Three Faces of West (2013) (18 page)

Knowing now what he came to find out, there was no other reason to be here. The priority now was a possible link to these murders and the bombing a few days ago. The matter of catching Finnin’s killers can be left to the police. Making his exfiltration he noticed the list on a computer screen lit up on a nearby desk, pausing just briefly he could see it was an inventory of admitted bodies. This list though, as West scrolled down the names caught his eye with somewhat surprise. There was one name he did not expect to see,

“Stephen Carey…Carey?!” He said to himself. Looking upwards he suddenly realised what this meant. The man who West was now looking into was dead. He carried on; beside each name were two dates, date admitted into hospital and date of death. The date beside Carey’s name was yesterday. Still bent over the computer screen, he glanced over to the refrigeration units knowing that his man was in there. Suddenly the ominous sound of whirring came from out in the corridor, someone was coming down the lift! West fled, through the rubber doors and out into the corridor, the lift had stopped, the doors began to open, the West could see the shadow of two, perhaps three individuals inside. They were about to step out as Jack made for the corner near the stairs. Hoping, praying that nobody was coming down it. Just as hit the wall and made it round passenger stepped out into the corridor. West had got away with it, he wasn’t spotted. Hugging the wall, catching his breath he could hear two people make their way to the morgue. He eavesdropped in,

“Got to get this body ready for this lecture he’s giving.” Said one porter,

“Is that the guy who used to work here?” Replied another

“Yeah, the one that was found dead. The police want a pathology report on the cause of death.”

“What was his name?”

“Carey, I think. Come on let’s get him on that table, the prof and his students will be arriving soon.”

This was very interesting. West though about this for a second,

“So Carey’s body will be used in an autopsy. Time to infiltrate and get involved.”

He decided he would just have enough time to go and see John. He had to give him the map and the key to try and find whatever was at that location while he himself was here with Carey. He made his way out, completing his exfiltration by backtracking the way he came in.

Outside John was loitering around some trees, just further down the street from the works opposite the main entrance. Jack appeared and crossed the road to join his partner,

“Did you find anything?” John asked,

“Yes. Someone called Carey.”

“What did he say?”

“Nothing, he’s dead. Apparently he worked in the mortuary here, his coat was hung up. And yes the scalpel we found did come from here.”

John understood what Jack was saying, “So what now?”

“Now you need to take this key I found along with this map. Look for the red dot and try to find it. It’s probably in those works we looked at. Ideal place if you want to hide something.”

He handed John both objects, “What about you?” He asked,

“I’m going back in there. Carey is due to have an autopsy, so I’m going in undercover to see if there’s anything else we have missed.”

Jack turned round to leave for the hospital yet again, “Rather you than me.” Quietly he said to himself. Turning toward the park he unfolded the map to get his bearings, he was facing East and by working out where he was in relation to the map he worked out the mark was due north by only a few metres, right in the middle of the works they had been searching a few minutes earlier. The worker on the tar laying machine with the dust mask had moved further down the street now, if John acted fast he may have time to investigate further without drawing his attention. Pulling out his mobile, he used the maps app to enter a location in an attempt to triangulate the exact location of the dot marked on the map. Using both this and the paper map given to him he made his way over to the ditch and started digging. The soil, cold and damp go on his hands as he clawed at the earth beneath him. Fortunately he did not have to dig deep, a few centimetres at best,

“What’s this?” He asked himself as he pulled out a hastily buried strongbox. Pulling the key Jack had given him out of his pocket he inserted in the lock and started turning. Opening it once the lid came loose; the contents shocked John because he did not expect this. Inside was another key and hammer, nothing special, just an ordinary workman’s tool, but this one was covered in blood. Not touching the hammer, he took the key only, leaving the hammer in place. Shutting the lid and re-locking it he placed it back in situ and covered it up as best he could. It was good timing as well, standing up and climbing out of the trench John noticed a small gathering outside the entrance to the hospital. A car had pulled up and a small gathering of media suddenly descended on it. John decided to investigate further; crossing the road he approached the crowd in a place where he could just see the vehicle. Some suited officials got out before the rear left passenger door opened, a figure emerged, dressed in smart business suit, a tall slightly grey haired looking man, confident in stature walking up to the entrance greeting some kind of manager from inside. He looked familiar, John had seen him on TV before, it was a minister, the Health Secretary coming for a visit. Surrounded by his advisors and media it wasn’t easy but it definitely was him. Looking on another figure, acting rather autonomously was amongst the political procession, again another figure he recognised. He had to adjust his position from the back and he didn’t really get a good luck until they began to move inside, then he got a clear view, it was Inspector Waterson. John kept in the background out of sight.

Jack meanwhile, back inside the hospital kept well back from the reception where by now the minister surrounded by media and staff had gathered. He made his way down the corridor he once came from, the layout now familiar to him from before. It only took a few minutes and he was already at the locker room where he overheard the two nurses chatting earlier, this time he paused, looked around to check that the coast was clear then gingerly, almost fearfully opened the door. If there was anyone inside he prepared himself by making an excuse that he was lost; peeking his head round the door, he was confronted by a deserted room. Blue metallic lockers covered the walls with coat hooks as West slipped inside; closing the door behind him he began to check the lockers tugging at all the handles to find one that was hopefully open. There wasn’t, everyone seemed to be very security conscious. Pausing he looked frustrated, but observing around the room and spotting a white coat on a hook as he did so suddenly gave him a glimmer of hope. Grabbing it without a care for the fit or owner he put it on. It looked like he could get away with it, so he made his way to the exit. Now disguised as a medical professional he made his way down the stairs to the basement corridor, he could hear people inside the mortuary as he approached the rubber doors once more suddenly changing from muffled chatter to comprehensible conversation once inside. There seemed to be a gathering of people in the autopsy room where he had placed the scalpel, all dressed in their white coats West slipped in unnoticed behind them.

