Cavanaugh Cowboy by Marie Ferrarella

Author:Marie Ferrarella
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2019-02-05T16:13:37+00:00

* * *

“How long does it take to do one of these things?” Rick asked the other two people in the waiting room with him.

By his count, it had been over an hour and a half now. Restless, he had begun pacing around in circles, growing progressively more restless as the time passed.

“Between two and four hours,” Sully answered automatically.

Rick and Rae both looked at him in surprise. The sheriff’s question had been more or less rhetorical.

“One of my cousins is an ME,” Sully explained.

“Too bad we couldn’t have sent him the body,” Rae commented.

“Her,” Sully corrected. “And this is actually faster. Kristin said they usually have their hands full. Kristin’s the medical examiner I mentioned,” he explained further.

“I guess we’re lucky to be this peaceful,” Rick decided, sitting down again on one of the chairs. “Two to four hours, eh?” he repeated. It was obvious that although he was resigned, he wasn’t happy about it.

Sully tried to give the man a little hope. “It depends on the condition of the body being autopsied as well as how big the person was and how decomposed.”

Rick considered the stipulations Sully had just enumerated. “Well, other than his color once the mud was washed off—and the fact that he was dead—Warren looked to be in pretty good shape,” he assessed.

Just then, they heard the door in the rear of the clinic being opened. Dan and Alisha used the third examination room to do minor surgical procedures in lieu of shipping a patient off to the hospital, which was also fifty miles away. This was the first time that an autopsy was being performed in the room.

All three people in the waiting room were on their feet, hurrying toward the rear of the clinic.

Dan met them in the middle. The blue surgical garb he had put on for the procedure had blood on it, and he looked really tired.

“Are you finished with the autopsy?” Rick asked.

“In the interest of brevity,” Dan told them, “I just did a preliminary one.” He paused to strip off his gloves and remove the mask that was now hanging from about his neck.

“Were you able to determine the cause of death?” Sully asked.

Even with the mud washed off to a greater degree, it was hard for Dan to distinguish what was a wound and what was actually bruises and scratches.

Dan nodded. “There were two knife wounds delivered straight to the heart. As near as I can see, Warren bled out, most likely after whoever did this to him buried him,” Dan conjectured. “The poor guy didn’t have enough strength to dig himself out of his impromptu grave, much less try to get help.”

Envisioning the scene, Rae shivered. But her expression seemed almost stony as she asked the doctor, “Did you find out anything else?”

Dan wearily shook his head. “No, sorry. The actual ME can do a tox screen once you transport the body to the hospital. Maybe it’ll produce some more answers.”

“You did great, Doc,” Rick told the man with enthusiasm.

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