A Dangerous Game by Heather Graham

Author:Heather Graham
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollinsPublishers
Published: 2018-02-26T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TEN

“She died of a heart attack, that much is perfectly clear,” Dr. Andrews said.

“So natural causes. She died because she was old and her body gave out?” Mike asked.

“I didn’t say that,” Andrews told them. “I said she definitely died of a heart attack.”

“There’s a but in there,” Craig said to Mike.

“Exactly—and here it is,” Andrews said. “I don’t know what brought about such a massive heart attack. She might have been terrified, she might have been threatened... I just can’t say. She might have even been given a tiny dose of some kind of drug to bring on a heart attack. At her age, it wouldn’t take much. Do they know if anyone was anywhere near her or not? Yes, she was old. Yes, the body faces wear and tear and yes, it can give out. Yet she wasn’t overweight, she hadn’t been doing anything more extreme or stressful than she did every day... I don’t know if I’m helping you out or making matters worse.”

“She was dearly loved,” Craig said, looking at the body on the gurney. There would always be something empty and tragic about seeing the dead at autopsy. What had been physical remained, and yet there was really nothing of humanity left in a corpse. A corpse was simply sad; it was a memory of a loss.

“I will get her fixed up just as quickly as possible. She’s to be taken care of by the folks at Murphy and Sons—they remain members of the church and take care of all the nuns and clergy. I believe the funeral is planned for Saturday. They have asked me to release the body by Friday, if at all possible, and I have agreed. That amount of time allows for my tests and for the official announcement of her death and for her extended family and friends to get here. She was loved. Her funeral, I understand, will be quite an event. A life well lived,” he said softly.

Craig thought that even Andrews—who spent his life working with the dead—had feelings about the degradation suffered after death, as well. But Andrews was a passionate man. He was fighting for humanity—this was his way of doing it, and as an ME, he seemed to do a damned good job of speaking for the dead.

A hell of a way to start the morning, though. He and Kieran hadn’t left the office until the wee hours of the morning.

She hadn’t even wanted to go then.

But the Marshals office was involved now, and they were good at protecting people. There was a solid understanding between the agencies and the cops at the moment. Human life—civilian life—needed to be protected. Especially when it came to innocents like Riley and Tanya. They were also witnesses; they were needed. Hopefully, they could help.

“She will be granted all honors. She’s going to be interred in the crypt at the church. That is high regard, indeed,” Dr. Andrews said.

It was Tuesday. Four days until the funeral. And at that event, they would need to have eyes everywhere.

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