‘Possibly just a drowning?’ Grant asked. He had moved beside Kulcheski.
‘We’ll know that soon enough. We’re going to open his chest and see if he has any water in his lungs. If he does, he was alive when he went into the water. If not, then he died before he went in. If you all want to stick around you can, but go put on a mask. There are some on the shelf by the main door. Not sure if there are enough goggles for all four of you, though.’
Millar walked over to the shelf and grabbed four masks from a small box. Sitting loosely on the shelf were three pairs of goggles. He went back to the table and handed out the masks. He gave Penner and Kulcheski a pair of goggles and looked at Grant. ‘Sorry, there were only three pairs,’ he said, putting on the last pair.
‘Here, I don’t need them where I have my glasses,’ Kulcheski said, passing the goggles to Grant.
‘Thanks,’ he said with a smile.
Millar moved over and stood beside Faye, a bit too close for her liking. She moved a foot to the side and stared at Millar from over top of her glasses. He didn’t seem to notice. Or decided to ignore her.
‘Right. Andrew, can you turn on the recorder? Might as well get started,’ Faye said, picking up one of the many scalpels from a shiny metal tray sitting on a wheeled cart beside her. Andrew clicked a few keys on a computer keyboard and returned to Faye’s side. ‘If you’re at all squeamish, I recommend you either leave or look away.’
Faye sunk the scalpel into the flesh at the top of the right shoulder and made a deep diagonal cut down to the top of the breastbone. She moved to the other side of the body, almost hip-checking Millar in the process, and made a similar cut from the top of the left shoulder. Where the two slices met, she made a long, straight cut down to the top of the pubic region, going around the navel.
She put the scalpel back on the tray and looked at Andrew. They both dug their fingers under the skin on either side of the cut, halfway up the stomach area. They began pulling the skin and muscle tissue back, revealing a side of humanity that was not meant to be seen.
The sights and sounds made Grant a bit queasy, and he decided it would be best to step aside. He pulled out his phone and pretended that he had received a text. Kulcheski smiled behind her glasses and mask at Penner. ‘Men,’ she said.
‘Doing alright there, Grant?’ Penner asked, looking to see where he had gone.
‘I’m fine. Just needed to check my phone is all,’ Grant said, the colour draining from his face. He took off his mask as he took some deep breaths.
‘If you need to sit, there’s a chair over by the computer,’ Faye said, still pulling on the skin. ‘We don’t need anyone passing out on us.’
‘I think I’m alright. I just need some water,’ Grant said, unconvincingly.
‘There’s a fountain in the hall, just to the left,’ said Faye, without looking up.
Grant hurried towards the door. As he stepped into the hall, he heard Faye ask Andrew to grab a saw.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Grant took a long drink of cold water from the fountain. He put his hand into the stream of water and ran it across his forehead and the back of his neck. After taking a few more deep breaths, he felt a bit better. Still not his normal self, but he didn’t feel nauseous or like he was going to pass out.
Walking back to the autopsy room, he heard the elevator chime and the door open. He looked back and saw a man in his mid-fifties step out. Crew cut. Salt and pepper hair. Wearing a black suit, white shirt, black tie and carrying a long, black trench coat over his forearm. ‘Maybe an undertaker?’ Grant thought to himself as he continued walking to the autopsy room. He could hear the whir of a saw and decided to wait outside until the sound stopped. He wasn’t sure why he was feeling so queasy. He had seen plenty of gore during his time as a paramedic and had worked on several murders in his short time on the force.
The sound of the saw stopped. Grant waited for a moment to make sure it didn’t start back up before reaching for the door handle. He pulled open the door.
‘Excuse me?’ a gruff voice called out.
Grant turned to see the man walking towards him. He looked around. There was no one else in the hallway. ‘Can I help you?’ Grant asked, letting the door close again.
‘I’m looking for Dr. Pelow. Do you know where I can find her?’
‘Yeah, she’s in here doing an autopsy. I was just heading in. Do you want me to tell her you’re here?’
‘I’ll come in with you. I think I am a bit late,’ the man said, stepping in front of Grant. He pulled open the door and stepped inside, not holding the door for Grant.
