Chapter 4

Things had very nearly gotten out of hand yesterday, the boss was all a-twitter over a missing bottle of Serum from the lab, probably in the drunk's car at the bottom of the pool, but everything was back in hand now.

Mackenzie snuffed and the scene sanitized. That nosy reporter had finally gotten her story; she just had not expected to be the lead, snickering, Jorg decided on pancakes with powdered sugar and ham for breakfast.

Anna awoke to the sound of water dripping off the eaves and noticed that the sun was just about to rise. The wind was blowing softly to judge by the gentle swaying of the silhouetted treetops. Picking up the flashlight on the nightstand and shining it on the thermometer outside her bedroom window, she saw that the temperature was up to forty.

Hmmm, late January thaw, she thought. The roads will thaw but, then the bottom will drop out, and we will be plowing mud with the undercarriage when we try to drive to the main road. Oh well, that is the price you pay for the peace and quiet of the country.

She could not help a sardonic snort escaping as she thought, Yeah, dead bodies showing up just like in the big city. At least black clouds sometimes have silver linings.

Snuggling down under the covers, she let her mind wander over the things for which she had to be thankful. A little smile quirked one corner of her mouth as she thought of Pate. Giving her fantasies free rein, maybe today, she thought, maybe today.

Noticing the sun trying to rise above the hills in the distance, he was glad this shift was about over. Trommer thought, It had been a long night, for that matter a long month, as he shifted position in the seat trying to ease his large, tired, body into a more comfortable spot in the seat, which felt as if it would need surgical removal.

The State Troopers, the Sheriff, the Deputies, including his own tired self, usually buried in work even before this unprecedented snowfall had descended, and made life really, miserable.

The last of the accident reports had been finished and the weather was at last warming up so a man didn't freeze his butt off, or at least, not quite as fast. One last loop around, as he headed home, to check those areas of slick and dangerous roadway that were especially troublesome before he went 10-7.

He hadn't even had time to do more then make a quick call to his girl friend. She had informed him that, "She wanted to see his young Charlie Daniels looking self because she had something that needed his personal attention."

Since he didn't have to be, back on duty until Friday night, if all went according to plan, Trommer hoped to remedy that situation, but a short nap was going to be imperative. It wouldn't do to fall asleep in mid-stroke because Debbie might take it as an insult and that could get a feller to singing soprano!

Trommer had no more then completed that shuddering thought when he rounded the north side of a sharp curve and felt the wheels of his patrol car lose traction. As he brought the vehicle back under control, his headlights illuminated the guardrail in the pre-dawn gloom, showing mangled metal and blackness where the headlights didn't reach into the dark valley below.

Easing to a stop, tripping the strobes on top of the cruiser, and stepping out onto the roadway, he carefully sidled over to the edge. Shining his Maglite into the abyss, it reflected back off of twisted metal far below.

After quickly calling in the accident on his shoulder mike Trommer shook off his fatigue and slithered back to the trunk of the cruiser to retrieve the first aid kit.

Damn, He thought as he carefully started down the treacherous slope, Bed and bush would both just have to wait.

The call came before breakfast was finished, so it was still very early in the morning. Examining the twisted ball of metal that was at the bottom of the valley, Pate found he was saddened more then he expected. True, Mona had been a pain in the butt, still she had been a vibrant young woman, and her death was truly a shame.

Since there was obviously no need of more than a coroner, they would wait to extract the body until the wreck was once again on the roadway above and, even though it appeared obvious as to the cause of death, they would still conduct a forensic examination to be certain.

The accident scene was right on the border between Searcy and Boone County's jurisdiction and much closer by road to Harrison then back to Marshall so he had called the coroner's office in Harrison directly to, "See if they would perform a professional courtesy, and perform the pick up of the body."

He'd been informed by the assistant coroner that, "Business was slack at the moment; they would be happy to help out and would be there shortly."

Leaving the scene in the capable hands of the State Police and his own deputies, Pate returned to his office to try and, once again, tackle the mountain of paperwork on his desk. I would almost swear that those papers breed at night or anytime no one is looking and have progeny immediately! He thought.

Every time Pate looked at the mess, it seemed it had doubled. After several hours of intense concentration and significant progress, it was time for some Tylenol, a head call, and a break for something to eat.

Heading out of the office he met the Fire Chief in the hall and invited him to lunch or at least coffee if he had already eaten.

Jim was amenable to the proposal and they sallied forth to the Knothole Café.

After ordering the Daily Special as they came in the door, the two men took seats in a back corner booth to keep from being bothered, and keeping their voices low, fell to discussing various occurrences around the county.

There had been the usual fires do to unsafe flues, faulty wiring, and carelessness but nothing involving a death or suspicious activity on Jim's end but Pate had experienced several unusual things happening in a short time span that were making him uneasy so Pate asked Jim, "If he had seen anything out of the ordinary lately?"

While Jim pondered the question, their food arrived and they dug in. The only sound for a while after that was the sound of cutlery on china.

After finishing their food and relaxing to enjoy their coffee, Jim said, "I don't know of anything at the moment, at least nothing comes to mind right now. If I remember, hear of or see anything I'll be sure to let you know right away."

