Tangled Read online

CHAPTER THREE

  Jay jotted down a few more notes before taking one last

  look around the crime scene. From the walking track

  where he was standing, he could see the last of the

  television crews still hanging around the roadside. They

  were loading their cameras and sound equipment into

  white mini vans while reporters were relaying what little

  information they had, back to the studios, via cell phones

  and palm pilots. Even though he had managed to get rid

  of most of them earlier on, their presence angered Jay.

  For years, the media had been a thorn in the side of Law

  Enforcement. Many times, they would enter a crime scene

  snapping photos and capturing whatever footage they

  could, before being escorted away by officers. They never

  gave a second thought to the evidence they might have

  been destroying, nor did they care for the victims or their

  families. More than once, they had broadcast grisly images

  of a victim, before their next of kin had even been notified.

  Jay detested news crews and he wasn’t shy about letting

  them know it.

  "Jayy," Seth yelled to him from a few feet away. "We’re

  ready when you are...”

  He watched as the mutilated body of his Jane Doe, was

  sealed inside a black, plastic bag before being slid onto a

  metal trolley. Two ambulance officers raised the trolley

  and began wheeling it through the scrub, towards him.

  Jay raised his hand to Seth and yelled back, "Let’s do it...”

  He waited for the ambulance officers to reach him and

  then positioned himself at the head of the trolley, ready

  for the march out of the scrub and up to the roadside.

  "Okay people," He began. "We still have a few vultures

  circling out there, just dying to get a shot of our girl. Let’s

  try to make this as quick and as smooth as possible,

  eh?"

  The young officers nodded in agreement.

  "Right. Now, no matter what happens, just get the body

  into the bus and get going. I’ll do my best to keep the

  reporters outta your hair...”

  When Jay was sure they were ready, he began the

  procession along the walking track. The metal trolley

  rattled and squeaked behind him.

  The trolley had barely reached the loose gravel on the

  shoulder of the road, when the frenzy began. Cameramen

  scrambled for their cameras and reporters grabbed their

  microphones. Jay remained firm at the front of the

  trolley, guiding it quickly to the ambulance.

  "Detective, Detective… Can you tell us what happened?"

  "Is it true that the victim was decapi-tated?" The barrage of

  questions flew thick and fast at Jay. "Was this a cult

  killing?"

  Jay held his arms out, trying to prevent the news crew

  from invading the space between him and the body. "I’m

  sorry, folk," Jay drawled. "I got nothing for ya’s. You’re

  just gonna have to wait till we release a statement."

  "When will that be?" Asked one female reporter.

  "Yeah," mimicked another, "When will that be?"

  The trolley reached the open back doors of the waiting

  ambulance and the two officers pushed the body inside.

  Jay tapped one of them on the shoulder as he was

  climbing up into the ambulance, and said, ‚Good job,

  fella’s... He then secured the heavy doors shut behind

  them.

  "When can we expect a statement, Detective?" The

  reporters continued their onslaught. Bright flashes and

  camera lights burned his eyes. Tape recorders and micro-

  phones were being shoved at him from every direction.

  "Give us something, Detective, come on!"

  Jay turned to the gathering of paparazzi and simply

  smiled. He then winked and weaved his way through

  them and back into the scrub without saying a word. A

  string of insults and boo’s followed him. It cheered Jay

  immensely, just knowing that he had spoiled their day.

  Seth approached Jay and shook his hand. "Thanks for

  that, Jayy. Damn news crews, they just never know when

  to quit.."

  "No problem, Seth. Any idea when the autopsy will be?"

  "I just phoned Augie, he’s going to get started on her at

  midday.."

  Jay looked at his watch. It was already 11am. "Great, you

  helping out?"

  Seth shook his head. "Nah, I just got a call on another

  murder. I have to head out to Bayside now.."

  "Must be the day for it eh?" Jay scoffed.

  "Sure seems that way. I’ll see you around, Jayy.." Seth

  juggled his bag of tricks under one arm and his clipboard

  under the other before heading back towards the road.