‘Thanks,’ Grant mumbled under his breath. He slid the mask back on, the smells in the room quickly hitting him again. He walked over to the chair that Faye had pointed out to him earlier and sat down.
‘How are you feeling?’ Penner asked. She watched the new visitor as he walked towards the table they were all standing around.
‘I’m fine, I think. But I’ll just stay over here for a while,’ Grant said, beads of sweat forming on his forehead again.
‘Can I help you?’ Faye asked the man, looking up from the freshly cut open chest cavity. She and Andrew had successfully taken out the breastbone and the frontal ribcage, revealing the organs sitting inside the gaping cavity.
‘Inspector Wilson, RCMP,’ the man said, pulling a card out of his jacket pocket and showing it to Faye. ‘I’ll be taking over the investigation into Mr. Williams’ death. Corporal?’
‘Kulcheski, sir.’
‘Right. You won’t be needed here anymore. You can let your superior know. If he needs, he can give me a call.’ Wilson handed her his card. She looked at it. Inspector Gord Wilson, RCMP. No division or squad listed.
‘Um, sir, I should check with my supervisor before leaving. I was ordered to be here,’ Kulcheski said, pulling out her cell phone and walking towards the door.
‘I recommend you follow my orders, Corporal. Otherwise, I’ll be forced to report that you didn’t follow a direct order from a senior officer, and you don’t want that, do you?’ Wilson cut an intimidating figure as he looked down at Kulcheski.
Kulcheski looked at Penner and then to Millar, who shrugged his shoulders. ‘No, sir,’ she finally said. ‘I’ll just leave, I guess.’
‘I’ll come out with you. I could use some more air,’ Grant said, getting up from the chair and heading to the door with Kulcheski.
‘Actually, you can all leave,’ Wilson said to Penner and Millar. ‘Like I said, we’re taking over the investigation, so we won’t be needing you here. I assume you’re Ottawa Police?’
‘We are,’ said Penner. ‘Since when does the RCMP take over death investigations in Ottawa? This is our jurisdiction, not yours.’
‘During situations like this,’ Wilson said. ‘Now, if you’ll kindly leave so Dr. Pelow can continue her work and I can start mine, it would be appreciated.’
‘You can boss around one of your own, but that won’t work with us,’ Millar said. ‘Until my Captain says differently, this is our case, not yours. Maybe you should leave.’
Wilson, a man who was obviously used to getting his own way, slowly turned his gaze towards Millar. ‘Detective, I assume?’
‘Millar. This is Detective Penner. And this is our case.’
‘Detective Millar, you really don’t know who you are dealing with. So again, with all due respect, I suggest you and Miss Penner—’
‘Detective.’ Penner corrected him.
‘Of course, my apologies. I suggest you and Detective Penner just let me do my job. If you leave me your card, I will call your Captain when I am done here. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a job to do,’ Wilson said, turning away from Millar and Penner, shifting his attention to the body on the table.
‘What an ass,’ Millar said to Penner, not even trying to be subtle. ‘Like I said—we’re not leaving.’
Wilson turned back to Millar and took a step forward, but his intimidation didn’t work quite as well as
it had on Kulcheski. He was shorter than Millar and not as broad. ‘I’ve tried to be polite. This is my case, and it no longer involves you. So kindly get out.’
‘Enough!’ Faye yelled. ‘I really don’t care who you think you are, this is my theatre. I work for the city of Ottawa. Not the RCMP. Not the Ottawa Police. I say who gets to be here and who does not. So, I recommend you all keep your mouths shut and let me do my job. One more comment out of any of you, and you can all leave.’
A smile crossed Penner’s face. She had never seen Faye get truly angry before. She may have been a short, older woman, full of wrinkles and grey hair, but she was obviously not someone to take lightly.
‘Dr. Pelow, I have to interject,’ Wilson began but was cut off before he could finish his thought.
‘Seriously? Did you not just hear me?’ Faye said, stepping closer to Wilson and looking up at him. ‘Get out! Now! All of you! Leave your cards on the shelf by the door. I will send you my report when it’s done.’
