Mai was waiting nervously in the parking lot by her car. She crouched down when she saw the truck’s headlights. “Maybe we shouldn’t do this, Peggy.”
“How else will we know what really happened to Mark and who was responsible?”
“I don’t know. But I’m feeling kind of queasy. I might be coming down with something. I think I should go home.”
“You’ll be fine. Have some chewable zinc. This won’t take long. Where do we go from here?”
Mai drove them to the medical examiner’s office on College Street. She used her police pass to park in the lot next to the building. She turned off the car but didn’t move. “Are you
“I’ve only seen a few dead bodies in my life, sweetie,” Peggy told her. “I’m not anxious to see any more. But I know this might be the only way to prove what really happened. We can’t let the opportunity go by, can we?”
“No. I suppose not.” Mai straightened her spine, then got out of the car. “Let’s go.”
It wasn’t exactly stealthy. Mai had to show her ID and tell the security guard that Peggy was there to identify her dead uncle. Once they got past the front desk, they followed the spotless corridor to a set of double doors that opened into the morgue.
“Put these on.” Mai gave Peggy a mask and a pair of latex gloves. “You never know what could be up here. And for goodness sake, don’t touch
They walked into an area where the walls were lined with handles. They almost looked like recessed file cabinets. Then Mai picked a drawer with a case number on it. It slid open with a little squeak. The body was covered by a paper sheet. Peggy felt the blood drain from her face.
“Are you okay?” Mai asked her.
“I’m fine, thanks. I told you I haven’t seen many of these.”
“We’ll all be one someday.” Mai took out a syringe. “I just don’t want you to faint. I don’t want to do anything to draw attention to us. We’ve been lucky so far. Getting out could be more difficult.”
Peggy watched carefully as Mai filled three syringes with blood from Mark’s body. She didn’t think she’d be able to. Her plan had been to get Mai in there, then look away. But she found that she couldn’t. Mark looked far worse than when she found him in her shop. Deterioration was starting to set in. His gray skin looked like rubber. She couldn’t see his face and thought she should probably be glad.
“Almost through. I might need a tissue sample. This is definitely our last chance to get it.” Mai replaced the cap on the syringe and took out a plastic bottle. She unscrewed the lid and handed the bottle to Peggy. “Hold this.”
Peggy held it out for Mai’s sample. She noticed the other woman’s hands were shaking. “Are you all right?”
“Just nervous. I like my job. I plan to be chief medical officer someday. I don’t want to end up in that little office forever.”
“I can understand that. And just think of the top marks the medical examiner will give you when you prove my theory.”
Mai laughed. “Or when my landlord throws me out because I’ve lost my job. I don’t think the ME will be too pleased if I prove he was wrong. People are funny that way.”
“You must think there’s some merit in what I told you,” Peggy reasoned, “or you wouldn’t be here risking so much to help me.”
“You must be right.” She put the top back on the bottle. “Or I’m crazy. There we go. Now all we have to do is get out of here without getting caught.”
No sooner were the words out of her mouth than they heard voices coming toward them.
“Quick! Behind this door!” Mai closed the body drawer, then shoved Peggy and herself into the next room through a set of swinging metal doors.
Peggy put her hand out to stop the motion of the doors after they were out of the way. The two women stood quietly together in the dark room. The two men were still talking as they entered the room. One of the body drawers slid open and closed. The techs talked about the Panthers’ game and getting season tickets for the Bobcats, the new basketball team.
The drawer the techs opened didn’t squeak. Peggy hoped that meant it wasn’t the one Mark was in. There wasn’t time to put the paper sheet back across him. Maybe they wouldn’t notice.
“I forgot to fix the sheet,” Mai whispered, echoing her companion’s thoughts.
“Different drawer, I think.” Peggy glanced at her lighted watch. It was almost one A.M.
After a few minutes, they heard another drawer open and close again. The voices moved toward the door that led to the hallway, and the light clicked off.
Mai took a deep, shaky breath. “That was close.”
“Let’s take care of that sheet and get out of here.” Peggy pushed open the door.
It seemed so simple. They had what they needed. Even if someone noticed they signed in, no one would ever know what they were doing there. If Peggy’s theory was correct, even Jonas would have to admit they’d done a good thing. If not, no one would be the wiser. They didn’t talk about how Mai would present the evidence. There was no point in debating that until they knew if what they had made a difference.
She and Mai hurried down the corridor toward the front desk to sign out. They were only a few steps away from walking out of the building.
Paul pushed open the front door and walked in. “Mom?” He swiveled his gaze to the right. “Mai? What are you doing here?”
