signs of decay whatsoever, and no sign they were ever frozen. If they came from my labs, it is likely they would have spent some time in a freezer unit."
"I see."
Lucas leaned against the railing now, giving her a reassuring smile. "We'll soon know who's behind this ugly business, Mere. Tomorrow I'll coordinate efforts with Jana North."
"Jana, yes, of course."
"See if Missing Persons has someone recently gone missing without a trace...see if maybe there's a piece of this puzzle they can help with. Once we get a fix on who she was, then we can get a fix on who she knew, what happened to her, and how parts of her came to visit us."
"Why wait till tomorrow? Why not get on it tonight?" she asked.
"It's almost two A.M, Mere, and we're both emotionally and physically spent. Besides, we need to see what Leonard's experts can tell us. Aside from that, by morning, I'll have a copy of Perelli's photographs to work with."
"You don't really hope to match severed eyes to a photograph of a missing person?" she asked.
"Doubtful, but I'd like to have the photos to help explain the situation to Detective North and, when and if the time comes, to Captain Lincoln when I nail the bastard behind all this. As for matching the teeth, that ought to be far easier and more scientific. Whether she came from Leonard's lab or is in a missing persons file someplace, she'll have dental records. Reason we have procedures, right, Leonard?"
Chang nodded reassuringly at all of Lucas's conclusions. Leonard then said, "Well, Lucas, now I go over to your place with Hoskins, Perelli, and the others. See what we have there."
"My friend and landlord is minding things there, name's Jack Tebo."
"Aren't you coming?"
"I'll meet you over there."
"Don't leave me alone here, Lucas, not tonight," pleaded Meredyth.
Lucas corrected himself. "We will follow you over, Leonard."
DR. LEONARD C HANG' S expert team of technicians made short work of the soup-layered, thin-sliced autopsy cuts in Lucas's kitchen sink; unlike the scene at Meredyth's place, the criminal contents were contained all in one area, except for the note left by the killer. It lay on a sofa table where Tebo had left it. Lucas pointed it out to Chang, and Tebo, who had tried to stay out of the way, now tried being helpful, about to grab the note and pass it to Chang.
"Don't touch it!" shouted Chang.
Lucas confessed, "We already have. Both of us. Sorry, but we tampered with it before realizing how serious the situation was."
"I expected as much from Dr. Sanger, but you, Detective Stonecoat, you should know better," chastised Chang.
Lucas weakly apologized again, but as with Meredyth's reading of her note and playing the CD—handling both— Lucas had felt compelled to act as he did. "A knee-jerk reaction to being attacked in this twisted manner," Lucas told Chang now.
"No doubt." replied the M.E.
"Like I said, at first I thought it was a sick prank."
"Prank, this?" asked Perelli as he snapped shot after shot of what lay in Lucas's kitchen sink.
"Maybe some of the guys down at the precinct or the morgue. You know how they can be, sick SOBs that they are. Keep it to yourself, though, will you, Perelli?"
"You don't think I had anything to do with it, do you?" asked Ted Hoskins, his eyes riveted on Lucas for a reaction.
"No...never crossed my mind, Ted. I know you'd be no part of such as this, no."
"Well...it does look like precision cuts from liver, spleen, kidney, and pancreas," Chang thoughtfully mused as he poked a retracted scalpel at the materials inside the box. "I can understand your thinking it came from a crime lab. The slices are the work of a careful professional, or someone who has studied autopsy work. Certainly someone using the right tools. Amazing what an amateur can do with the right tools. Remember the I-10 sniper? Turned out to be a kid with his first scoped AK-74."
"You can tell all that from just looking?" asked Tebo.
"Absolutely," replied Chang. "First
"I see."
Lucas leaned against the railing now, giving her a reassuring smile. "We'll soon know who's behind this ugly business, Mere. Tomorrow I'll coordinate efforts with Jana North."
"Jana, yes, of course."
"See if Missing Persons has someone recently gone missing without a trace...see if maybe there's a piece of this puzzle they can help with. Once we get a fix on who she was, then we can get a fix on who she knew, what happened to her, and how parts of her came to visit us."
"Why wait till tomorrow? Why not get on it tonight?" she asked.
"It's almost two A.M, Mere, and we're both emotionally and physically spent. Besides, we need to see what Leonard's experts can tell us. Aside from that, by morning, I'll have a copy of Perelli's photographs to work with."
"You don't really hope to match severed eyes to a photograph of a missing person?" she asked.
"Doubtful, but I'd like to have the photos to help explain the situation to Detective North and, when and if the time comes, to Captain Lincoln when I nail the bastard behind all this. As for matching the teeth, that ought to be far easier and more scientific. Whether she came from Leonard's lab or is in a missing persons file someplace, she'll have dental records. Reason we have procedures, right, Leonard?"
Chang nodded reassuringly at all of Lucas's conclusions. Leonard then said, "Well, Lucas, now I go over to your place with Hoskins, Perelli, and the others. See what we have there."
"My friend and landlord is minding things there, name's Jack Tebo."
"Aren't you coming?"
"I'll meet you over there."
"Don't leave me alone here, Lucas, not tonight," pleaded Meredyth.
Lucas corrected himself. "We will follow you over, Leonard."
DR. LEONARD C HANG' S expert team of technicians made short work of the soup-layered, thin-sliced autopsy cuts in Lucas's kitchen sink; unlike the scene at Meredyth's place, the criminal contents were contained all in one area, except for the note left by the killer. It lay on a sofa table where Tebo had left it. Lucas pointed it out to Chang, and Tebo, who had tried to stay out of the way, now tried being helpful, about to grab the note and pass it to Chang.
"Don't touch it!" shouted Chang.
Lucas confessed, "We already have. Both of us. Sorry, but we tampered with it before realizing how serious the situation was."
"I expected as much from Dr. Sanger, but you, Detective Stonecoat, you should know better," chastised Chang.
Lucas weakly apologized again, but as with Meredyth's reading of her note and playing the CD—handling both— Lucas had felt compelled to act as he did. "A knee-jerk reaction to being attacked in this twisted manner," Lucas told Chang now.
"No doubt." replied the M.E.
"Like I said, at first I thought it was a sick prank."
"Prank, this?" asked Perelli as he snapped shot after shot of what lay in Lucas's kitchen sink.
"Maybe some of the guys down at the precinct or the morgue. You know how they can be, sick SOBs that they are. Keep it to yourself, though, will you, Perelli?"
"You don't think I had anything to do with it, do you?" asked Ted Hoskins, his eyes riveted on Lucas for a reaction.
"No...never crossed my mind, Ted. I know you'd be no part of such as this, no."
"Well...it does look like precision cuts from liver, spleen, kidney, and pancreas," Chang thoughtfully mused as he poked a retracted scalpel at the materials inside the box. "I can understand your thinking it came from a crime lab. The slices are the work of a careful professional, or someone who has studied autopsy work. Certainly someone using the right tools. Amazing what an amateur can do with the right tools. Remember the I-10 sniper? Turned out to be a kid with his first scoped AK-74."
"You can tell all that from just looking?" asked Tebo.
"Absolutely," replied Chang. "First
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