He’d admired that about her.
“Get your hands off me,” she told Colin, her voice a growl. “I’m fine. ”
He backed off immediately.
Smith’s fingers, delicate, ringless, rose to clutch the arms of the chair. Her body wasn’t shaking anymore, and when Colin eased back across the room, some of the fear faded from her gaze. Well, well. What was this about? Apparently, he wasn’t the only one who got nervous around old Colin these days.
But then, after seeing the guy transform into a four-legged dog with teeth a shark would envy, Todd figured he had a right to be a bit on the edgy side.
After all, it wasn’t every day that a guy found out his partner could lick his own ass. Or rip a man’s throat out with his teeth.
Smith’s body trembled “How’s your doc doing?” She asked Colin, and there was an edge to the words that Todd couldn’t quite define.
Colin lifted his brows. “Good. If you went to see her, like you should, you’d know that.”
Her full lips curved into what was definitely not a smile. More a snarl. “I’m afraid I’m not quite the type of patient she’s used to.”
Now what the hell was this? Todd stepped between them, lifting his hands. “Uh, yeah, it’s obvious you two have some shit to talk about, and that’s just great.” He turned his attention solely to Smith. “But I’m tired as hell, and just want to know about the case right now, okay?”
Smith gave a hard nod. “Fine.”
That seemed to be her favorite word, but from what he could tell, the lady was definitely not fine. Okay, so he’d been mistaken about her.
A trip to the psychologist sure might be in order for the ME. Well, actually, she’d already been to one. The department had demanded that she go see a counselor before coming back on duty. He just wasn’t sure the person she’d seen had helped her.
Maybe Colin’s lady could. Dr. Drake sure seemed to know what she was doing.
Smith pushed out of her chair. The wheels squeaked as the chair rolled behind her.
Todd stepped forward instinctively.
She lifted a hand. “Don’t even think about it. I just missed breakfast, okay? My blood sugar is too low.”
If that was the way she wanted to spin it…
Smith moved toward her desk. “Prelim is done on Michael House.” She lifted a file, handed it to Todd. “I could’ve just sent this up, but…I needed to talk to you.” She cast a quick look in Colin’s direction and after a brief pause said, “Both of you.”
From the corner of his eye, he saw Colin nod.
“So what’s the verdict, Smith?” Todd asked. He’d read the file later—every word—but when he worked a murder, he always liked to talk face-to-face with Smith—or Phillips, if that idiot was subbing for her—because he could learn more from the death doctors that way. His gaze darted to the left as he wondered where House’s body was. In the vault behind him? Sewn back together all nice and neat?
He really didn’t know how Smith did her job. Fighting criminals, finding the bodies, that was hard enough. But working with the dead, every day and night, hell, that was a whole other ball game—a gruesome, give-you-nightmares game.
“Well, I haven’t got the tox screen back yet. Even with a rush order to the lab, it’s going to take longer…”
“What have you got?” The woman was hedging.
She exhaled. “Not a hell of a lot.” For an instant, she looked just like her old self. “The guy was in good shape, a nonsmoker.
Thirty-five. No diseases or defects—”
“We know this,” Colin broke in, voice tight, arms crossed over his chest. His usual intimidating stance.
“No, I don’t think you get me,” she snapped right back at him. “The guy was in good shape. There was no sign of coronary artery disease—”
“Wait a minute—you’re telling us the guy didn’t die of a heart attack?” Todd asked, his own heart beginning to race faster.
Smith hesitated. Cast another quick look at Colin. “I’m saying the guy’s heart was in great condition. Hell, the best heart I’ve ever seen in my ten years down here.” She rubbed the back of her neck.
“How did he die, Smith?” Todd pressed.
“I can’t determine the cause of death yet. I told you…” Impatient now, her eyes narrowed, “I won’t have the tox screen for several days yet.”
Colin slowly uncrossed his arms. “So you brought us here to basically—what? Say the guy was healthy? No offense, Smith, but you could have told us this shit on the phone.” He was obviously angry, and Todd was starting to feel the same way.
Too little sleep. Too few leads. Too many bodies. And, shit, if he went back up to the captain, told him their latest vic was a prime specimen of health who’d just happened to drop dead in the middle of some sex games, McNeal would kick his ass all the way back down to the Crypt.
“There was no sign of trauma. No contusions.” She shook her head. “The man’s body was in perfect condition. Inside, and out.”
Another hesitation. “At first.”
“He was— what?” His temples throbbed. “What do you mean, ‘at first’?”
Smith reached for her white gloves. “Detectives, there is something you’ve got to see.” She walked across the room, her feet hurriedly tapping on the white tiled floor. She stopped beside a gurney. Her hands reached for the plain white sheet that covered the body. “I took him out of storage a few minutes before you arrived.”
Todd hurried to her side. Colin flanked him.
She pulled the sheet down, a faint tremble in her hands. “Check out his chest.”
Michael House’s flesh was chalky, the dried-out color of the dead. And on his chest, right over his heart and cutting across Smith’s careful stitch work, a very clear impression had formed.
The outline of a hand.
“No fucking way.” Todd leaned down for a closer look. Caught the cloying scent of the body. Fought to control an instinctual gag.
“Those are what I think are fingers.” Her gloved hand moved to the top of the marks, her index finger tracing the pattern. “The side of the hand. The palm.”
He could see it. Perfectly.
“When I began the autopsy, this injury wasn’t there.” Her hand paused over the dead man’s chest. “I sewed him back up, started the arrangements to contact the family, then I checked him again and the mark…just appeared.” Smith’s lips pursed for a moment.
“It was lighter in the beginning. This is the darkest I’ve seen it.”
It was the weirdest damn thing he’d ever seen.
