Secrets in the Grave (Serenity's Plain Secrets Book 3) by Karen Ann Hopkins Page A

doctor was stunned. It was truly a miracle.”
    Silence drifted in the cab for a moment before Serenity found her voice. “Was it a miracle or someone selling their soul to the devil?” she asked with a frown.
    I had to be honest. “I don’t know.”

6
    SERENITY
    “I t’s a good thing you’re finally here, Serenity. Bobby is driving me crazy, checking in every five minutes, asking for you,” Rosie grumbled.
    She had been working in the Blood Rock’s Sheriff’s department for over thirty years. She still dyed her hair blonde and kept it swept up in a high bun. She was always smartly dressed and an even smarter thinker.
    I smiled at her. The woman’s combative relationship with Bobby amused me. “Call him and tell him we’re on our way.”
    “I wouldn’t walk too fast. Won’t hurt him to hold his horses for a change,” she called out as Daniel and I reached the stairs down to the morgue. I didn’t turn around to respond.
    “Were Rosie and Bobby ever romantically involved?” Daniel asked.
    “Funny you should ask. Todd told me they were indeed an item back in the day. I guess Rosie was a little too high strung for him. When she was hired on as the receptionist in the department, it nearly drove Bobby mad.” I glanced at Daniel,who was grinning. “He’s learned to deal with the situation over the years, but it isn’t easy for him.”
    I knocked on the door leading into the morgue. Bobby called out with a gruff voice to enter, and I pressed down on the handle. I wrinkled my nose at the onslaught of cleaning products and formaldehyde that assaulted my senses. Without much thought, I went into barely-breathing mode. It was the only way I could handle the autopsy room.
    Daniel swallowed and his face tightened. I forced my attention to Fannie Kuhns’ naked body lying on the examination table. Several overhead lights shone down on her gray skin. Her eyes were closed. She was on the plump side, with round and full breasts. My eyes were drawn to her long brown hair piled up around her head.
    It was never easy looking at a dead person who only hours before had been one of the living, but I’d become desensitized to it. I’d seen a fair amount of death lately.
    Bobby had his back turned to us, scribbling notes. I went to the counter and plucked two pairs of latex gloves from the box. I handed a pair to Daniel and squeezed my fingers into the other one.
    “What do you have for me, Bobby?”
    Bobby cleared his throat and picked up his clipboard. He turned and peered over his glasses at us.
    “I have some more tests before I write the official report, but on the Q.T., I’m fairly certain the cause of death is a massive obstetric hemorrhage. Basically, she bled to death.”
    “Have you determined the cause of the bleeding?” I glanced at Fannie’s face. A shiver passed through me. She was only in her twenties.
    Bobby sighed, following my gaze. “Catastrophic bleeding episodes rarely happen in the middle of pregnancy, but spontaneous hemorrhage isn’t unheard of, either. Sometimes no cause can even be determined.”
    “Don’t say that, Bobby. I’m trusting you to figure out what happened to Fannie.” I narrowed my eyes.
    He ignored my look and statement. “What I can tell you for sure is she lost about three and a half pints of blood. When I inspected the room where she died, I didn’t find the evidence of that much blood, which leads me to believe the mother and sister took the time to dispose of the bloody linens before we arrived.”
    “That’s not so uncommon with Amish women. They’re often present for births, deaths and the treatment of sick individuals. I wouldn’t be surprised if they removed the soiled bedding. They’re extremely thoughtful about cleanliness,” Daniel pointed out.
    “My issue isn’t so much with the cleaning up of the evidence, so to speak, but that it would have taken the woman a while to bleed out that much.” Bobby shifted his gaze to me. “Why wouldn’t they have