Mania: An Alexander Gregory Thriller (The Alexander Gregory Thrillers Book 4) by LJ Ross

Author:LJ Ross [Ross, LJ]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: UNKNOWN
Published: 2022-03-02T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 20

If it weren’t for the sickly, morbid pallor of his skin, Lance Beckett might have been sleeping.

He lay stretched out in a shallow bath, his limbs stiff and waxy like a mannequin doll, owing to the effects of rigor mortis, while the underside of his body was red and bloated thanks to livor mortis and the impact of having been submerged in water for several hours.

The fact he happened to be nude seemed inconsequential, by comparison.

“No matter how many times I do this, I always feel like a voyeur,” Hope said quietly, as Gregory stepped forward to join her in the bathroom doorway. “It feels so…undignified.”

“Death is the last undignified act of the living,” Gregory agreed. “Whether by natural causes, self-infliction or by somebody else’s hand, it’s always brutal.”

Hope nodded, understanding him completely.

“You’d think I’d get used to it,” she said, with a self-deprecating shrug. “My stomach might have grown stronger, over the years, but it’s always a punch to the gut seeing people laid out, raw.”

“Better you than anyone else,” Gregory said, turning to look at her. “Your discomfort reflects the compassion you retain for the people who once inhabited the bodies in your charge. They had lives, dreams, friends, family…regardless of whether they were ‘good’ or ‘bad’ people, whatever those words might mean, you treat them with respect. It’s all any of us could hope for, when our time comes.”

Hope turned away, wondering whether he knew how much his words affected her.

He couldn’t possibly know.

“It doesn’t scream suicide, at first glance,” Gregory continued, all business again. “No obvious wounds, no bottle of pills…”

“There was a note,” she said, and guided him back through to the living area, where two other members of the forensics team rustled about in polypropylene suits while they swept the place for evidence.

She handed him a clear plastic evidence bag containing a printed sheet of paper, which read:

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