I sat and stared at the back of the hearse and saw there was no coffin in it yet, and I kept wondering how many dead bodies it had transported over its years of service. The hearse looked to be at least a decade old, though it was in excellent condition. Clearly well taken care of, I thought — interior and exterior detailed often. It could be on the showroom floor, though it’s approximately a decade old. So 10 × 365 = 3,650, I thought, and so let’s say this funeral home (i.e., Everett Family Funeral Home Ltd.) performs, say, an average of two funerals a day (approx.), that’s 730 funerals a year and 730 × 10 is 7,300 and so is 2 × 3,650. Is it possible, I thought, that this shiny showroom-quality hearse sitting in front of me has transported (approx.) 7,300 corpses to the graveyard or the crematorium (the funeral home having its own crematorium, according to the sign on the lawn) in its tenure for Everett Family Funeral Home Ltd.? The weather was overcast and the sunshine was long gone. I sat studying the back of the hearse and then wondered if Gerald’s body was still lying in the morgue or if it’d been buried in the ground or burned up into ash. Most likely it’s still lying in the morgue, I thought. A gruesome post-mortem performed so as to determine what we all already know, I thought, namely, he died from knife wounds to the chest.
Although I didn’t see a single soul it was obvious that the funeral home was full. Darren exited the home and hopped in the car and said, ‘Let’s get out of here. The lawyers’, ho!’
‘First,’ I said, ‘I want to stop by the morgue.’
18
The morgue was in the basement of the hospital that the man in the cast was at so we had to double back, but Darren didn’t seem to mind and it wasn’t far. ‘I haven’t been here in years,’ I told Darren as we took the elevator to the hospital’s basement. I wasn’t quite sure how I was going to get to see the body or read the autopsy report, but I felt confident that I’d figure something out. I’d bribe somebody, I thought, or pose as a police officer. For years I’d been carrying around a forged police ID in my wallet, always hidden behind my real IDs, et cetera.
I got lucky, however, for once: a doctor, Dr. Leonard P. Tate, was in the morgue, amongst the sterilized tools and galvanized-steel refrigeration units for cadavers. I told him the truth, or most of the truth. I told him that I’m a private detective, hired by Mrs. Elaine Andrews, the deceased’s wife of six years, to speed up the process of solving this case so justice could be meted out swiftly, so the widow could start the process of moving on with her devastated life. Dr. Tate asked me what I wanted.
‘First off,’ I said, ‘I was wondering if I could see the body?’
‘That’s impossible,’ said Tate. ‘The body was cremated late last night.’
‘Doesn’t that seem fast?’ Darren said.
‘Yes, but the autopsy was completed. I did it myself. There was nothing left to learn from the body. It was clear that he died from multiple stab wounds to the chest, more specifically,’ Tate said, picking up the autopsy report from a table, ‘perforation of the right lung and hemothorax causing intrathoracic and intra-abdominal hemorrhaging.’
‘Can I see that for a sec?’ I said.
‘No.’
‘Please let him, doc,’ said Darren. ‘He’s just trying to solve the case, same as the police.’
‘I only want to glance at it.’
Tate looked hesitantly at the report in his hands and said, ‘No. I told you everything you need to know. He died from stab wounds to the chest and sustained cuts on his hands from his efforts to defend himself.’
‘It wasn’t self-inflicted.’
‘It most certainly wasn’t self-inflicted.’
Darren walked over to Tate, popped the report out of his hands, and threw it over to me. I read,
AUTOPSY REPORT 91-06160
DEPT. OF CORONER: 0830h 13 October
DECEDENT: Andrews, Gerald
From the anatomic findings and pertinent history, I ascribe the death to: MULTIPLE SHARPE FORCE INJURIES
ANATOMICAL SUMMARY
1. Multiple stab wounds of chest and abdomen: Penetrating stab wounds of chest and abdomen with right hemothorax and hemoperitoneum.
(‘Give that back! Security!’ said Tate, but Darren held him back.)
2. Multiple abrasions, upper extremities and hands: i.e., Defence wounds.
EXTERNAL EXAMINATION
The body is that of a Caucasian male stated to be 66 years old. The body weighs 88.4 kilograms, measuring 182.8 centimetres from crown to sole. The hair on the scalp is grey and straight and sparse. The irises appear a sharp blue with the pupils fixed and dilated.
Both upper and lower teeth are capped.
There are no deformities but the decedent has a surgical scar on the left arm, from a reported surgery on a fractured elbow.
The body appears to the Examiner as stated above. Identification is by toe tag and the autopsy is not material to identification. The body is not embalmed.
The front of the chest and abdomen show injuries to be described below. The genitalia are that of an adult male, with the penis uncircumcised, and no evidence of injury.
(Tate was struggling and yelling but Darren continued to hold him back and I read fast.)
CLOTHING
The clothes were examined before and after removal from the body. The decedent was wearing a long-sleeved black sweater and white undershirt, both extensively bloodstained.
On the front, lower right side of the black sweater and white undershirt, there are long slit-like tears measuring 3.8 centimetres. Also on the lower right sleeve of the black sweater there is a 3-centimetre slit-like tear.
Decedent was wearing a pair of grey woollen slacks, bloodstained. The decedent also was wearing 2 black leather Oxfords and 2 black cashmere socks.
His underpants, too, are bloodstained.
EVIDENCE OF INJURY
DESCRIPTION OF MULTIPLE STAB WOUNDS:
1. Stab wound on right side of chest.
The stab wound is located on the right side of the chest, 45.7 centimetres below the top of the head and 15.2 centimetres from the back of the body.
(I skimmed and skipped ahead, while Darren restrained Tate.)
SHARP FORCE INJURIES OF HANDS
(‘Give it back,’ said Tate. ‘Now!’ And I flipped ahead …)
CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEM
The heart weighs 306 grams, and has a normal size and configuration.
(Tate broke free from Darren’s grasp. I skimmed over the parts about the Gastrointestinal System, Hemolymphatic System, Urinary System, Male Genital System, Histology, Radiology — there was nothing pertinent to the case. ‘I’m not kidding,’ said Tate. ‘Give it back now!’ I quickly read the rest.)
WITNESSES
Detective Michael O’Meara, Robbery Homicide Division, was present during the autopsy.
(Tate ripped the report out of my hands and the last thing I read was his name …)
S/ LEONARD P. TATE, M.D., DEPUTY MEDICAL EXAMINER
19
As we drove toward the Bouvert-Adamson offices, Darren asked, ‘Did you learn anything from the report?’
‘No,’ I said. ‘Not really. Just the grim facts of the corpse, or what was the corpse.’