They both walked back to the Coroner’s building in silence. One of the advantages of visiting Chris at this hour was that Culhane wouldn’t have to go in through the front door; the building would be a lot quieter, no badges needed to be shown, no papers to sign – less suspicion.
They reached the staff entrance door on the south side of the building and Chris punched a six-digit code into the electronic keypad. The thick metal door buzzed open.
‘Wait here, I’ll be right back,’ he said and quickly disappeared into the building leaving Culhane standing outside with a curious look on his face. Less than a minute later Chris re-emerged carrying a standard coroner’s white overall. ‘Put this on, it should fit. It’s the largest one I could find.’
‘Are you trying to be funny?’
The last thing Chris wanted was for anyone to find out he’d allowed a stranger into the building without signing in at the front desk, even if that stranger was a cop. He guided Culhane through the deserted lower-floor corridor, through a pair of heavy swing doors and up the staircase to the first floor. Culhane had walked these corridors more times than he cared to remember. It still made his stomach turn inside out. Culhane would never have admitted it, but he was glad he wasn’t alone. They reached the last room at the end of the hall.
After every autopsy, the bodies were brought to the cold-storage room, or as everyone in the Coroner’s office called it ‘the big chill
Chris locked the door behind him so they wouldn’t be interrupted and walked over to the computer desk at the far end of the room.
‘OK, let’s try an initial search . . . male or female?’ he asked wasting no time. The faster he got rid of Culhane the better.
‘Female.’
‘Is she white, black . . .?’
‘Caucasian, blond, blue eyes, slim and very attractive.’
Chris gave Culhane a coy smile. ‘OK, from what date would you like me to search from?’
‘Let’s try from last Friday.’
Chris instinctively looked at his watch. ‘That’d be . . . June 1st right?’
‘Yeah, that’s right.’
‘OK.’ Chris typed in the information and hit the enter key. It took less than five seconds for the computer to return an answer.
‘Yep, we’ve got sixteen matches. Do you have a name?’
‘Yes, Jenny Farnborough, but I’m sure she won’t show up on your screen.’
Chris’s eyes quickly searched the list. ‘Nope, you’re right, she’s not on this list.’
‘Any unidentified female bodies?’
Chris checked the list once again. ‘Yep, we’ve got four.’
‘Let’s check them.’
After a few mouse clicks they had a printout. ‘OK, let’s go have a look,’ Chris said, walking towards the freezers. They stopped in front of the door marked C11, the first one on his list. It took them a little more than five minutes to go through the four unidentified bodies. Jenny Farnborough’s wasn’t one of them.
‘Are these all the bodies? I mean, is there another cold-storage room in the building?’ Culhane asked.
‘Yes, there’s another one in the basement, but I have no access to it,’ Chris replied.
‘What do you mean, why not?’
‘It’s a sealed-off area.’
‘Why is there a sealed-off area in a Coroner’s?’
Chris was glad to offer an explanation to something an LA detective didn’t know. ‘Certain cases can still be too dangerous – radiation, poison victims, high risk of contamination – cases like that. In those circumstances, the autopsy is conducted in the sealed-off area by the chief medical examiner.’
‘And do you know if there’s a body down there at the moment?’
‘Doctor Winston was working on an autopsy in there until really late last night. The body has never come up to this room, so I’m pretty sure it’s still down there.’
‘But the body has to come up to the honeycomb right?’
‘Honeycomb?’ Chris frowned.
‘This room . . . the fridge.’ There was a hint of irritation in Culhane’s voice.
‘No, that room has its own storage area. The body can stay down there indefinitely.’ Chris’s answer added to the detective’s irritation.
‘Are you sure you can’t get me in that room?’
‘No chance, only Doctor Winston has the key and he keeps it on him at all times.’
‘Isn’t there a way around it?’
‘Not really. The door is alarmed and there is a camera on the wall. If you ain’t invited, you ain’t getting in.’
‘How many bodies are down there?’
‘Only one that I know of.’
‘Have you got a picture of the body or any records on your computer?’
‘No, Doctor Winston keeps everything related to the cases that go into the sealed-off area in there. They don’t even get added to the main database until they’re cleared by the doctor himself. Anyway, even if I had a picture of the body I don’t think it would help you.’
‘And why’s that?’
‘Well, rumor has it the body’s unrecognizable, something to do with it having no face.’
‘What? Really?’
‘That’s what I’ve heard.’
‘Decapitated?’
‘I’m not sure, I just heard the body had no face. It could’ve been blown off by a shotgun. It’s not unheard of,’ Chris said shaking his head.
Mark Culhane took a moment to think about the situation he’d been presented with. In his mind, the odds of the only body in the sealed-off area being of Jenny Farnborough were quite skinny. He saw no point in pursuing it.
‘Thanks, Chris. Do me a favor will you? Keep an eye out for any bodies matching the description I gave you, if anything comes in, give me a shout, it’s important.’ Culhane handed Chris one of his cards.
Chris regarded the card for a moment. ‘Sure, anything for the LAPD.’
‘I’d better get going. Do you mind if I get out through the same door we came in?’
‘That’s fine by me. I’ll have to walk down with you, there’s a code to the door.’
They left the cold-storage room and walked back in silence. As they reached the door, Culhane handed the overall back to Chris who punched the code into the metal keypad. Culhane was glad to see the outside world again.
Sitting inside his car, Culhane lit a cigarette. There were another two Coroner offices in Los Angeles, one in Santa Clarita and one in West Lancaster, but he wasn’t sure if it was worth the trip. He finished his cigarette and decided he’d done all he could do to find this Jenny Farnborough girl; she was only another hooker anyway. In the morning he’d call Jerome and let him know. For now, he had more important things to do.
Eighteen
West Sunset Boulevard is one of the most famous streets in Los Angeles, but its best-known portion is the mile and a half stretch between Hollywood and Beverly Hills that has been dubbed ‘The Sunset
