Chapter Thirty-seven
1377 Words
“Professor Bryant,” Hanna quickly addressed him. “what brings you down here?”
“Am I not allowed to check up on my assistant?” he quipped back, eyeing Mitch.
“I’m only here to ask for her assistance on a current case,” I explained.
“The current one? Not my brother’s,” he needled me, trying to get under my skin.
“I haven’t forgotten about him, Professor,” I firmly stated. “We still have patrols searching for a Person of Interest.” Without knowing what happened, I suddenly sense the room spinning.
“Sergeant!” Hanna yelled. I think Professor Bryant was the one who kept me from falling? Hanna had to have rush around her desk to give me first aid. Both the Professor and Hanna had a look of worry spread across their faces. Mitch just sits there unamused.
“I’m sorry. I don’t know what happened,” I mumbled out in embarrassment. Hanna placed an oxygen mask on my face and is checking my pulse. I apparently still have one.
“Should I call for an ambulance?” Professor Bryant asked Hanna after some time passed.
I shook my head. “No, I’m fine now. Thanks to your quick thinking,” I humbly mumbled. I slowly stood up from the stool that they seated me on.
“Hanna,” Professor Bryant spoke firmly. “Please help Sergeant Black back to his vehicle and make sure he gets to the Police Station safely. I’ll finish grading the papers.” She nodded and quickly grabbed her things. She gave me her shoulder to lean on since I’m still a little wobbly. Mitch Owens’ mild annoyance grew into a full-blown agitation towards his roommate and me. Does Hanna actually like this guy? When Hanna and I reached the stairs, the noise of a serious shuffle could be heard coming from the laboratory. Campus security can handle that debacle.
“Thanks,” I told Hanna upon reaching my vehicle. Yeah, I brought my Rogue. I wasn’t going to stay long after all. She assisted me to the passenger side.
“I guess you don’t trust me to drive,” I teased.
“Not in your current state. Shouldn’t you make a phone call to someone to let them know what happened?” She asked with worry in her voice.
“Nah, I’ll be fine. Besides, you’re here,” I snarkily replied. I couldn’t help myself.
“You stubborn asshole,” she quietly whispered under her breath. While I dazed off looking out the window, Hanna secretly sent a text to her Uncle notifying him of what had happened. “Ready,” she asked as she adjusted the seat.
Wolfdale City Police Department...
Hanna successfully pulled my Rogue into the parking lot. The Chief, Captain, Cass, and George were waiting there with looks of displeasure on their faces. Busted. I shouldn’t have snuck off without notifying someone, especially since my health seems to be less than par. Great for golfers, but lousy for me. George and Captain Winston helped me out of my Rogue and back into the building.
“Sergeant, my office,” Chief Edwards gruffly said as we walked past him.
“I’ll be there,” I smuddled. “Miss Grimm is here to help Noah establish TOD.”
“I’ll walk her down to the morgue,” Cass volunteered.
Chief Edwards office...
“Mike, what the hell were you thinking?” the Chief grumbled, taking a seat at his desk.
“I got tired of looking at the same four walls,” I muttered an excuse.
The Chief leaned back in his chair and let out a heavy sigh. “Until your dizzy spells get under control, I can’t trust you to be by yourself. There are already two officers dead...”
“Fine, but I had to speak personally with Miss Grimm,” I said in a defeated tone.
“She can be absentminded, especially when she’s stressed. That girl does worry me. You know she’s like a second daughter to me.”
“I know that. She’s also stubborn.”
“That goes without saying,” Fenton Edwards nodded. “Get back to your desk, Sergeant. No more sneaking out without a partner.”
“Yes, sir,” I saluted.
“Get going,” he said in a gruff. I proceeded to leave his office.
“Asshole,” I heard him silently mutter to himself.
Wolfdale City Morgue...
Cass and Hanna descended the stairs to the basement. The eeriness surrounded them like a heavy cloak. The sounds of footsteps approaching echoed throughout the corridor. However, these didn’t belong to either Cass or Hanna. The clicking of the heels on the tile floor belonged to a forensics minion. Demon, ahem, Demi Mason. She came rushing out of the morgue side and nearly bumped into Hanna.
“Watch it!” Demon snapped at Cass and Hanna. She had tears streaking down her face.
“Hey, you okay,” Cass instinctively grabbed Demi as a mother would.
“Detective,” she sighed heavily. “Why don’t people like me?”
“Which side is the ME’s office located?” Hanna quickly asked, not wanting to get involved in that. She has her own problems to deal with.
“On the left,” Demi sniffled.
“Okay, thank you, Demi,” Hanna politely said. She quickly made her way down the corridor to the doorway she needed. Preparing herself for the sight that she will be seeing, Hanna takes a deep breath and knocks on the frame.
“Who’s there?” Doc Jacobson answered the knock.
“Miss Grimm from the Biology Department,” she replied.
“Enter.”
“So what is it that you need my help with?” Hanna asked.
“Could you help us establish the time of death?” Noah asked Hanna, putting his mug of coffee down on the counter.
“Shouldn’t you already know how to establish that, having your residency in forensic pathology?” she retorted back.
“How did you know that?” Noah asked, impressed by Hanna’s clairvoyance.
“Your certificate of completion is hanging on the wall,” she simply pointed out.
“You’ve always been a smart ass?” Noah asked, flirting with her. Great, another one.
“I’m sort of seeing someone, sorry,” she reluctantly said. “Let’s have a look at the problem you’re having.”
“Pardon the deterioration of the body. There’s a thin substance on the cutaneous membrane. We’re not sure what it is. It may or may not be helpful. Brace yourself.” Noah walked toward the holding container and pulled the body out. He lifted a small portion of the sheet to show Hanna both the deterioration and the substance.
“We have our work cut out for us. Any chance of moving the body to a more workable surface?” Both doctors Jacobson and Davidson moved Rhonda’s body back to the table.
“Is there any way that we can scrape the cutaneous membrane to get the substance? And there are larvae in some of those wounds. I’ll need some of those as well.”
“Okay, why?” Noah asked in confusion.
“The substance I think could be pollen, and the larvae could help with that TOD that you need,” Hanna explained. “We do need to get the larvae to Dr. Brigsby at the University right away. He’s an entomologist.”
“Pollen?” both doctors said in unison.
“Yes, and I can have Dr. Montgomery verify it to make sure.”
“Let me guess, she’s a botanist at the university too.”
“Duh,”
“You can’t just tell us what the larvae and the pollen are?” Noah Davidson scoffed.
“No. I can not. Biology is a large and diverse field of study. Anyway, I specialize in the area of fauna, more specifically Mammalia. Not entomology nor botany.” Hanna stated sternly, with her arms crossed.
“Thanks, Gil, you set me up for that,” Noah Davidson shook his head while laughing at himself.
“The sooner I get the samples, the sooner this case can get solved. Correct?”
- Writer
