A few minutes later, with her breakfast clutched in one paw and her coffee in the other, Vera made her way to the morgue. She took her time so she could nibble at her bagel sandwich on the way. She wanted to appear professional when she arrived, not dripping with cheese and covered in coffee stains. Not to mention that food and forensics did not mix well.
When Vera entered the building, she went directly to the front desk where a squirrel was entering some figures into a ledger. She identified herself and said that she was there to meet with Dr. Brodhead. The squirrel stared at her for so long that Vera was afraid that she had cheese on her face. Finally, he directed her to the staircase.
“One flight down—Exam Room 3.”
Vera thanked him and made her way to the exam room where she found Orville and Chief Meade awaiting the arrival of Dr. Brodhead.
Only a few minutes had passed when the police bears and the fox heard a very distinct slithering sound coming from the hallway. This heralded the return of the coroner, who greeted all of them with great cordiality. The snake wasted no time in giving them his preliminary report.
“The victim issss a male rat,” Dr. Brodhead said. “I have determined that the decapitation happened posssstmortem, but I have not yet dissssscovered the caussssse of death. Alssssso, identification isssss ssssssomewhat complicated, asssss the head is misssssing. Therefore, we cannot rely on dental recordssssss. I would appreciate it if the policccce could sssssearch their own recordsssss for reportssss of any missssssing ratssss.”
Vera and Orville were both scribbling down notes as the medical examiner made his report. Orville thanked Dr. Brodhead for his quick work and promised to let him know about the missing creature reports. Chief Meade had given up all pretense at paying attention and was staring into space with a troubled expression. The deputy growled low in his throat to get Captain Meade’s attention.
Meade started and then realized it was time to go. Vera followed the police bears out of the morgue and up the stairs. At the front of the hospital, the group said their goodbyes. Orville and Meade were headed to the police station, and Vera wanted to have a consultation with Lenore. Her friend would be cleaning up the bookshop after the large event last night. She decided to grab two more coffees from Joe’s and then headed over to Nevermore Books.
The bookshop was open for business but completely empty when Vera arrived. Lenore heard the bell over the door ring and made her way down to the front from the office where she was tallying up last night’s receipts.
“Morning,” Vera greeted her friend, offering her one of the coffees.
Lenore accepted the coffee with gratitude. “What perfect timing,” the raven said, taking a sip. “I’m ready for a break. I gave Violet the day off so she could recover from last night’s excitement. What are you up to this morning?”
Vera also sipped her coffee and settled down to fill Lenore in on the events of last night and this morning. She realized that Lenore had no idea that a body had been discovered in the woods. She had been too busy with customers last night to pay any attention to the deer and what had gone on.
Vera related the events of last night, leaving out the attentions of Bradley Marvel. She could tell her friend about that later. The important thing now was that perhaps Dot Springfield was onto something after all. There was an unidentified dead rat who was missing his head, and most likely another murderer running amok in Shady Hollow! She went on with the highlights of the meeting with the coroner that morning.
Lenore sipped her coffee thoughtfully as she took all of this in. Then she peppered Vera with her questions.
“Who would decapitate a rat and why?” she began. “Was it an attempt to obscure the identity of the victim or some other reason? Is the dead rat Edward Springfield? In that case, then who is the rat posing as Edward Springfield?”
“Stop, stop,” Vera begged her friend. “I don’t know the answers to any of these questions. But I plan to find out. I have a theory about the Springfield family, but I’m going to have to travel to the town of Highbank to get more information.”
“Highbank? Whatever for?”
“When I interviewed Edward, he mentioned his estranged brother, Thomas, had lived in Highbank for at least some time. And now with the discovery of an unknown male rat, it seems like a good time to check out exactly what Thomas was doing in Highbank, and if he left…and when!”
“You really think he could be involved? Thomas could just as likely be half a world away, living happily.”
Vera said, “From both Edward’s account and some reports I found in old newspaper clippings in the library, it’s pretty clear that Thomas is a shifty individual. What if he returned to Mirror Lake because he heard Adora Springfield was close to death? Perhaps he wants his share of the family fortune, and he intended to bully Edward into giving it over to him?”
Lenore’s eyes gleamed with enthusiasm. “If there was blood in the foyer of the house, as Dorothy reported, then that means there was a fight. So, here are two theories: Thomas killed Edward and buried the body in the woods, then took over Edward’s life in order to get the inheritance. Or Edward killed Thomas to keep him from blackmailing him, and buried the body, and Dorothy sensed something was wrong, but came up with a typically ‘Dotty-style’ conclusion.”
“Of the two theories,” Vera said slowly, “I think I’d go with the second. Thomas was older than Edward, and I can’t imagine that the two look so much alike that it’s fooling everyone in town. But if Edward is the murderer, and he beheaded
