You and me both, sighed Curran.
He stretched back and shrugged his shoulders. Tiny pops sounded from his back. As the years had rolled by, the number of creaks and dings had increased.
Outside, another spell of cold drizzle splattered the windows. Curran watched the rivulets run down in odd patterns.
The room went silent.
A blast of cold air swept into the room.
Napkins and papers scattered on his desk. Curran nearly fell out of his chair, jumping as the sudden burst of energy broke the relative calm.
Curran looked into the gloom. His eyes saw little, unable to penetrate the deep shadows.
“Hello?”
Curran’s skin suddenly felt hot and clammy. Sweat broke out on his face.
He stood.
His right hand slid back to his right hip, feeling the quiet reassurance of his pistol.
He walked toward the office door.
Another blast of cold air pushed him toward the door.
Curran unsnapped his holster.
His hair felt on edge.
Then he caught a whiff of something.
“What th-”
It smelled like rotten garbage, like something had been in a state of decay for weeks. Curran had smelled death before, but this made his stomach churn.
His right foot kicked something.
He bent down.
Harry's lifeless body lay by the doorway. Curran frowned. The stench made his eyes water.
Hadn't he just heard Harry running around a few minutes earlier?
Now he was dead?
It didn't make any sense.
But Harry's dead body lay there as proof.
Curran pulled on a latex glove and prodded the corpse. It felt bloated. Harry's stomach gave when Curran pushed it in.
The stink swept over him again.
What the hell was going on?
Curran wheeled, ripping his gun out and aiming it at…
…nothing.
Only the shadows stared back at him.
A low rolling chuckle filled the air.
Curran spun again but found nothing to shoot.
Abruptly, the cold wind vanished.
And the quiet returned.
Curran slumped to the floor.
He’s really here, he thought.
The Soul Eater.
Curran grabbed an evidence bag and scooped Harry's body into it. Then he walked out of the office.
Working late didn't seem so appealing anymore.
Chapter Nine
“Can you do it?”
Kwon sighed. “I’m really starting to wonder about you, Steve. First you go bonkers over some chick who's going to be a nun. Now you bring me a dead mouse that smells like the bathroom after an all-you-can-eat burrito contest and you want me to do an autopsy on it.”
“Nice analogy.”
Kwon sighed. “You brought him home with you last night?”
“Your office was closed.”
“And now it’s almost twelve hours later.” Kwon frowned. “Did you at least put him the fridge?”
“Right next to a six-pack.” It was true. Curran had stored Harry’s limp body next to the bottles of the Sam Adams Boston Lager he liked so much.
Kwon took the bag. “You owe me big for this.”
“I’ll score you some Celtics tickets.” He looked around the office. “How long’s it going to take?”
Kwon shook his head. “Well, gee, I have to get my miniature drill, saw, and scalpel. Then I'll just rig up a freaking electron microscope so I can actually
“How long, Kwon?”
“You see that corpse over there?”
Curran glanced at the closest gurney. “What about it?”
“That’s a human. Or it was. That’s what I get paid to cut open. Mice tend to fall outside my job description.” He sighed. “It’ll be a few hours.”
“You do the pedophile we tagged yesterday?”
Kwon pointed at the gurney again. “That’s him. I was all set to start until you brought me the shake-and- bake furry dude here.”
“Maybe I’ll stick around then,” said Curran.
“What — now you got a green brain fetish?” Kwon shook his head. “Just for your sake then, I’ll change the order of the PM so we can get to the brain first.”
“Is that allowed?”
“I’m the damned ME, Steve. I’ll cut him open proper after I show you his skull. I don’t think anyone will be upset if we aren’t all that proper with a scumbag chicken hawk like this.”
“Probably not.”
“Remember the drill?” Kwon drew back the sheet and took out the body block. Curran placed it under the pedophile’s head.
Kwon leaned in and began cutting with a scalpel behind the right ear.
“Shouldn’t I have my apron on for this?” asked Curran.
Kwon glanced up. “Why? This isn’t the bloody part. I’m saving you from the organ removal.”
“Kind of you.”
“Get some gloves though, we have to do the double yank thing now to expose the skull.”
Curran pulled on the latex gloves. “I’ll take the front again.”
Kwon nodded. “On three.”
On the count, Curran pulled hard and found the skin actually came off easier than it had on Lauren’s brother the other night.
Kwon cranked up the Stryker saw and began cutting around the top of the skull. He finished and set the machine down. “Okay, off with the top and we can confirm if this is another one of the Soul Eater’s victims.”
Curran frowned. It sounded so odd hearing Kwon use it matter-of-factly like that. “You going to put that down in the case file as cause of death?”
“Hell no. Business and personal beliefs don’t coincide very often in this world. I’ll keep my opinions to
