CHAPTER 12
A few days passed painfully for William, where he tried to bury himself in his work to take his mind off everything. The investigation had stopped until the results of the autopsy were in, but other external factors had impeded its progress. The number of city patrols had increased, but the number of policemen hadn't. Money from the city's budget, combined with other funds, didn't solve the problem, and policemen couldn't stand on street corners without a break. This had a knock-on effect. One patrol checked two hospital perimeters more carefully, this time on-foot. They noticed a car in the parking lot that hadn't been moved for several days. A check of the license plate showed the Ford was registered to Michael Woodruff.
Tom didn't argue with him, because there was only one officer available and no-one else to attend the call. On route, they called the coroner from the funeral home and Sam from forensics. The old man asked questions, but when Tom said 'Okay' and hung up, the forensic expert had obviously left his office.
When the short, tired looking coroner opened the door of the dusty Ford, he immediately recoiled from the stench, despite wearing a mask. William realised there was a corpse inside and chewed his gum nervously, envious of Tom's composure. Tom stood drinking his coffee, talking to the press and one short female reporter was being particularly difficult. She was attractive, with straight black hair, a thin narrow nose, and regular features, obviously an Asian type, but, according to Tom's face, she was a pain in the ass.
'Lieutenant Lindstone is here!', the reporter exclaimed and, in a flash, she thrusted a microphone in William's face. 'Would you mind if I ask you a few questions?', without waiting for an answer, her interrogation began. 'Is it true that Dr Woodruff was the psychiatrist for both you and your wife? She was found dead in his house, wasn't she?'
'No comment' he said, and turned away.
'Despite Lieutenant Lindstone's reluctance to talk, which is understandable, the truth will soon emerge on the death of his wife in their psychiatrist's house, as detectives will no doubt find supporting evidence. Oh, sorry viewers, the body of what we can only assume is psychiatrist Michael Woodruff is being removed from the car and we can't show that on-screen.'
Moving away from the reporter, William began to look closely at the car doors. Sam Bryson and the forensics team were already there, beginning to look for evidence to take fingerprints from. Suddenly, Sam stopped and picked something up from a mat under the back seat. The medical examiner turned to Tom and showed him a small handkerchief with some kind of color pattern. At the same time, William heard a seething female voice:
'Get a close up! That'll look awesome!'
He soon realised that the reporter was asking for the cameraman to get shots of the evidence.
Sam Bryson placed the handkerchief in an evidence bag and handed it to his assistant to document. Work continued well into the evening and everyone was tired. Tom bought William and Sam coffee, then Sgt Huston arrived. After talking to Tom, William and Sam were called over.
'The hair's DNA is identical and they double checked. The hair we gathered from Woodruff's house had been left more recently,' he said, and sipped his coffee.
'So, it is Sofia's hair?' asked William.
'We need to check, hence we must exhume the body immediately, as next week may be too late', the sergeant confirmed.
'What do you mean 'late'?' William did not understand.
'There is information that governor Newsome declares a state of emergency and sends troops. We'll have to patrol streets instead of continuing with the investigation. So, we can get stuck,' Tom answered sharply for him and took another sip.
'How can it be this serious?' William asked, already knowing the answer. 'We need to go back to the clinic and ask some more questions.'
'The data hasn't been compiled since the last visit to the clinic, so let's wait for the exhumation. Jimmy, can you make sure everything's done quickly?' Tom asked the sergeant. Jimmy nodded and headed for the staff near the grave, being followed by the medical examiner. Tom turned to William, 'We've got a well-equipped office, haven't we?'
'What are you talking about?' William asked.
'There's a shower, you can shave, change your clothes and work nights. Let's get to it, we need to look at the evidence and they can finish up here without us. Hey, Sam, I owe you one!', he shouted to the forensic expert. Sam raised his thumb over his head without turning round.