  Jay waved him goodbye and turned back to the scrub

  where the young girl’s body had been discov-ered. He

  sighed deeply and then spun around in the same

  direction as Seth, and headed for his cruiser.

  His phone was lying on the front seat; it chimed a few

  times and then finally fell silent. Jay picked it up and

  read the screen; it was a voice message. His fingers

  punched in his pin number. “You have one new

  message… no saved messages,” the automated voice

  informed him. “To listen to your message, please press

  one…. Jay followed the prompts to retrieve his message.

  He listened intently and made a mental note to call Ben

  after Jane Doe’s autopsy. He disconnected from the

  message bank, set his phone down on the passenger

  seat and turned the key in the engine. Gravel and dust

  flew up from beneath his tyres when he drove away in the

  direction of Showsdale.

  When he pulled into the station house parking lot, Jay

  peered quickly at his watch. It was 11.40 am, he decided

  he had just enough time for a quick coffee before heading

  to Jane Does autopsy. He could do with a reviver and a few

  quiet minutes to think. After locking his cruiser he found

  his way out onto the bustling footpath. The street was

  jam packed with cars, all lined up bumper-to-bumper,

  and the sidewalk was littered with people in a mad,

  desper-ate rush to be somewhere other than where they

  were.

  The heavy glass doors of Café Cino seemed even heavier

  today than usual, Jay stalled briefly when he pushed on

  them. He despised this café; it was a haven for

  intellectuals and professionals, yet he continued to drop

  in every so often. A grin spread across his face when his

  eyes surveyed the coffee shop and came to land on the

  young waitress behind the counter. It was Joany. Jay

  hadn’t seen her for quite some time now and he was

  pleased to see her. He approached the counter, his smile

  growing wider; and began his regular verbal assault on

  her.

  "Joany, baby…." He began.

  "Detective Marnotti, I thought you must have dropped off the

  planet," she said and then added, Seems I’m not that

  fortunate huh?"

  "Now, don’t be like that. You know you’re my favourite

  girl...."

  "Couldn’t you find another favourite?" She asked, cutting

  h
im short.

  Jay smiled. Joany had good reason to withdraw and wish

  she was somewhere else whenever Jay showed up. He

  took great pleasure in making life difficult for her every

  time he visited. Not that he disliked Joany, quite the

  opposite. She was attractive, competent and; in Jay’s

  opinion, the best waitress Café Cino had.

  "So I take it that means you won’t run away with me huh?"

  Jay cooed at her.

  "With you?" She rolled her eyes at him, "From you, more

  like it."

  "Well how’s about you just bring me a coffee then, darl?"

  He drawled.

  "If that’s the alternative to running away with you… You’ve

  got it.." She grinned, before walking over to the coffee

  machine. "And I ain’t your darl!" She added, picking up a

  cup and placing it under the percolator.

  "You love me Joany, you just don’t know it yet," He

  laughed and then strode over to a corner booth in the

  back of the café.

  Joany just shook her head and continued making his

  coffee.

  In the corner booth, Jay pulled the phone out of his

  breast pocket and hit the speed dial number for Ben. As

  the phone began to connect; he slid a cigarette out of his

  packet. Then right there, in front of a No Smoking sign, he

  proceeded to light up. He glanced toward the cash

  register to see how Joany was coming along with his

  coffee. Instead, he saw Creston Philbert, the manager,

  heading toward him. Ignoring his incoming visitor, Jay

  refocused on his phone call and took a long draw on his

  cigarette.

  "Jayy, what’s up?" Ben asked, having finally answered his

  phone.

  "Got your message earlier, Ben, how’s 9 o’clock tonight

  sound?" replied Jay, still eyeballing Creston’s approach.

  "Fine by me…." began Ben groggily, "I got a couple of

  leads I want to follow up first though.."

  "Oh yeah?" quizzed Jay. "Some real police work eh?"

  Ben paused, still too fogged up from his painkillers, to

  even bother taking Jay’s bait.

