Page 15 of Dirty Looks

“Yes,” I said. “She had significant bruising and tearing. Last meal looked like chicken noodle soup and crackers, ingested a few hours before she died. She had traces of promethazine in her system, but nothing out of the ordinary.”

“What’s that?” Martinez asked.

“Anti-nausea medication,” I answered. “It’s prescription only. There were only traces in her system, so she could have ingested anywhere from twelve to twenty-four hours before her death.”

“So Councilman Lidle’s daughter had chicken noodle soup for dinner, was kidnapped, strangled, raped, beaten, and eventually killed with several violent blows to the head and her parents haven’t reported her missing?” Martinez asked incredulously.

“Was she at school yesterday?” Jack asked.

“She’s at one of those fancy boarding schools in DC with all the politicians’ kids so they don’t like to give out information. I had Chen call the mom and pretend to be from the school and checking on the kid. The mom said Evie was sick with a stomach virus.”

“Which would explain the chicken noodle soup and the promethazine,” Lily said.

“Sounds like you two need to go break the news to the parents of their daughter’s death,” Jack said. “Maybe they have an explanation for why they didn’t report her missing.”

“Any word on the creepy guy from the scene or the missing neighbor?” I asked. “What’s his name? Kent O’Leary.”

“Found the creepy guy on the door-to-doors,” Martinez said. “Or at least Plank did. Lives on the other side of the park and said he’s introduced himself to Edith Norton and Myrtle Sparrow at least a dozen times when he walks his dog in the park. Apparently they keep calling the cops on him. I found the records. Wachowski responded the last time and he finally had to tell Edith Norton she’d be charged with filing a false police report if she didn’t stop calling in on the neighbor. That was about four months ago.

“Creepy neighbor’s name is Joel Grainger,” Martinez continued. “He works for a top-tier forensics lab in DC, so maybe that explains the creepy factor. He’s got high-level security clearance, and he’s alibied for the night in question. He said Edith Norton tried to kidnap his dog once.”

“Gotta love neighbors,” Cole said.

“Plank tracked down Kent O’Leary in Panama City Beach,” Martinez continued. “He’s been there since Friday for his brother’s wedding. He’s in the clear. Which leaves us with no one, so I’m anxious to talk to the family.”

“Give me fifteen minutes to shower and change,” I said.

I took my coffee and started heading toward the office and the small bathroom that was attached to it, but I did a detour and headed toward Jack instead. We both knew how important goodbyes were, especially in his line of work. Every goodbye could be the last.

He looked at me expectantly, his mouth curved in a small smile, and he leaned down to meet my lips. Jack wasn’t the sort to hold grudges and he forgave easily, and I could feel the tension leave my body as our lips touched. Nothing had been resolved. But it was a start.

CHAPTER FIVE

When I walked backinto the kitchen fifteen minutes later it was empty except for Martinez. He was still at the counter reading through the autopsy report.

Martinez looked up and stared at me appraisingly. “Much better,” he said. “You clean up nice, Doc.”

My ability to clean up nice had everything to do with genetics and nothing to do with giving a crap about my appearance. I’d been working life-or-death situations since my med school days. People coding on the table didn’t care if my hair and makeup were red carpet ready.

Both of my parents had dark, almost black, hair, just like me. But I’d always wondered where I’d gotten my gray eyes since they’d both had brown eyes. They’d always told me it was some distant relative and recessed genes, but it had just been more lies on top of many.

My hair was still damp since I’d only run the hair dryer over it briefly, but it was short and straight and it would dry soon enough and fall where it was supposed to around my jawline. I rarely wore makeup—my lashes were thick and dark and I’d been told people would pay good money for my lips, whateverthat meant. I had high cheekbones and good olive skin, so I generally slathered on moisturizer and called myself good to go.

I knew we’d be making the rounds today of city officials and probably the press, so I pulled on black leggings and a pale gray, lightweight sweater that matched my eyes to ward off the damp chill. I’d worn nothing but my black rain boots for what seemed like the past month, and my nice black raincoat I used for funerals was hanging in the mudroom.

“Where’d everybody go?” I asked.

“Sheriff and Cole headed back to court,” he said. “Lily said she needed to study. And Sheldon got a call from the hospital to pick up a body. Emmy Lu went back to the office to start the paperwork. Looks like you’re back in the funeral business.”

“So much for having a couple of days off.”

“Death is the one thing you can always count on,” Martinez said. “At some point everyone is going to do it.”

No truer words had ever been spoken.

“Speaking of,” he said. “Let’s go pay a visit to the Lidles. I hate giving death notices to families.”

“I can’t imagine it’s anyone’s favorite thing to do,” I said. “But when it’s done well it’s a gift. As messed up as my whole family situation was, I remember the knock on my door and Jack standing there to tell me my parents were dead. It’s a lot easier to hear news like that coming from someone who cares. The Lidles’ daughter is dead. Death isn’t supposed to be easy.”

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