"Fair enough," Pate replied. "Well, I guess I can't lollygag any longer, I'm surprised that I haven't been paged already."

Paying the tab the two returned to the courthouse and their respective offices. Looking at the pile of paperwork still to finish with disgust and issuing a sigh, Pate once more threw himself into the fray.

About an hour later, a call came
in from the Coroner in Harrison requesting his
presence, ASAP. The Coroner had found something but didn't want to discuss it over the phone and didn't think that Pate would want to wait for the official report.

Pate told him that, "He was on the way," and, after informing dispatch as to his whereabouts, left for Harrison.

"The Marshall is doing his best to find anything for a lead and he just had the body of the nosey reporter picked up by the Harrison Medical Examiner's Office. We needed her death to be public, and attributed to the ice, so there wouldn't be a lot of questions but I hope nothing was over looked. Our operative wasn't the Coroner on the accident scene because the Sheriff called Harrison directly and we couldn't arrange to switch vehicles and drivers.

"That means we haven't been able to arrange to get rid of her body as yet. Could there be any thread left hanging that could unravel our operation?" the Colonel asked his two lieutenants.

Jorg spoke up for the pair and stated, "No Sir. All loose ends, with the exception of the missing serum bottle, have been trimmed and sanitized as per instruction."

"What about the whereabouts of the bottle any further idea where it might be?" the Colonel asked.

Jorg replied, "The only thing that makes sense is that it might be in the car with Rafe but that's at the bottom of a quicksand pit in Louisiana and unlikely to be found at all."

At the mention of Rafe's name, the Colonel turned crimson and in a quiet, deadly voice said. "I never want to hear that name again! The next person that utters it will die slowly and painfully, clear? You're dismissed."

Both of the men replied, "Yes Sir!"

Leaving the Colonels office neither man said anything or looked at the other. They knew better then to do that. There were far too many cameras and microphones around to chance it and it had been fatal for others that had made that particular mistake.

Pate found Dr. Elias Parker working on a body when he arrived and knocked on the doorframe to prevent startling the man because it is really bad form to startle someone with a scalpel in his or her hand.

Pate waited until Dr. Parker looked up and, with a wave, acknowledged Pate's arrival before entering the morgue proper.

Dr. Parker was a short, energetic individual. He had noticed on earlier meetings with the good doctor, that he had a striking resemblance to the Elmer Fudd character of the bygone cartoon era, with no hair and big ears but fought back the urge to say, "Eay, what's up Doc?"

That was where the similarity to the character ended because the man was a brilliant forensic scientist and Deputy Medical Examiner for the State of Arkansas. He could have chosen anywhere to work and made big money but liked the relaxed life style of the Ozarks.

Stripping off his plastic gloves and reaching out to shake Pate's hand, he motioned for Pate to follow him.

When Pate finally caught up with him, he was standing by his desk. Pate said, "I've been meaning to ask you something but I've been a tad busy and keep forgetting."

Dr. Parker picked up a small plastic bag while asking, "What's up?"

"Just curious, but why was an ambulance used to pick up that John Doe we found instead of the Coroners Wagon?" Pate asked.

"Well, from what I was told, that was what was requested," Answered Dr. Parker.

Handing the bag to Pate, Dr. Parker said, "What do you think that is?"

Pate looked closely at the tiny piece of matter in the bag and said, "To me it looks like a rock chip or something."

"Well, you're partially right, it's concrete actually, and it was embedded in the patient's Left knee. I also noted that her trousers had a tear on that knee, and the knee appeared abraded before death since it appeared to have bled a good deal.

Those findings, in conjunction with that chip, made me pause and reconsider a bit on my original diagnosis as to the cause of death. I checked the external injuries much closer and discovered that she had a contusion with bruising at the base of the skull.

"Upon discovering that, I examined the injury site closer and discovered she had a fractured spine at that juncture. Now, I will admit that it might have been the result of the accident but I just couldn't get the injury to fit the kinematics of the accident.

"The patient also had a laceration on the forehead due to impact with the windshield in the crash but the injury had not bled. This leads me to believe that the injury was made postmortem."

"Okay," Pate said, "What did you conclude from all of that?"

Without a blink Dr. Parker stated, "She was murdered and the accident staged."

Pate had immediately called the State Crime Lab, requesting a slot in the garage, and then, called his office as soon as he headed back to Marshall.

He had directed his deputies to, "Get Mona's wrecked SUV sealed in plastic and get Red to haul the wreck down to the State Crime Lab, where the Forensic Tech's could go over it with a fine tooth comb." Then they were to contact Mona's editor and see if she had left word where she was going when she left the paper.

He informed dispatch that, "Since he was out this way he intended to stop by Mackenzie's place and see what he wanted to talk to him about."

About an hour, later Pate pulled up in front of Mackenzie's place, got out, and knocked on the door. There was no answer but he could hear the TV or a radio playing.

After knocking a second time, Pate was turning to go when he happened to notice a small stain, apparently blood, on the concrete entry pad in front of the door.

Turning back to the door, Pate used his handkerchief to gently try the doorknob but found it locked. Figuring he'd just have to apologize to Mackenzie later if he was wrong, Pate notified dispatch of the situation, ordered back up, and kicked the door in.