  "Yeah, yeah… I still got it in me y’know, Jayy," said Ben,

  deflecting Jay’s sarcasm with a little touch of burnt-out

  humour.

  "Okay Ben, you do whatever it is you old farts do, and I’ll

  see you at Bluey’s at 9, alright?" Jay barked into the

  phone, annoyed that Creston was now right upon him.

  "Right Jayy, see you then," Ben con-firmed before ending

  the call.

  Jay glared knowingly at Creston, then snapped his

  phone shut and slid it back into his pocket.

  "Detective Marnotti, why is it that you continue to harass my

  staff and how many times must you be asked to

  extinguish your cigarette? This is a non-smoking venue,"

  Creston rolled out his usual speech, which, as expected,

  rolled off Jay like water off a duck’s back.

  "I see your surgery wasn’t a success, Creston," Jay

  replied seriously.

  "Surgery?" asked Creston. "I didn’t have any surgery.."

  "So I see," Jay continued, "as that bug is still quite clearly

  lodged up your ass!"

  Creston was too dumbstruck to reply, he simply stood in

  front of Jay with a vacant look on his face. Before he had

  a chance to recover, Jay stood up and slapped him on

  the back.

  "Never mind old boy, I’ll get my coffee elsewhere for today.

  But you have a fine after-noon, ya hear?" With that, Jay

  stubbed his cigarette butt out in the sugar pot and made

  his exit, laughing heartily as he went.

  Stepping off the pavement and into the gutter, Jay

  weaved his way through the avalanche of cars and crossed

  the busy intersec-tion, remarkably unscathed. He rejoined

  the flow of pedestrians on the footpath and continued on

  his way to the ‚Hal Cotter Medical Centre.

  Jay reached the giant glass doors of the rather ordinary

  looking building; he lit another cigarette and just stood

  there for a moment. He wondered if all the citizens and

  motorists passing by even knew what went on behind

  these doors. Sure, everybody was aware that it was a

  medical research centre of renowned excellence, but did

  they have any idea that this is where murder victims were

  brought to be autopsied? It seemed ironic to Jay, that

  the person responsible for the murder of these people,

  could be walking past this building at that very same

  moment their victims were being autopsied.

  Jay lifted his cigarette to his lips and drew back hard,

  filling his lungs with its deadly poison. Slowly exhaling,

  he threw his butt to the ground and crushed it with his

  foot before turning and walking through the glass doors

  of the Medical Centre. He directed himself to the elevator

  where he pushed the down arrow. Jay watched the

  button light up as he waited for the stainless steel doors

  to open and beckon him in. In no time, the doors rolled

  open and Jay stepped inside. His finger hit another

  button, commanding the elevator to take him to the

  lower ground floor. The droning of the engine sounded

  out and Jay’s stomach churned as his descent began.

  With a slight jolt, the lift came to a stop and an

  automated voice echoed through the shaft telling him he

  was now at the lower ground floor. The steel doors rolled

  back and allowed him to get out.

  Jay turned right out of the elevator, then made his way

  to the tiny office at the end of the corridor where he

  showed his official I.D. He leant through the glass window

  of the reception

  desk asked for the suite number of his Jane Doe.

  The pretty blonde receptionist eyed his creden-tials

  carefully, then continued tapping away at her computer

  before saying, "Suite two, Detec-tive Marnotti… Dr. August is

  performing that one.."

  Jay shot her a seductive smile before replying, "Good old

  Augie eh? Thanks darl, you’re a gem.."

  Dr. Leon August was almost a veteran in autopsies; after

  all, he’d performed hundreds of them in his twenty-five or

  so years as a patholo-gist. Jay was rather fond of Dr.

  August, or Augie as everyone called him. He found his dry

  wit and humour to be a complimentary match for his

  own, and Augie could take it as good as he could dish it

  out. Jay respected his thor-oughness and his ability to

  convert the mumbo jumbo of medical jargon into lay-

  mans terms for his benefit. Augie could be pretty tightly

  wound at times though, that sometimes irked Jay, but

  with the responsibility of his job who wouldn’t be?

