Page 11 of The Girls in the Lake
He hadn’t spoken to her much since the day he’d left. He’d been home once to get the stuff he’d forgotten to pack when he’d left in a hurry. He owed her nothing. She wasn’t his priority any more. He didn’t even feel angry about their marriage break-up. It had been a blessing in disguise.
Thirteen
Beth walked into the mortuary feeling the cold in every part of her being. Abe looked over at her.
‘Hope you’re not coming down with something,’ he said as she rubbed her hands and arms to warm them up.
She shook her head. ‘No, I’m good. Or at least I think I am. It just feels even colder in here today than usual. Are we ready?’
‘Yep, it’s you, me and a cadaver makes three.’
Beth laughed. ‘Have you considered taking up poetry in your spare time? With words like that it’s bound to be a huge hit.’
‘Never thought about it. Pretty sure it would though. Who’s to say that poems from the mortuary wouldn’t make a great book? Pretty lame though, Doc, if all it consisted of was one-liners of that nature.’
He’d already wheeled the body from the viewing room and had it on the stainless steel dissection table ready to begin. The Roberts digital radio, a gift from Josh a couple of years ago, was turned on and playing Smooth FM. Not loud enough to be disrespectful to the person whose body was about to be cut open, but enough to break the silence and cover the loud humming from the fridges. Occasionally she’d let Abe choose the station, but she had to have a clear head to deal with the loud thumping and heavy bass of the drum and bass he favoured. Today her head wasn’t as clear as she liked; the early morning call out made it a little fuzzier than she preferred. It wouldn’t stop her from doing her job, though; she would be as meticulous as always.
Walking across the room, she watched as Abe unzipped the black body bag then unwrapped the evidence sheet wrapped around Leah’s naked body. Beth didn’t even flinch at the smell that filled the air around her as she joined him and checked the tags, one on Leah’s right hand, the other on the left big toe. Pausing for a moment, she silently made her introduction:Leah, my name is Doctor Adams and I’m sorry that you’re here, but it’s my job to find out what happened to you. I hope you can forgive me. Both tags read ‘Leah Burton’, her date of birth, the police log number, the place of death, sex, height and weight.
Taking the digital camera from Abe, she began to document the body before she began her internal examination. Abe wheeled over the portable X-ray machine and took images of the body in situ. Then they removed the sodden sheet and bag, checked them for evidence and put them to one side.
Beth talked into a Dictaphone as she worked. ‘The body is that of a well-developed and nourished Caucasian female who appears to be the stated age of eighteen years old. Weight fifty-six kilograms.’ She waited while Abe took the height, tilting her head to read the numbers on the tape. ‘Measuring one hundred and seventy-seven centimetres in length. The body shows moderate, generalised rigor. The hair is blonde in colour and shoulder length.’ Reaching out a gloved finger, she lifted the eyelids. ‘Eyes are blue; there are no petechiae in the conjunctivae or sclera. The nostrils and mouth show a white froth consistent with drowning, and the ears are not remarkable. The neck, chest and abdomen show no abnormality and no surgical scars. On the right side of the shoulder and upper arm there are a number of superficial abrasions. Measuring approximately one to two centimetres in diameter. A slight superficial bruise is also noted in the same area measuring three centimetres in diameter.’
A rubber block was placed under the girl’s diaphragm and Beth pressed one hand down on the abdomen, watching as a trickle of water was released from Leah’s mouth. All signs were consistent with drowning, and the abrasions and bruise a result of the body being brought into contact with the side of the boat she was found floating next to. Examining the scalp and hair, she noted that there was an area of slight redness where a small patch of hair was missing. This too matched what the witness had told them; her hair had been caught in the boat’s anchor chain and the poor sod had had to rip it out to get her away from there and out of the water. Beth shuddered. She knew first-hand just how awful it would have been to have choked down mouthfuls of the icy, foul-tasting liquid until she could no longer breathe.
‘Doc?’
She looked up at Abe. His eyebrow arched: his way of asking if everything was okay. She nodded. Reaching out for the large syringe he was holding towards her, she took it from him, sinking the fine needle into the corner of Leah’s right eye to withdraw the vitreous humour. She repeated the process again with the girl’s left eye. The samples of the clear gel would be tested for the potassium levels in the body, which could help to narrow down Leah’s time of death. Beth moved around to where the victim’s small white hands lay. Picking them up, she closely examined first one then the other. There were no signs of defence wounds on them, no cuts, broken nails. Leaning closer, she noticed the tiniest fragment of something underneath the nail of the little finger on her right hand. She removed it with a pair of tweezers, placed it gently on a slide and carried it over to one of the microscopes to take a look. She instantly recognised the multiple layers which formed a flake of paint. Leah must have caught her hand against the side of the boat as she went into the water. She needed to ask Josh what colour the boats were in the area surrounding where she was found in the marina.
Working methodically, she clipped the rest of the nails and bagged them ready to be sent for analysis. Between them, she and Abe checked the rest of the body and rolled her to the side to check there were no injuries on her back. There was nothing to note. Beth also took the nasal, oral, rectal and vaginal swabs. There were no signs of a sexual assault but she would much rather rule it out than not take them and miss some vital evidence.
As if he could read her mind, Abe passed her the scalpel then placed a rubber body block underneath Leah’s back, making her chest protrude and her arms and neck fall backwards. It was time to begin the internal examination.
Fourteen
Someone hammered on the door to Ethan’s cramped cabin at the Freshwater Marine Biology site. His first thought was the police were back and he debated ignoring it: there was nothing more he could do for the girl. He’d spent all morning drifting between tears and guilt, feeling bad for her. His eyes were red and puffy; he didn’t want to face them as he’d already told them everything. What more could they want? The banging continued and he forced himself to get off the bed. Blotting his damp cheeks with the corner of his sleeve, he opened the door.
‘What the hell, James.’
James pushed the door open and marched inside. ‘Jesus, it smells like someone died in here. Open some windows.’
Ethan only had one small window, and it didn’t open very far. He gave it a nudge between the rusted blinds to crack it open as far as it would go.
‘I’d open the front door as well if I was you, mate, it proper reeks.’
‘Yeah, well we all don’t have cleaners and floor-to-ceiling windows – mate,’ he emphasised, to send the point home.
‘What were all the missed calls about? Who died?’
His smile dropped the moment he saw Ethan’s eyes begin to water and his face drop.
‘You haven’t heard? Someone… someone did die. Have the police not been in touch? I’d have thought they’d want to take a statement from you.’
‘What? What the fuck has it got to do with me?’
‘Seriously? Jesus, I woke up to find one of those girls that were on the boat with us last night floating face down in the water. It was horrific. I’ve never felt so scared. She was so cold and still. It was like a bad dream. Where were you anyway?’
James’s whole body sagged as he flopped down onto the two-seater sofa. He ran his fingers through his hair, which Ethan knew was a sign he was nervous, although James would never admit it.
