Death on a Cliff by Rosalie Spielman

Author:Rosalie Spielman
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: romantic suspense, vacation, beach read, hawaii mystery
Publisher: Gemma Halliday Publishing

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

I sat on a bench in a sterile-looking hallway, Auntie Akamai at my side.

"Why did I agree to this?" I whispered at her.

"The question should be, why did Detective Ray ask you to!" Auntie Akamai practically shouted. "You might have nightmares after this!"

I swiveled my head to stare at her. "I've seen a couple dead bodies before, and I'm sure the professor will look very peaceful compared to those."

Auntie Akamai tutted. "That is about the worst sentence I've ever heard uttered."

I could do nothing but shrug. It was true, after all.

A small woman in a white lab coat appeared through the swinging door to our right. We both turned to look at her.

"I'm Dr. Aimi Yoshida, the coroner. I understand you've come to identify our John Doe?" She held out her hand.

Auntie Akamai stood and took her hand and pumped it vigorously. "I wholeheartedly disapprove of this. I just want that to be on the record."

Dr. Yoshida frowned. "Okay." She turned to me. "Are you willing to take a quick look?"

I stood. "I suppose."

Dr. Yoshida held a hand toward the double swinging doors to direct me into the morgue. "You knew the deceased?"

"Briefly. I'm sure there are others who knew him better. I just happened to be around. And available." I pushed through the doors and glanced around. A body covered with a white sheet was waiting for me.

Dr. Yoshida led me to the white sheet and stood across the body from me. She paused, her hand hovering above the sheet. "Are you ready?"

I nodded and steeled myself as she lifted the sheet.

Xavier James lay there like he was sleeping, his skin a gross waxy white except for a now-familiar purplish ring around his neck.

"He was strangled." I stared at the ring. I glanced up over at Dr. Yoshida. "Like Delaney was."

She nodded and pulled the sheet back over his face and head. "Yes. Similar bruising."

"Any way he did that to himself?" I stared at the sheet where the form underneath made a little mountain. When she didn't answer, I glanced up.

Dr. Yoshida was staring at me. "Um, no. No chance."

"So probably the same killer." I mumbled this more to myself than her. It would be a pretty weird coincidence, after all.

Instead of answering (or perhaps it was an answer to not reply?), she asked if I knew the dead man's name.

"Yes, it's Xavier James." I couldn't take my eyes off his neck. "Where was he found?"

"On the beach. By some unlucky tourist." She scribbled on a paper on a clipboard then held it out to me. "Please read and sign."

I nodded and numbly read the form that stated that I verified the victim was Xavier James. I signed at her X and handed the clipboard back to her.

"Thank you." She nodded her head and gestured toward the swinging doors with her slender hand.

"Are you okay?" Auntie Akamai got to her feet and held out her hands for mine.

"Yeah. I'm fine." I took her hands in mine and gave them a squeeze.

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