  Jay knocked on the door of Suite two and waited to be

  let in. A skinny, pimply-faced assistant opened the door,

  asked for I.D. and then welcomed him in. He handed Jay

  a mask, shoe covers, gloves and a full body apron to put

  on.

  "Wash your hands thoroughly, then come on through,"

  the assistant told Jay. He accepted the adornments

  without a word and did as he was instructed. He hadn’t

  attended too many autopsies
before, but he had a feeling

  that it was important that he come to this one in

  particular. He hadn’t bothered sitting in on Tessa Hunt’s

  last week, although he now wishes he had.

  When he entered the sterile autopsy suite, he was handed

  a clipboard with a few sheets of blank paper, and a pen.

  Jay looked at the assistant quizzically.

  "In case you wish to make notes," the assistant told him,

  helpfully.

  "Oh, right… thanks," Jay mumbled through his mask.

  He stared at a sign on the wall, below the oversized clock.

  “Hic locus est ubi mors gaudet succurrere vitae.”

  The writing puzzled Jay, he recalled having seen the

  same sign a few years ago when he had sat in on another

  autopsy.

  He was still entranced by the sign when Augie approached

  him and stood silently by his side. ‚It’s Latin, Augie

  blurted out, breaking the silence. "Roughly translated it

  says, ‘This is

  the place where death rejoices to teach those who live’...”

  Jay turned to Augie and considered whether or not to

  make some sarcastic remark about him being too much

  of a know-it-all, but decided against it. Augie rubbed his

  gloved hands together and said, "Are we ready?"

  "As I’ll ever be," Jay replied, his enthusiasm for what was

  about to take place, less than minimal.

  "I’m only here for the basics Augie," he continued. "When

  I’ve got that, I’m outta here...”

  "Gotcha," confirmed Augie with a knowing nod. "Now, let’s

  get started."

  Jay followed Augie over to the steel gurney in the middle

  of the room. As he walked past the bench, he noticed

  numerous clear plastic bags, all neatly labelled,

  containing samples of hair, dirt and nail clippings among

  other things.

  "What’s this?" he asked Augie.

  Augie looked back towards the bench and replied, "Oh,

  just some samples and scrapings we have collected for

  forensics. We thought we would get it over and done with so

  we can get down to business and you are not sitting

  through hours of painstaking discovery."

  "Sounds fair," Jay replied, glad that he had missed the

  meticulous process of watching them scour the body for

  external forensic evidence. "Any signs of rape?"

  "Some minor bruising to her inner thighs, so it’s

  possible. I carried out a rape kit, should have the results

  in a day or so."

  Jay nodded and allowed him to get on with his job.

  Augie stood beside the gurney and turned to his

  assistant, "When you’re ready, Pete." As though they were

  the magic words he’d been waiting for, the assistant

  pulled back the sheet, exposing the ravaged, mutilated

  body of Jane Doe.

  Augie and Pete began performing an external search of

  the body and made notes of any scratches, abrasions,

  birthmarks or defects of any kind. The second assistant

  scribbled notes down on a clipboard as Augie verbally

  docu-mented the findings to him. Pete grabbed a large,

  black camera from the bench and intermit-tently took

  photos of Jane Doe, while Augie continued relating his

  notes to Ed, the second assistant.

  "Deep gash evident above the right eye, approximately

  seven and a half centimetres long… severe bruising and

  ligature marks around the throat, wrists and ankles."

  Picking up her hands, Augie looked at her palms. He then

  studied her feet, heels and soles. "Defensive cuts on both

  palms, nails appear torn and broken, heels and soles of

  feet bare considerable abrasions and minor cuts… injuries

  possibly caused by being dragged along rough terrain."

  Augie continued his examination making reference to

  Jane Doe’s chest and abdomen.

