celebration little early I think and this one didn’t explode” It was the firecracker she found inside.

  “You know what. I’ll take it from here” He came rushing toward her.

  Before she could realize what was going on, her head did a tight swirl. She grabbed for support to hold herself up. She couldn’t understand what was happening to her. She could see everything, still couldn’t perceive things. Nazeer crossed the body between them and before he could reach her, everything went dark in her, and she was falling down deep into the abyss.

  She saw nothing. She heard nothing. It was black and black everywhere. She wasn’t sure whether she is able to turn her head. She saw a glowing light flying around at a distance. She walked forward and saw a fluttering butterfly. It wasn’t the usual butterfly. Its body was in deep red wrapped in paper like the firecracker she just pulled out. Its antennas were lit and the fire was reaching toward the head of the butterfly.

  She began to move away from it. It flew toward her with the fire in the ignited fuse reaching its head. Finally, the fire went inside the hole at the center of the wrapped cylinder and burst into millions of burning pieces. She saw the wings were on fire, glazing with a bright golden color.

  Now the picture vanished and a new picture came. A blurry face of man came near to her. She couldn’t recognize the erased image. The face went back, vanished into the dark just to come back again in front of her closely. This time she saw the face. It was her father’s.

  The face went back and forth. Now the face was of Devin’s. He was mouthing something but she heard the noisy echo.

  “-aaaahhhhhh....eevv laaa haaa....yaaa..laaaaaaaa....” The noise grew strong and clear every time his face came out of darkness, near to her face.

  “ivvlaa....you laaaaaik.....you laaaaaik thaaaaat” His face came very close to her “...You like that?.... You like that?... You like that?... You like that?”

  The voice began to overlay with new base voice, but her ears continued hearing his words. “You like that?... Huh?... You like that?... Huh?... You like that?... You like at... you like huh... You like ah... YULEIKA... YULEIKA... YULEIKA!!”

  She woke up with an outburst of air from her lungs. “YULEIKA! It’s OK. Everything is fine” She saw a worried face of Nazeer. He was holding her face between his hands. “Are you alright?” She pushed herself and sat up and nodded slowly. He handed over the water bottle to her.

  She gulped half the bottle and wiped the sweats from her forehead. “How long was I unconscious?”

  “Not that long”

  “OK” She inhaled with her mouth. “Give me a minute, and then we’ll continue the work.”

  “No. You are not going to perform this”

  “I’m fine. It’s just –”

  “Yes, you are. It’s just I have been teaching others for so long, so I don’t want to lose touch”

  She rose up with the help of him. “You don’t have to be polite with me. You know that”

  “I know. But this... It’s been almost one and a half years since you fainted like this”

  “It’s just something. It’s... It’s ah-”

  “No need to explain to me” He said waving his hand. “You know I have already asked you like thousand times. Why are you here?”

  “I’m sorry. That was an honest mistake. If you think I’m not doing the work properly then I can do it in a different way perhaps in a more -”

  “I’m not questioning your capability. You are far better than anyone I have known and I don’t even have a qualification to judge your work. You are doing an excellent work but my question is why you are doing this work with such excellence? People of your age are celebrating the New year outside and here you are. I told you I could have had assembled some other members but you refused. Why are you doing this?”

  “You know what? I’m going to make that as your ringtone on my phone. Next time you want to ask that question just give me a missed call”

  He shook her head, disappointed in failing to understand her.

  “OK, Mr. Nazeer. You take in. I’ll assist you”

  He gave in realizing there is no way to persuade her.

  “Do you think this will be a ‘happy’ new year to you?” Nazeer asked wiping his wet hand in the towel. They both were in the office room and changed out of their shrug. She took out the burka from her bag and began to don it.

  “Do you think it’s better if only a portion of my body functions properly?”

  He smiled. “Yeah, that was my mistake. I hope you will have a New year not just happiness but with all kind of emotions”

  “Not emotions, technically it’s a feeling but that’s OK. The lab reports and the statement to the police –”

  “I’ll use your intern. You take rest” He interrupted her.

  She picked her bag and began to leave and said. “Happy new year to you”

  “Good night Yuleika” he said.

  She came out of the hospital, looking at the digital clock blinking 3:30 on the phone. The whole city was submerged in the aftermath of the noisy celebration. The dark skies were in deep silence with an alone moon vanishing behind the moving clouds.

  She saw a different car waiting in front of the gate where her usual ex-friend’s Lamborghini used to wait. The door opened, and she saw Devin getting out of it.

  Chapter 24

  MIDNIGHT MADNESS

  Devin saw her coming out of the hospital. She dropped the veil as he got down. She stood on the top of the slope, making him tilt his head as he tried to search for the eyes within the tiny open space.

  “Hiran asked me to pick you up. He said he has some important work”

  She went to the other side of the car and got in without any word. He climbed in and began his driving toward the secret venue from Hiran’s text. He raised the speed in the empty road. He saw her through the corner of his eyes, with her face covered.

  “So how was your day slash midnight?” He started, tried to comfort himself in the awkward silence.

  “Beautiful” She said keeping her head straight.

  “Not the word came to my mind but OK” He saw her head turning swiftly toward him. “What do you like the most in your job?” He asked.

  “Other than holding the freshly carved out tiny heart that fits in my hands and trying to hide the raging impulse to tear them open, I guess pretty much everything”

  “Just out of curiosity, do you know you have a cannibalistic nature in you?”

  “Maybe I’ll find out if you donate your tongue. It will help both of us”

  She finally pulled up her black veil as she pulled down the window on her side and gazed outside.

  “So how are you doing?”

  She turned and gave him a - won’t you shut up look.

  “You know your close friend has left and it must be hard I guess”

  “Not harder than listening to your screeching voi
ce”

  “I must say, I’m way past the stage where I get irritated by your upright comments. You are not that much surprising in your rudeness. It became more blunt routine and more predictable” He leaned forward and looked at the building passing by on his left. “Hey, do you remember this street? That is where the diner is from our first meet”

  “Why are you here?” She said with a strong, intense voice