“Bruising can be caused postmortem,” Smith spoke softly, thoughtfully. “I’ve heard of a case where a guy’s body was pulled from a river. Later, bruises appeared on the arm that the cop grabbed to haul the guy out of the water.”
“Are you saying that you pushed House’s chest too hard?” Colin raised a brow, waited.
“No.” Her eyes narrowed. “I’m saying this mark you see right here,” she tapped the spot, “appeared in five minutes. This isn’t just some bruise—”
“No, it isn’t.” Todd was adamant on that.
The mark wasn’t a bruise. He’d learned long ago that bruises could often show up after death and he’d certainly seen his share of those while haunting the Crypt with Smith. But this—this was different. This was the faint tracing of a hand in black, like someone had put a hand against the victim’s chest and literally drawn a line around the edges. The interior of the mark was empty, and if the mark had been the result of a blow, Todd figured there would have been a middle pressure mark or deeper finger grooves.
Shit. It was almost like fucking art. The perfect design of a hand. He exhaled. “Were the other bodies like this?”
Smith’s hand lifted. Balled into a frustrated fist. “No idea. That idiot Phillips marked ’em as natural causes. Both heart attacks. He had the bodies in and out of the Crypt—too fast.”
The bodies were already in the ground now. It would take a court order to exhume them and see if the handprint was on their chests.
His gaze dropped once more to the print. It was like someone had just touched the guy, and killed him. “You’re sure—absolutely one hundred percent certain—there was no internal trauma to the chest?”
She bared her teeth in a hard smile. “I’m sure I can do my job, Detective.”
Yeah, he knew she could, too. Smith was the best and they were damn lucky to have her and her kiss-off attitude on staff.
He studied the mark, frowning. Fucking odd. He lifted his hand, let his fingers hesitate over the outline.
Smaller than his by a few inches.
But then, he’d been a quarterback long ago—back in the day—and he knew he had big hands.
“What the hell are we dealing with here?” He growled quietly. “How is this even possible?”
From the corner of his eye, he saw Smith’s stare snap toward Colin.
Todd stiffened and the hand he’d raised over House’s chest clenched into a fist. Slowly, he lifted his head and turned his attention to his partner. “There something you need to tell me?” He was damn tired of the games. Maybe they should just put their cards on the table. ’Cause going on everyday like this, acting like he didn’t know Colin’s secret—acting like everything was, to use Smith’s word, fine, well, that just wasn’t going to keep playing for him much longer.
Not with more weird shit happening—like this handprint on a man that for all intents, shouldn’t be dead.
Colin shook his head.
“You seen this before, partner?” Todd asked, not ready to let the topic drop yet. No way was he going to let the guy hold out on him during this investigation.
Colin’s jaw tensed. “I’ve never seen anything like this print before.”
Todd wanted to believe him.
Partners should trust each other.
Yeah, and there also shouldn’t be any secrets between partners. For a cop, there was no one on the streets who was closer than a partner. No one else watched your back like a partner. No one protected your ass like a partner.
And when you found out a partner had been deceiving you, well, nothing hurt as bad.
Todd’s shoulders stiffened as he dragged his stare away from Colin and glanced back at Smith. “Any other tests you can do on him?”
“I’m running more blood work.” She rolled her shoulders. “This—we need someone with a little more expertise in this area, okay?”
Her gaze darted once more to Colin. “I’m out of my element here and—”
“What? Smith, he’s a stiff!” It didn’t get any more in her “element” than that! Todd tried to rein in the anger that wanted to shoot out of him. “The dead are your life.”
She frowned at that. “No. They aren’t.” She shook her head. “Look, maybe we should call in a heart specialist, get a second opinion—make certain I didn’t miss anything—”
“You’re not the missing type, Smith.” Colin’s voice was certain.
Damn straight she wasn’t. Todd opened his mouth to respond, then caught the faint quiver of Smith’s fingers.
Shit. This is her first case back—the lady has to be nervous as hell. “Take your time, Smith,” he told her, his voice softening.
“Go over the body again, see what you can find.”
Her eyes narrowed and for a minute, he thought she was going to be the one shooting out anger, but instead, she gave a jerky nod.
Okay, the lady obviously wasn’t big on getting sympathy.
Todd glanced at Colin. “We’ve got a problem, man—”
“Yeah…we’re gonna have to see the other bodies.”
No choice. Exhuming the dead was a bitch—getting the court orders, dealing with the grieving families—but there was no choice.
“Have you told McNeal about the print yet?” Colin asked.
“I was leaving that to you guys.” Smith pulled the sheet back over the body. Her chin lifted and a brief smile curved her lips. Not really a smile so much as a feral baring of her teeth. “Thought you’d like to give him the info on that.”
Great. Well, they’d have to break the news to the captain pretty fast if they wanted to get going with the bodies.
Colin turned toward the door, paused. “I don’t have to tell you how important it is to keep these details quiet.” He glanced over his shoulder, his eyes locking on Smith.
“No, you don’t.” Her shoulders straightened and a bit of her old fire flared in her dark eyes. She jerked her thumb toward Todd.
“But you do sure as hell need to tell your partner what you’re up against this time.”
“Smith…” A warning.
Todd tensed. He had that shitty, I’m-in-the-dark feeling again. “Tell me what?”
“Not a damn thing,” Colin snapped. “You already know everything about this case that I do.”
“But you didn’t on the last one, did you, Brooks? Gyth shut you out of the loop and went after the killer on his own.”
Colin growled and the hair on Todd’s nape rose. “Listen up, Smith,” Colin snapped. “The way I see it, you really ought to be damn glad I did go after the killer.” He turned toward her, facing her fully with clenched fists. “Otherwise, you wouldn’t be examining dead bodies anymore.” He paused, then said, “You’d be the dead one.” Harsh. Cold.