Page 5 of Equalizer
“Love you right back.” The lightness of Owen’s tone didn’t hide the deep feeling in his blue eyes.
Tomorrow, they would be in Chicago and would need to take precautions to keep their secret, minding their tone and body language so that no one would suspect. Calvin knew that they needed to stay on the right side of the law and, more importantly, not give their supernatural enemies a weapon to use against them.
But right now, in the privacy of their rail car, hurtling down the tracks in the darkness protected by weapons and wardings, Calvin planned to wrap himself in the arms of his lover and pray for protection and deliverance to a god he wasn’t sure was listening.
Chapter 2
Owen
No one saw the bodies being moved?” Owen focused his attention on the coroner while Calvin looked around the Cook County Morgue. Calvin bumped a corner of the desk and knocked a fountain pen on the floor, which he picked up and replaced in its spot after a momentary hesitation only Owen was likely to notice.
“I would have told the police if they had,” Dr. Parker said sharply. He was a thin man with a prominent nose and pointed jaw, adding up to a hawkish appearance. “I’m probably more concerned than anyone over the sanctity of the bodies we handle here. But if you’re thinking someone’s pulling another ‘Burke and Hare,’ I believe you’re wrong.”
The two London body snatchers had their heyday seventy years before, but they remained infamous, synonymous with their crime and a boogeymen tale to frighten children.
“Why?” Calvin came back to stand beside Owen. They traded a wordless glance that Owen took to mean Calvin had seen something interesting but didn’t want to comment in front of Parker.
“I’m still tied into the academic medical circles,” Parker said. “If someone was supplying illicit dissection bodies, I’m pretty sure I would have heard. And after that big scandal forty years ago that the Pinkertons cleaned up, no one legitimate would dare deal with body snatchers.”
Owen had heard of that case. The police and the city government at the time were so corrupt that the city sexton himself had been found complicit in the crime.
“People will do just about anything if the money is good enough,” Calvin remarked. “They always think they won’t be the ones that get caught.”
“I don’t have any leads on the recent disappearances,” Parker said. “But I did recognize the name of the guy they said had gone missing after the gas line explosion. Marvin Cobb, a reporter. He had been doing a story on the bodies that went missing.”
Owen raised an eyebrow. “Interesting coincidence.”
“Did you ever meet Mr. Cobb?” Calvin asked.
“More than once. The guy was relentless, which I guess is good in his line of work, but I’m betting he went poking the wrong people,” Parker replied. “Polite enough, but he was like a dog with a bone. I didn’t have anything to hide, but I got tired of him showing up with questions after every incident. If I knew anything—and I didn’t—I’d have already told the cops, not a reporter.”
“Do you have any idea of who else Cobb might have spoken with?” Owen believed Parker but couldn’t shake the hunch that they were missing something.
“There’s the city morgue and ours,” Parker answered. “We’re the big ones. But every local hospital has to have a place to keep the dead until the bodies can be sent on, even if they aren’t equipped to do autopsies. The same is true for the big institutions like sanitariums, orphanages, and the mentalasylum. People die, and either families claim them, or they’re sent to the potter’s field.”
“You think Cobb made the rounds?” Owen asked.
“He seemed like a thorough guy, so I figured he would. I don’t know all the people who run the other morgues—we don’t have a secret coroner club—but I’ve met some of those men, and they don’t seem the type to make an easy buck off the dead,” Parker said.
Owen withdrew a card from his wallet and handed it to Parker. “We’ll be in town for a while, so if you hear anything you think we ought to know, you can contact us here.”
Parker took the card and frowned. “Why is the Secret Service so interested in missing bodies? No one famous or important has been taken.”
“National security,” Owen fibbed. “Until we know what the body thief is doing with the corpses, we don’t know the extent of the criminal activities involved. Best to nip the problem in the bud.”
The coroner pocketed the card. “I doubt I’ll come across any new scuttlebutt, but I’ll let you know if I do. This sort of thing is bad for everyone. Erodes confidence in the system. Bereaved families shouldn’t need to worry about such things.”
They thanked Parker and headed back to their rented carriage. Despite being a cold, gray day, the sun made Owen squint after the cellar morgue.
“You think he’s telling the truth?” Calvin asked.
“Yeah, I do. There’s clearly something organized going on, but I don’t think Parker is part of it,” Owen replied. “Did you read anything from his pen?”
Calvin wasn’t a medium like Owen; his ability was psychometry, the ability to read the history of objects by touching them. “He’s generally grumpy, thinks he’s overworked, and resents his boss,” Calvin replied. “I didn’t pick up any of thenervousness I’d expect if he were involved in something illegal. I don’t think he’s a risk-taking kind of guy.”
“I guess there are worse things to touch in a morgue than a pen,” Owen remarked.
Calvin rolled his eyes. “Much worse.”