‘You can’t do this,’ argued Wilson.
‘Oh. Looks like I just did,’ Faye countered. ‘Andrew, show the inspector and the detectives out.’ Andrew stepped around the table.
Wilson pointed a finger at Faye. ‘You’ll regret this.’
‘I don’t regret anything I do,’ she said, calmly. ‘Sue, I’ll call you as soon as I’m done here. Inspector, expect my report in the mail in the next week or two.’
‘That’s not acceptable. As I said, this is my case, so I expect your report as soon as it’s done.’
‘Then you shouldn’t have been a dick,’ Faye said. ‘I need a coffee.’ She pushed past Wilson and left the room.
‘Alright, you heard the Doctor,’ Andrew said. He walked to the door and held it open.
‘Unbelievable,’ Wilson muttered as he walked past Andrew and tossed his card on the shelf as instructed. ‘You’re making a big mistake.’
‘Have a nice day,’ Andrew said. ‘Detectives.’
‘Thanks, Andrew,’ Penner said walking into the hallway. ‘Hope Faye calms down for you.’
‘She’ll be fine. May make for a long day, but that’s okay. I’ll probably have to edit out some of her more colourful language from the recording at the end of the day. When she gets mad, she swears like a sailor.’
***
‘Well, that was interesting,’ said Millar. He looked around the hallway. Grant and Kulcheski were standing by the elevator bay. Wilson was nowhere to be seen.
‘How’re you feeling, Grant?’ Penner asked.
‘Better. Not sure what came over me in there. I’ve never felt like that around a body before.’
‘Did the inspector leave?’
‘He did,’ Grant said. ‘When he came out, he went right to the elevator. Didn’t say anything, but he shot us some dirty looks.’
‘Any idea who he is?’ Millar asked Kulcheski.
Kulcheski shook her head. ‘No idea, sir. I’ve never seen him before, so he doesn’t work in my division. I’m going to have to call my supervisor and let him know what happened. I don’t think he’ll be very impressed.’
‘If he doesn’t work with you, I wonder why he was here? Is there more than one group that works with the Members of Parliament?’ Millar asked.
‘No, sir, there’s just the one,’ Kulcheski answered, pushing the button for the elevator. ‘I can do some asking around if you want. See if I can find out who he works with. If you give me your number, I’ll give you a call if I figure it out.’
‘Here, you can call me.’ Grant quickly handed over his business card before Millar had a chance to grab one of his own.
‘Thanks,’ Kulcheski said, looking at the card. ‘Well, it was nice meeting you all,’ she said, looking only at Grant. ‘I’ll get in touch as soon as I can.’ The elevator doors opened. She got in and pushed the button for the main floor. The doors closed.
‘Smooth,’ said Penner.
‘What? She needed one of our numbers, right?’ Grant blushed. ‘So, what do we do now?’ he asked, trying to change the subject.
‘I guess we head back to the precinct and wait. I’m sure the Captain will want to hear about what happened.’
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
It was snowing again as they walked out of the building and across the parking lot. Based on the accumulation on the cars, it had been snowing the entire time they’d been inside. A gust of wind blew icy pellets in their direction. Penner pulled her scarf up around her face with one hand and searched for her car keys in her pocket with the other. She pressed a button on the fob and the trunk opened.
‘There’s a brush in the trunk. I’ll warm up the car while one of you brushes off the snow.’
Millar looked at Grant. ‘Sounds like a newbie job to me,’ he said, opening the passenger side door. ‘Don’t get too cold.’
‘Jerk,’ Grant thought to himself as he grabbed the long-handled snow brush out of the trunk. Of course, most of the snow was on the driver’s side—the side facing the wind. He finished removing the snow as quickly as he could, wanting to get out of the bitter wind. He put the brush back in the trunk and closed it, making sure it latched shut. He went to the rear driver’s side door and brushed the snow off his coat and pants before opening it. As he was about to get in, a car honked behind him. He turned and saw Kulcheski in her patrol car.
