body in some way, I'd say
it's unlikely. The eye sockets were empty, most of the abdomen was missing and
last time I was here it didn't smell too good. If you have a look around there
are plenty more attractive propositions.'
'I'll
take your word.' He gave her a leering smile, his eyes still shot through with broken veins from the previous night's excess. 'No
cameras or anything, I suppose?'
'Not
in here,' Andy said, 'only in the hospital's main reception and maternity unit.
It's unlikely they would have passed any.'
'There'll
be some out in the street I expect. I guess we ought to get a team down here,
see if these body snatchers left any prints behind. Been a lot of people
through this morning?'
'Five
or six,' Andy said.
Pulling
out his phone, Murphy said, 'Shit. There's no fucking reception in here.
Where's yours?'
'Wouldn't
you like to know more about the body?' Andy said. 'I can't prove it
forensically, but there's a chance she could have been a murder victim.'
'We'll
do all that stuff later when you write your statements.'
'Could
I get on with that now? I've got a busy day.'
Murphy
dipped his chin and turned to look at him with raised eyebrows. 'I don't think
so, my friend - you're a suspect.'
Jenny
said, 'I don't know how much you had to drink last night, Mr Murphy, but I hope
you didn't drive here.'
Murphy
opened his mouth to answer back, but Jenny caught him with a sharp look and
said, 'Ask nicely and Dr Kerr might let you use the phone in his office.'
The
detective sniffled and slouched off in search of a signal.
Andy
said, 'Is he serious? What would I want with a body?'
'Ignore
him. He's hungover.'
A
few moments later Murphy reappeared at the end of the corridor and called out
to them, 'What's the name of this lab doing the DNA tests?'
Jenny
stopped herself from slapping him down again. She'd complain to his
superintendent later, get him to teach him some manners. 'Meditect. They're out
by Parkway.'
'Interesting.
They just burned down.'
It
was early afternoon by the time Jenny made it back to the office. She could
have cut and run sooner, but Andy had looked so bewildered as a team of
forensics officers and several more detectives swarmed over his mortuary that
she felt compelled to hold his hand. They had both made statements and Alison
had emailed over the details of all those who had viewed the body or had
expressed an interest in doing so.
Initial
reports had been sketchy, but over the course of the morning it emerged that
Meditect, which was housed in a small industrial unit in a business park, had
been very skilfully razed to the ground. Alarm cables had been cut and diesel
oil pumped through the ventilation system and set alight. Another fire had been
started on nearby wasteland, which distracted the fire brigade for vital
minutes during which catastrophic damage was caused to the testing lab. Its
entire contents had been destroyed.
Jenny
and Andy went together to the hospital's histology department to track down the
blood and tissue samples from the thyroid tumour he had sent up for analysis, and
came upon a scene of unfolding chaos. Several racks of samples appeared to have
gone missing from their chill cabinets overnight. Among them were the Jane
Doe's. The in/out log on the card-swipe system showed that a junior technician
had been present in the lab for seven minutes at four a.m. She swore that she
had been in bed at the time. Murphy came up to speak to her in person, but she
broke down and asked to speak to a solicitor. The last Jenny saw of her, she
was being led away by two constables.
The
Jane Doe's DNA had been erased from the record. Even the inside of the
refrigerator drawer had been sprayed with industrial bleach. There was no
physical trace of her left in existence, and whoever had arranged it had been
thorough, well resourced and far cleverer than most criminals.
Alison
was completely caught up in the drama. Every five minutes she was on the phone
to another of her
it's unlikely. The eye sockets were empty, most of the abdomen was missing and
last time I was here it didn't smell too good. If you have a look around there
are plenty more attractive propositions.'
'I'll
take your word.' He gave her a leering smile, his eyes still shot through with broken veins from the previous night's excess. 'No
cameras or anything, I suppose?'
'Not
in here,' Andy said, 'only in the hospital's main reception and maternity unit.
It's unlikely they would have passed any.'
'There'll
be some out in the street I expect. I guess we ought to get a team down here,
see if these body snatchers left any prints behind. Been a lot of people
through this morning?'
'Five
or six,' Andy said.
Pulling
out his phone, Murphy said, 'Shit. There's no fucking reception in here.
Where's yours?'
'Wouldn't
you like to know more about the body?' Andy said. 'I can't prove it
forensically, but there's a chance she could have been a murder victim.'
'We'll
do all that stuff later when you write your statements.'
'Could
I get on with that now? I've got a busy day.'
Murphy
dipped his chin and turned to look at him with raised eyebrows. 'I don't think
so, my friend - you're a suspect.'
Jenny
said, 'I don't know how much you had to drink last night, Mr Murphy, but I hope
you didn't drive here.'
Murphy
opened his mouth to answer back, but Jenny caught him with a sharp look and
said, 'Ask nicely and Dr Kerr might let you use the phone in his office.'
The
detective sniffled and slouched off in search of a signal.
Andy
said, 'Is he serious? What would I want with a body?'
'Ignore
him. He's hungover.'
A
few moments later Murphy reappeared at the end of the corridor and called out
to them, 'What's the name of this lab doing the DNA tests?'
Jenny
stopped herself from slapping him down again. She'd complain to his
superintendent later, get him to teach him some manners. 'Meditect. They're out
by Parkway.'
'Interesting.
They just burned down.'
It
was early afternoon by the time Jenny made it back to the office. She could
have cut and run sooner, but Andy had looked so bewildered as a team of
forensics officers and several more detectives swarmed over his mortuary that
she felt compelled to hold his hand. They had both made statements and Alison
had emailed over the details of all those who had viewed the body or had
expressed an interest in doing so.
Initial
reports had been sketchy, but over the course of the morning it emerged that
Meditect, which was housed in a small industrial unit in a business park, had
been very skilfully razed to the ground. Alarm cables had been cut and diesel
oil pumped through the ventilation system and set alight. Another fire had been
started on nearby wasteland, which distracted the fire brigade for vital
minutes during which catastrophic damage was caused to the testing lab. Its
entire contents had been destroyed.
Jenny
and Andy went together to the hospital's histology department to track down the
blood and tissue samples from the thyroid tumour he had sent up for analysis, and
came upon a scene of unfolding chaos. Several racks of samples appeared to have
gone missing from their chill cabinets overnight. Among them were the Jane
Doe's. The in/out log on the card-swipe system showed that a junior technician
had been present in the lab for seven minutes at four a.m. She swore that she
had been in bed at the time. Murphy came up to speak to her in person, but she
broke down and asked to speak to a solicitor. The last Jenny saw of her, she
was being led away by two constables.
The
Jane Doe's DNA had been erased from the record. Even the inside of the
refrigerator drawer had been sprayed with industrial bleach. There was no
physical trace of her left in existence, and whoever had arranged it had been
thorough, well resourced and far cleverer than most criminals.
Alison
was completely caught up in the drama. Every five minutes she was on the phone
to another of her
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