Closed in around the mortuary table West could clearly see a body laid out on the silver metallic surface. Completely naked except for a modesty cloth covering the genitalia, he was presented with a slightly overweight man, in his early forties, bald head and bulky in appearance thanks largely to the weight the corpse was carrying. By now the corpse was rather discoloured, the skin was a dead pinkish-white with the occasional maroon blotches where blood had drained from the veins but not from the capillaries. Pallor Mortis was accompanied by disturbing slight shades of green was beginning to show around the belly button and gut area where the signs of initial decomposition phase of putrefaction had begun. The students either encapsulated or simply used to this sight a stood in a line with West in the back along the side of the table. At the other side was an autopsy assistant with another dominant figure, obviously the senior pathologist, and the one conducting this autopsy,

“Good morning everyone,” Opened up the professor, “Today we shall be conducting an internal investigation of the body. We shall be opening up the body cavity to determine the primary cause of death. I want to concentrate on the trunk and torso before we open the skull to remove the brain prior to closer scrutiny.” The pathologist checked to see if his students understood before continuing,

“Now I must stress our body is a murder victim. He was found one day ago and as we can see an external examination reveals skin traumas of various kinds. We see cuts here, here and here. Note the obvious tear of skin tissue on the forearm, deep enough to expose superficial muscle tissue.”

West immediately, if not quietly picked up. He knew Finnin’s attacker must have been bitten in the violent death throes, was he the man? Was the skin tissue found in Finnin’s mouth from this man? Seems like it, but his thoughts were interrupted by the continuing of the professor’s lecture,

“When dealing with victims of murder it is not unusual to find foreign objects within the body cavities or organs. The stomach is an obvious and common place to find anything, but the lungs and the anus are other possible locations. Now we shall make an internal examination. We shall make a deep Y-shaped incision across each collar bone at the base of the neck; we then make a secondary incision from between the clavicle to the navel.”

West and the rest of the students observed as the pathologist took a large knife from a tray pre-prepared and managed by his assistant. Without hesitation they looked on as the knife went in at the left clavicle and cut through the skin with ease as the pathologist made the cut. Drawing the knife though and across the upper chest he stopped at the right hand collar bone. The knife came out,

“Now we shall incise down from the sternum to the navel.”

Again the knife went in and the pathologist cut down in a straight line, past the chest, past the stomach and to the belly button before withdrawing it again. Handing back the knife, the pathologist opened up the skin to expose the insides to West and the rest of the medical students. The professor proceeded to continue as the assistant handed him what looked like a pair of bolt cutters. He used them to grip the sternum and with help from the assistant, cracked open the breastbone. The sharp distinct crack signalled the snapping of it, before they did the same to each of the ribs. Once done both men lifted the bone structure to expose the vital organs to the world,

“We now have access to the internal organs. First I would like to explore the lungs.”

West looked on as the pathologist took a small scalpel and cut into the side of the brown-grey coloured lung tissue. It was easy to open as the blade penetrated it. However something shocked them as they punctured the structure,

“We appear to be seeping liquid, pass me the pipette please.”

A yellowish liquid seemed to be coming out of the lungs, the pipette inserted and squeezing, began drawing a significant amount,

“Looks like poison.” West thought to himself,

“Can we record that and get this sample off to the toxicological lab for tests please.” Said the professor to his assistant. He turned to his students once more,

“This is a good example of a foreign substance in the body. Fluid in the lungs is rather common in drowning victims or people who have drunk a large amount of liquid in either a forced situation or panic.”

“Or madness.” West continued to himself. He knew a lot more than the professor did on this matter.

“We are now going to explore the stomach cavity.” Said the professor, “It’s important to analyse and record the stomach contents to determine a possible cause of death. After that we shall move onto the heart to determine the amount of blood clotting before moving on the brain.”

He was passed a fresh knife, and this time he made a larger incision into the surface of the organ,

“Here I am cutting from the base of the Fundus to the body,” Suddenly as the cut opened the contents of the stomach became visible, there appeared to be something else. Using a pair of tweezers the pathologist sifted through the half-digested contents to retrieve the foreign body. Gripping it he pulled it free and placed it into a kidney dish at the side,

“It’s a piece of paper!” He said while using a second pair of tweezers to unfold it. West was in a position to see clearly enough that it bore writing on it. Red letters could clearly be seen on the yellow coloured paper,

“Lion Inn Public House. Strange, looks like this was swallowed in a hurry. Judging from the size of the ball it was rolled up into, it could very likely have gotten stuck in the mid-oesophagus.”

The autopsy continued but West had seen enough,

“The Lion Inn. Why would he have swallowed a piece of paper with that written on it? What’s so special about that place?” He decided to leave, the next piece of the puzzle was clear, they had to go and investigate. Waiting for the opportune moment, he quietly observed when all members present would be showing maximum concentration. He had to wait until the heart was being removed before such a chance came along. Checking to see that they were all engrossed in the cardiology of the cadaver he silently made his move. Slipping outwards he made it back to the basement corridor; up the steps he threw off the white coat just in case someone noticed him. Making it back to the changing room as before he knocked on the door with his backup excuse at the ready just in case someone was inside, opening the door once again and putting his head inside it was still deserted like before so West wasted no more time. He rushed in and placed the white coat on the hook it came from, scurrying back out almost as fast he managed to shut the door silently against his hand just in time. Turning away from the door he only took a couple of steps when a pair of orderlies strode round the corner. West genuinely did not know they were coming, another two seconds and they could have caught him red-handed. He was startled, but his training taught him to not flinch. Unchallenged he passed them without incident and made such a beeline for the exit. He had been very lucky but he had the info he wanted.