‘I’ll give you a call later—once I’ve spoken to my supervisor. He may know who that Wilson guy was. If not, I’ll have a look in our personnel database,’ she said before rolling up her window, waving and driving off.
Grant watched her car pull up to the end of the parking lot, stop, then turn right onto the street.
‘You’re letting snow in! Shut the door or get in,’ Penner said.
‘What? Oh, sorry,’ Grant said, shaking himself back to reality and climbing into the back of the car. ‘Sorry, I got distracted.’
‘I could tell.’ Penner put the car in reverse and backed out of the parking spot. ‘So, what’d your girlfriend have to say?’
‘Very funny,’ Grant said, buckling his seat belt. ‘She’s going to ask her boss if he knows who that inspector was. She’ll give me a call later.’
‘You know, I take it back. That was a pretty sly move, giving her your number. She’s cute,’ Penner said, making sure no cars were coming before turning out of the parking lot. ‘Cute for a…what did you call her? A jockey?’
Grant decided not to answer. He was surprised it was Penner who was giving him a hard time. He expected that kind of treatment from Millar.
They drove the rest of the way to the precinct in silence. Penner was focussed on the roads slick with fresh snow. The plows hadn’t made it to this part of town yet. The highways were always the first to be cleared, then the major arteries, then the side streets and finally the sidewalks.
When she pulled into the parking garage at the precinct, Penner let out a slight sigh, as if she’d been holding her breath. ‘Be glad if we don’t need to go back out in that anytime too soon,’ she said, snaking her way down the underground parking until she came to her preferred spot to park. They made their way to the elevator and up into the main lobby of the building.
Millar looked at his watch. ‘I’m going to drop my coat off in my office and then I’ll grab a coffee. Should we meet at the Captain’s office in fifteen minutes or so?’ he suggested.
‘Works for me,’ said Penner. ‘Maybe Grant’s jockey friend will have called by then.’
‘You’re just a ball of laughs, aren’t ya?’ Grant said, shaking his head. ‘It’s like I’m back in high school again. Right, I’ll see you guys in a bit.’
They went their separate ways. Millar and Penner each went to their offices to drop off their winter clothes and check their voicemail. Grant didn’t have an office of his own, but he did get a desk when he got his promotion to sergeant. It wasn’t as nice as having an office he could close off from the din of the precinct, but it was better than what he had as a constable—a locker that he could use dur
ing his shift.
Within the quarter of an hour they were all together again, standing outside of the Captain’s office. Penner had arrived first and had gotten the Captain’s attention. He was on the phone and signalled for her to wait. They each had a cup of coffee. Grant had a second one for the Captain—always a good move.
‘Come in,’ the Captain called out after he hung up the phone. He looked tired.
‘Brought you a coffee, sir,’ Grant said, putting the extra cup down on the large wooden desk.
‘Thanks. I need this today.’
‘If you don’t mind me saying, sir, you look exhausted,’ Penner said, sitting in one of the guest chairs. Millar sat in the only other chair before Grant had a chance to grab it.
‘It was a bit of a late night. At least, a lot later than I’m used to,’ said the Captain. He took a long sip of coffee. ‘Beverly was so upset about Mark, and then she was too worried to head home. She was scared whoever had broken into their home was going to come back. Took me quite a long time to convince her that she would be fine. We had a patrol car outside her house and another officer keeping an eye on the backyard. It was probably almost four in the morning before I got into bed. My days of working on a few hours of sleep are far behind me.’
‘Anything found at her place?’ asked Millar.
‘Nothing yet, I’m afraid. There was a jumble of prints everywhere, but mostly they were indistinguishable. There was a good print on one of the drawers in the office, but it was Mark’s. They found a palm print on the back door, but as of now they haven’t identified it. I’ll get Beverly in later today so FIS can take her prints and see if we can eliminate her. Maybe we’ll get lucky.’ The Captain took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. ‘So, anything from the autopsy? You’re back kind of early from there, aren’t you?’
Grant looked at Millar, who looked at Penner, who looked at the coffee cup in her hands. After a short pause, she said, ‘Well, sir, we were kind of asked to leave.’
The Art of Murder Page 7