Page 386 of Chaos has a Name
“Open his mouth,” she said.
He glanced over.
“With my fingers or is there a tool for that?” he asked, genuinely curious what the procedure was.
Instead of answering, Elizabeth wiggled her phalanges as she waved at him, and Takoda got the hint.
Fingers it was.
Using his thumbs, he held the head in his two hands, but pried the man’s mouth open.
As he did, Elizabeth was doing what she’d done over all the past years. She was assessing the situation.
Thomas’ head was no longer in rigor mortis, so he’d been dead over twenty-four hours.
So she told Takoda that.
“See how he’s not locked up?” she asked. “That means he’s either just died, which we know for a fact he hasn’t, or it’s been over twenty-four hours. That stiffness is rigor, and he’s easier to move.”
The whole time, Rayna watched in horror at what was going down on her doorstep. Just last night, they had ice cream on that deck.
Now, they had a head.
Yeah, it wasn’t pretty.
“His tongue is gone,” he said. “I think. I don’t see it in there.”
Callen helped his son out. He’d been hovering, just in case, and he figured he could help his boy learn.
“Flip the head upside down and look up into his trachea in his neck. They like to tuck back after death, or so our ME tells us all the time,” he offered, since they’d suddenly become a teaching team.
Callen wondered if this was a long-term thing, or just for this case. Either way, his son was safe with them, so that made him incredibly happy.
Taking the cue from his father, he did what he said.
“No tongue.”
Since she was still holding her phone, she called Chris to have a video call.
When he answered, he was faced with the head.
“Jesus, Elizabeth. Maybe a little warning before you jump scare me like that. I wasn’t expecting that face. I was expecting yours.”
She laughed.
How could she not?
“Sorry, Doc. Here’s the head, and I need you to send a few techs to pick it up.”
He was curious.
“Did you just get the inkling to pick it up and play with it? Or is there a reason it’s being held?” he asked, knowing she knew better.
She turned the phone.
It was in Takoda’s hands, and once again, Chris was caught off guard.
Well, hell.
