Page 44 of Her Last Whisper

Catching her breath, she finally said, “It isn’t pretty, is it?”

“It’s not about pretty. What’s going on with you?”

“Sorry I’m late.” She was still panting. “I had an old friend show up at my house last night and I didn’t get much sleep.”

“Oh, I get it,” he said sarcastically. “Good for you.”

“Do you ever think about anything else?”

“I thought you already had a boyfriend,” he said. “Do tell.”

“You know, McGaven…” she said, exasperated.

He smiled.

“Never mind. It’s not important now.” She straightened her jacket and checked her briefcase, trying to not look like she was rushed. “Let’s go.” They went inside the building.

Katie puther briefcase down on the floor, leaning it against the wall outside the examination room before entering. She hadn’t seen Dr. Dean in a while and wondered if he still dressed like he was ready to board a cruise ship. She remembered the first time she met him during the autopsy of little Chelsea Compton: His unusual casualness of vacation attire followed by his directness made him an interesting medical examiner. He always took Katie’s questions seriously as she learned her way around the process.

“My favorite detectives,” said Dr. Dean, almost in a musical tone. “Good to see you back officially as a detective, Ms. Scott—rather, Detective Scott.” He winked at her and then moved toward the last exam table where the sheet had been pulled all the way back.

“Thank you.” She smiled, never knowing whether to call him Jeff, doctor, or Dr. Dean. “Your email said for us to come and see you.”

“Yes, isn’t it more fun this way?” he said.

Katie didn’t know exactly how to respond to that and she glanced to McGaven who had a confused expression as well.

“Well, I don’t know about fun,” she said.

Dr. Dean looked up from the report and said, “Oh, no. I think you misunderstood my meaning. It’s nice to speak with the investigating officers in person. My staff is rather introverted, not a lot of conversation around here. And the only other people I see are the grieving family members. Not a fun group. So it’s nice to have a conversation.”

“We understand,” said Katie forcing a smile, still feeling the rushed adrenalin after running from her car.

“Okay then. Amanda Payton, thirty-one, good health, has several old minor bruises and abrasions, and also has fresh defensive wounds,” the medical examiner began as he lifted her left forearm to illustrate. “Cause and manner of death: Asphyxiation by strangulation, which I’m deeming a homicide, of course. Estimated time of death I put at around 2a.m. Thursday, give or take a half hour.”

“Anything unusual? There was what looked like fibers under her nails,” Katie explained.

The doctor continued reading. “Oh yes, we did a full combing of her hair and scraping under her nails, which we sent to be tested.”

McGaven decided to speak up. “Do you see a lot of strangulation cases?”

Dr. Dean thought a moment, nodding as he replied, “Unfortunately, yes I do. Not all are declared homicides, some are suicides, and a few accidents from autoerotic behavior.”

Katie did her best to look at Amanda’s corpse directly—recalling sitting in her living room just days ago. The thought made her swallow hard. This part was never going to be easy so she had better learn to let certain things go.

Suck it up, Detective Scott.

The medical examiner continued, “However, there are a couple of things that might interest you.”

That statement caught Katie’s immediate attention. “Such as?”

“Would you say Ms. Payton was wealthy or had a rich boyfriend?”

Katie wasn’t sure how to answer that, but nothing directed her to believe that Amanda was wealthy. “No, unless she had some great investments somewhere.”

“The reason why I’m saying this is because of the contents of her stomach.”

Both Katie and McGaven hung on every word.