Cherish 1st Precinct, Floor B1: Cherish County Morgue.
"Oh Isaac!"
June swung the double door open with a bump of her shoulder, struggling to juggle two coffees and a baker's dozen of assorted donuts. Dr. Isaac didn't particularly like her. She knew that without him having to say it.
'It's something in the eyes. The way he dies a little bit when I walk into the room. I wonder if it's because I'm from 2nd precinct… no, he doesn't dislike the men. In fact I've seen him out on a few occasions with Demmer. No… most likely it's my personality.'
Dr. Isaac kept his focus on the patient at hand. He put a hand up above his shoulder to let Detective June know that she needed to remain silent for a moment, June understood and quietly sat the box and coffee down on a metallic table near the sink. Isaac clicked record on the cassette player next to his tool plate and began.
"September 2nd, 9:58pm.
The patient in question was validated with personal belongings, specifically a photo ID for Cherish Junior High School. Upon initial examination, it appeared as though the Subject succumbed by means of blunt force trauma. This initial finding was due to extensive damage to the boy's face and torso.
After opening the chest cavity, the wounds to the torso were mostly superficial, showing little signs of internal hemorrhaging. The large contusion to the forehead is indicative of enough force applied to cause an internal bleed. I observed this by collecting fragments of the skull from the brow line and left orbital socket. However, upon removing the brain from the skull, little hemorrhaging was observed.
My next attempt at root cause analysis found the culprit. The shattered Hyoid bone, coupled with the restriction of the larynx, was a clear indication of excess external force applied to the throat.
Determination of cause: Asphyxiation.
It is also in my professional opinion that the wounds to the torso and head were caused post-mortem.
As always, A second opinion is requested when dealing with post-mortem wounds. Time of death has not been established. However, judging by the state of composition, coupled with the onset of early stage 2 rigor mortis, I'm placing the time frame of death, September 2nd, occurring between 3:58 and 7:58PM."
Isaac clicked stop on the recorder and swiveled his stool to face June.
"You brought donuts into my morgue. Why?"
June gave the doctor her soft smile, the one usually reserved for interviewing children. She found this approach worked best with him.
"Well James, I remember seeing you and Detective Demmer at the Cherish diner a few months back and noticed a platter of donuts on the table. I don't know you that well, so I used that information to deduce, you sir, in fact, like donuts."
Dr. Isaac stood up and removed his gloves.
"Your detective skills need work. Those weren't my donuts, I'm diabetic."
June sighed, "Shit, I'm sorry. Look, I need to know what you found on Sissy Clarey the night she was brought in. I just thought that maybe if I-"
"Maybe if you bribed me, I'd give you whatever little secrets you wanted, because we both know the FBI and ATF have jurisdiction over that case in the morning."
June glared; he was right. It was a clear bribe. She felt small, "Okay, look. I'm helping Molly in place of Demmer right now. We just want to follow up on anything we can so we can set the Feds up to solve this thing. This isn't a battleground fight."
Dr. Isaac walked over to the sink and picked up the coffee, he took a sip and let the aroma palpate his taste buds for a moment.
"It is."
June raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean?"
"This is about to be a battleground fight, and I'm not going to be a piece of the foundation that flops your investigation. Don't worry. That'll be on you detectives."
James walked across the room to a set of old filing cabinets, opened the top drawer and sifted momentarily, before producing a file dated the day of the Timm's incident.
He pulled an autopsy report from the folder and tossed it on top of the donut box next to June.
June picked up the report and scanned it as Dr. Isaac spoke.
"Sissy Clarey's wounds were extensive and brutal, as I'm sure you're aware. Her tongue, facial epidermis, and eyes were removed pre- death. Parts of that area seem to have been cauterized, most likely with some sort of hot metal, such as the base of a frying pan or something similar. The specific part of the body subjected to cauterization was the tongue, being separated in the brutal manner in which it was, the tear was more un-even than a cut, meaning that burning the wound, which I believe was an attempt at stopping the massive blood loss, possibly to prolong the suffering of Clarey, would have been ineffective, as the heated object wouldn't have been able to sear all openings on the flesh. Clarey was intended to survive a lot longer than she had."
June leaned back on the counter, the details of Clarey jarred her in her core. Her mind swirled around fictional images of what Greg went through in that home, seeing it all unfold in person.
"Jesus Christ…"
Isaac reached over and tapped on the chest of the body diagram in the autopsy report.
"That circle with a line through it I've drawn there, that was carved into the body. Most likely before the other wounds, it's deep and rough, but it's coagulated."
"Coagulated?"
"The blood in the wound has solidified and started the healing process. Meaning she was very much alive, and her blood pressure was relatively stable when this symbol was made."
June reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone, seeing a call coming in from 2nd precinct. She put the phone on silent and placed it back in her pocket.
"Is there any way I can borrow or record your taped record of the autopsy? I need to bring this information back to Molly."
Isaac turned away from Detective June and returned to his stool, pulling out a new pair of gloves and sifting through his tools.
"No, I'm afraid not."
"What do you mean no? You just said you would help us with the investigation James, this will help."
"You aren't understanding, I already gave that tape to someone to help your investigation."
June stared blankly, "Who? Nobody else is working this case."
Dr. Isaac picked up the scalpel from his tool table, with his other hand he pulled the hanging scale closer to his seat, reached into the boy's torso and began meticulously slicing to separate the intestines for weighing and examination.
"Detective Greg Demmer is."