Page 26 of The Catcher
McKenzie looked amused as he slipped into the booth across from him.
“What was that all about?” McKenzie asked.
Noah picked up a fry, watching the Aston Martin leave the lot. “Have you ever heard the saying, keep your friends close and your enemies closer?”
“You are a strange one, Sutherland. You truly are. First, you’re dodging her. Now, you’re pining over her, though I don’t fault you. If I were ten years younger, I would be chasing that lass, too. She’s a real beauty.”
“It’s not personal. It’s purely business.”
“Aye, isn’t it always?” McKenzie said before he winked and continued to eat.
Noah and McKenzieentered the medical examiner’s office in the basement of the Adirondack Medical Center; the air was sterile and filled with the scent of disinfectant. The room had stainless steel cabinets and various medical instruments and equipment. Inside, they found Dr. Adelaide Chambers engrossed in her work, her red hair sticking up like a troll’s as she pecked away at a keyboard.
“Ms. Moneypenny,” McKenzie greeted her with a playful grin, doing his best Sean Connery impression. “We should stop meeting like this.”
Addie glanced up from her computer, a tired but friendly smile on her face.
“How are you, Addie?” Noah asked.
“Snowed under, but work is better than none, right?” Addie replied with a slight chuckle, rising from her seat to greet them.
“Right,” Noah agreed. “So, any preliminary findings on Landry?”
“I sent it over to Declan Porter yesterday. He never told you?” Addie raised an eyebrow, surprised.
Noah arched his eyebrows in response, prompting Addie to continue.
“Well, the body is still here. Give me a second,” she said, preparing to retrieve it from one of the holding refrigerators. “Toxicology report will take a couple of weeks, but there are some interesting aspects to this death.”
With a gentle pull, Addie opened the refrigerator, the sound of steel-on-steel echoing in the room as she slid out the body covered in a white cloth. She pulled back the cover with a practiced hand, revealing Landry’s form underneath.
“The cause of death is trauma from the fall,” Addie explained, her tone professional. “However, he didn’t die immediately. He broke both legs and had multiple internal injuries. He was alive for at least another hour. Even if someone had gotten to him, he would have died.”
“Brutal,” McKenzie added.
Noah nodded thoughtfully, absorbing the information. “Any other wounds to indicate he was beaten?” he inquired.
“Well, that’s the thing,” Addie began, her tone professional as she addressed Noah and McKenzie. “Often whentrying to differentiate between a bruise caused by a punch or one resulting from a fall, we look for indicators such as location and pattern, shape and size, multiple bruises, depth and severity, and of course we take into consideration the individual’s history or the circumstances around the injuries.”
“Please, Addie, in English, not all of us are as smart as you,” McKenzie interjected, his voice cutting through the technical jargon.
“All the injuries would indicate they were received from bumping into objects, trees, and falling over,” Addie continued, translating for simplicity. “Then the biggest is from the fall itself.”
“Hmm,” Noah murmured, his brow furrowing in thought. “Then how did he subdue him? He’s a large kid. I can’t imagine he would go willingly.”
“Use of a gun would be my bet,” McKenzie replied, his expression serious.
“Possibly. Or multiple perpetrators,” Addie suggested, her gaze thoughtful. “If drugs or alcohol were a factor, that will be made clear by the toxicology, but that won’t be available for some time,” Addie noted, considering the possibilities.
Noah shifted his attention to the deceased teen, studying him intently. Landry lay motionless on the examination table, his skin pallid and features frozen in eternal stillness. The color of his skin was a stark contrast to the vibrant energy he must have possessed in life.
“So, what was the interesting aspect of this death?” Noah inquired, his voice low.
“All his fingers were broken.” Addie said as she lifted Landry’s hand to show them. Noah and McKenzie leaned in to examine the hand, the realization sinking in with a chilling weight. “They were all broken before his death,” Addie reiterated. “Given how he was tied up, whoever did this didn’t want him to be able to untie the knots, if that was even possible.”
“Any fibers pulled from him or what he was wearing?”
“None, but the blood that was smeared on him was from a deer.”
