‘Detective Hunter speaking.’
‘Robert, it’s Jonathan Winston here.’
Hunter checked his watch. ‘What’s the matter, doc? Can’t sleep?’
‘At my age I rarely sleep past five in the morning anyway, but I ain’t calling to discuss my sleeping habits.’
The ominous tone in Doctor Winston’s voice cleared the grin from Hunter’s face. ‘What’s wrong?’
‘Well, you’d better get your partner and get here. I need you to see something before I start the autopsy on the decapitated priest.’
‘Before you start the examination?’ Hunter enquired skeptically.
‘That’s right.’
‘Are you at the County Coroner’s?’
‘Yep.’
‘I’ll call Carlos. We’ll be there in half an hour, doc.’
Seventeen
‘So what’s this all about?’ Garcia asked as he met Hunter in the parking lot to the County Department of Coroner at 6:35 a.m. ‘This place ain’t even open yet.’
Hunter shrugged. ‘The doctor didn’t say, but I guess we’ll find out soon enough.’
Doctor Winston greeted both detectives with a firm handshake by the entrance door.
‘So what happened, doc?’ Hunter asked as they entered the building.
‘Well, last night when I got to the Redwood Bar & Grill for William’s leaving do, I turned my cell phone off. After all, I’m a pathologist not a surgeon. I don’t get called for emergencies in the middle of the night.’
‘OK.’ Hunter said the word slowly.
‘When I turned my cell phone back on this morning I had a rather peculiar message from one of my forensic technicians.’
They walked through an empty front lobby, past the reception desk and into a long and well-lit corridor.
‘As you might expect, we’re one of the busiest coroners’ departments in the entire United States. Most of the gritty, autopsy-preparatory jobs are delegated to forensic technicians, who are usually university students.’
They reached the stairwell at the end of the corridor and went up to the first floor.
‘The corpses arrive here in a regular polyethylene body bag. In the specific case of your priest’s body, the coroner’s investigator at the scene was kind enough to remove the dog’s head from the body before sealing the bag.’
‘I can imagine a student’s surprise as he unzips a bag to find a human body with a dog’s head stuck to it,’ Hunter said.
‘Exactly,’ the doctor confirmed. ‘I haven’t seen the head yet.’
‘Where’s it now?’ Garcia enquired.
‘In the lab. It will be undergoing forensic tests this morning. If we’re lucky, we might get something.’
They stopped in front of the changing-room door.
‘Suit up,’ the doctor said. ‘I’ll meet you at autopsy 2B. Second to last door on the left.’ He pointed down the corridor.
After Hunter and Garcia rejoined him, Doctor Winston continued, ‘OK, so last night the forensic technicians were preparing bodies for this morning’s examinations.’ He opened the door to room 2B and switched on the lights. Immediately, the smell of ammonia hit them and burned their lungs. A stainless-steel table occupied the middle of the spotlessly clean tiled floor. On one wall there was a large double sink and a metal counter with several tools neatly lined up on it, including a Stryker saw. On the opposite wall, shelves held numerous microscopes, vials and test tubes. Two state-of-the-art computers sat on two separate small desks.
‘The body needs to be washed before the examination is carried out,’ Doctor Winston said, stepping closer to the stainless-steel table. A body lay on it covered by a long white cloth. ‘Needless to say that before being washed, the body needs to be undressed.’
Hunter could already predict what would come next.
‘When the forensic technicians undid the priest’s cassock, this is what they found.’ Doctor Winston uncovered the body. All three men stared at it in silence for a few seconds.
‘Fuck,’ Garcia whispered, breaking the tense silence. On the priest’s chest, painted in red and about six inches long, was the number three.
Eighteen
It was past 9:30 a.m. by the time Hunter and Garcia arrived at the RHD headquarters in North Los Angeles Street. Usually the main squad room would be at least two-thirds empty at this time, with the majority of detectives out in the field. This morning it was surprisingly full.
‘Wow! Busy in here today,’ Garcia commented, looking around the open-plan office.
‘And there’s a reason for it,’ Hunter countered.
‘Homicides are finally on a slope in LA?’ Garcia joked.
‘Not even God could make that happen.’ Hunter pointed to the door at the far end of the squad room. ‘That’s the reason.’ The placard on its door read CAPTAIN BARBARA BLAKE.
‘Damn! I forgot all about the introductory meeting with the new captain this morning at eight.’
‘We had more important things to do,’ Hunter said, taking off his jacket and placing it on the back of his chair as he reached his desk.
Before he had a chance to sit down, the door to the captain’s office was pulled opened and Captain Bolter poked his head through. ‘Robert, Carlos, get in here.’
Without knocking, both detectives entered the spacious office. A stylish rosewood desk was positioned by the large back window. Casebooks lined the various shelves on the wall to the right of the desk. Most of the framed photographs that once decorated the room were now gone. Hunter guessed they were packed inside the boxes neatly arranged against the west wall. Captain Bolter was by the coffee machine in the corner. Standing beside the desk was a striking-looking woman.
‘Robert Hunter, Carlos Garcia, meet your new captain, Barbara Blake,’ William Bolter said as he stirred the cup of coffee in his hand.
Captain Blake’s long dark hair was elegantly styled into a twisted bun. Her skin, under light makeup, looked smooth and well cared for. She wore a pale shade of lipstick, a pearl necklace and matching earrings. Her designer white silk shirt was neatly tucked into a black tube skirt. Hunter knew she was in her early fifties, but she looked no older than forty.
‘Please have a seat.’ She pointed to the two leather chairs in front of her desk. ‘This will be the last time any of you two walk into my office without knocking,’ she said as both detectives sat down.
William Bolter chuckled. ‘I told you she can be a right bitch.’
Hunter kept silent. His eyes studied the new captain. She was playing her cards right. Straight away she was making a stand. Showing she wouldn’t take crap from any of her detectives. The right thing to do on her first day in such a powerful and male-dominated job.
‘I’m gonna skip the bullshit speech I gave the other detectives earlier. I’m sure you’ve heard it all before and I’m not here to patronize you,’ she said, taking a seat behind her new desk. ‘Nothing’s gonna change. You’ll carry on doing your job and you’ll report to me as your captain just as you did with William.’ She nodded towards Captain Bolter.
Hunter liked her style. First show you mean business then play your friendly hand. Barbara Blake was no first-timer.
She tossed a neatly folded newspaper towards both detectives. ‘Your new case is already causing a stir.’
Hunter picked it up and checked the headline.
DECAPITATED PRIEST MADE TO LOOK LIKE THE DEVIL. There were no pictures.
Hunter handed the paper to Garcia without reading the rest of the article. ‘That was expected, captain. Reporters were already there by the time we got to the church. We’re just lucky none of them managed to sneak in and snapshot the body.’
Captain Blake leaned back on her chair. ‘I just came off the phone with Mayor Edwards. As you probably know, he’s a Roman Catholic. He’s also very good friends with Bishop Patrick Clark, who’s the Episcopal Vicar of the San Pedro region. The Seven Saints Catholic Church belongs to that region.’ She paused and locked eyes with Hunter. ‘Mayor Edwards called to pressure me. He wants this investigation to be the very definition of swift justice. I reassured him that, as always, we’d be doing our best. He asked who I had on the case, and when I gave him your name he freaked out.’