The following is an excerpt of Chapter 4 – taking place in the City Morgue. Detective Dylan Murphy questions the medical examiner about some strange injuries a recent victim displays. This excerpt is from a rough draft that has not been thoroughly edited.

“Doctor?”

She turned her head only part of the way, long enough to get a quick glimpse of the person calling her, and went back to what she was doing.

“You must be Detective Murphy” she managed out of a voice that sounded heavily preoccupied.

“Yes Ma’am. You have something for me?”

She sat whatever instrument she was using, something that reminded Dylan of a protractor, down on the nearest cart and pulled her gloves off.

“I have nearly completed the autopsy Detective, and there are some findings that are…peculiar.”

He furrowed his brow as he approached the table. The girl didn’t look the same now, she had a hint of blue in her skin and the doctor had her open in the midsection. The cuts had been cleaned of the blood and now Dylan could see what he couldn’t pick up on at the scene. The cuts had some sort of circular pattern, deeper on the ends and slightly shallower in the middle. The cut across the throat looked worse now, a huge section of skin appeared to be missing.

“These cuts…I thought something was strange about them before but couldn’t put my finger on it. Now I see they are somewhat…circular.”

“Well yes that is the first thing I was going to bring to your attention. Obviously the weapon was curved.”

Dylan nodded, thinking for a moment on what curved blade was sharp enough to produce such heinous work. As if she had read his thoughts, the doctor interrupted him.

“If I may make a suggestion Detective, I went to med school in Kansas. Once, when I was an undergrad in pre-med we had a case to study that involved a strange laceration to the leg…”

The Doctor’s eyes seemed to leave and drift off to this distant place in her past. She seemed to take on a younger look, and Dylan thought he could almost see that undergraduate student standing before him.

“…the man was a farmer. He was knocked unconscious in the field and his Wife found him later. Turns out one of the hands accidentally hit his leg with a scythe. He nearly bled out.”

Dylan’s brow folded once more as he searched his mind for this instrument. He came up with the picture you would see in most dictionaries, long curving blade on a handle used to cut grain or grass by hand.

“So you think we might have a crazed Amish farmer on our hands Doc?”

She chuckled at this remark and a charming grin spread across Dylan’s face.

“To hell with us city folk, with our cars and our cell phones.”

She laughed again, heartier this time and flashed a playful smile. She found him attractive, as most women did, Dylan knew this. He also knew that this was as far as he would go. Bringing women in too close only meant trouble.

“I just thought you should know that the wounds were quite similar Detective. That’s all.” Her eyes pryed, asked silently, and the charming grin fell back to the thin line he walked in wearing.

“Well that is certainly alarming Doctor. I’ll keep that in mind. Anything else…peculiar?”

“Actually yes..” She responded, her own playful smile disappearing now as they reverted back to the people of 10 minutes ago. No flirting here. We don’t have time for that. “…the first cut was obviously the throat, where she bled out. It was deep enough to sever several arteries and the windpipe. So she actually wasn’t able to yell for help.”

She had been half pointing to the gash at the neck and now moved her hand toward the head.

“I believe that he knocked her out with a blow here first, then cut the throat in case she woke up.”

Dylan nodded, motioning for the Doctor to continue.

“It’s hard to tell due to the small time frame, but I believe these cuts to the arms and legs were next, and then once his excitement escalated he cut her straight down the middle.”