  "Victim’s breasts, both left and right have been removed

  by a clean, sharp apparatus, I’d almost bet it was a

  surgical instrument. The cuts are smooth and precise

  enough to be a scalpel. Due to extensive clotting, I

  estimate this was done post-mortem,"

  Augie paused intermittently to allow Ed to keep up with

  him.

  "You right Ed?" he enquired. The young red headed

  assistant nodded as he continued scribbling down his

  notes.

  Jay thought it would have been much quicker for Augie

  to use his Dictaphone to log his findings, but he

  appeared to prefer his assistant to scribe for him.

  "Abdominal cavity extremely mutilated. Closer inspection

  by sight only indicates that some organs may have been

  removed. The person who did this seemed to know what

  he was doing, though. The incisions are almost perfectly

  placed, much like those made during a caesarean section.

  Quite well executed actually. Will return to this point for

  further, more detailed inspection directly."

  Moving to the opposite side of the gurney, Augie

  gestured for Pete and Ed to roll the victim onto her

  stomach. Pete sat the camera down and joined Ed in

  rolling the body over. Augie then stepped forward again

  and resumed his external examination.

  "Large brown birth-mark on left shoulder, shaped like a

  half moon, approximately two centimetres wide and four

  centimetres long. Numerous cuts on elbows and calves,

  otherwise nothing extraordinary is apparent."

  The assistants again rolled Jane Doe onto her back.

  Pete took a few more photos before placing the camera

  back onto the workbench behind him. He picked up a

  scalpel from a tray beside the gurney. He handed it to

  Augie. As he did so, the scalpel fell to the floor, hitting it

  with a high-pitched crack.

  "Darn it Pete, how many times have I told you to take

  more care when handing me the instruments? Thanks to

  you we need another scalpel and goodness knows our

  supplies are depleted enough as it is."

  Pete hung his head and looked at the floor, "I’m sorry, Dr.

  August. I’ll get you another one right away." With that he

  left the gurney and headed for the supplies cupboard. Ed

  put down his clipboard and pen and retrieved the

  instrument from the floor before heading in the direction

  of the sharps disposal.

  Augie turned to Jay, shaking his head and said, "Budget

  cut backs… everything suffers. Wouldn’t be so bad only

  the supplies seem to be far outweighed by the number of

  autopsies. Scalpels, chemicals… they’re all just walking off

  the shelves."

  Jay nodded in agreement, "I know what that’s like, so

  much crime, so little resources."

  Pete returned with a fresh scalpel and handed it carefully

  to Augie, this time it didn’t fall to the floor.

  "Now," said Augie looking over at Jay, "let’s see if we

  can’t open her up and try to make some sense of what’s

  happened with her abdomen."

  Jay shifted awkwardly from foot to foot, feeling rather

  uneasy. Augie commenced his Y-Incision, skilfully guiding

  the blade of the scalpel from each shoulder down to the

  mid chest and then
continued straight down toward the

  stomach. Upon reaching the navel, Augie stopped for a

  moment.

  "What is it?" Jay asked him.

  "It’s difficult to complete the Y-Incision due to the

  extensive mutilation."

  Augie lifted the scalpel from Jane Doe’s body and

  repositioned it below the slashing. He completed the

  incision, running the blade down to the base of the pubic

  region. Delicately, he peeled the soft tissue and skin back,

  exposing the rib cage and breastbone. Pete handed him

  an electric saw, which he used to cut through these

  bones, allowing him to thoroughly examine the heart and

  lungs.

  "Heart and lungs appear normal in colour and size."

  He then produced a large hypodermic needle and drew

  some blood from the heart, he handed this to Pete to

  store and catalogue. Augie continued on, removing the

  heart and lungs which he weighed and instructed Pete to

  take samples of. Ed carried on, furiously writing his notes.

  Augie then reached into the abdominal cavity. As he

  inspected it, he stood back and stared solemnly at Jay.

  "What is it?" Jay prodded Augie, now feeling uneasier

  than before.

  "Although the uterus is severely muti-lated, I can see

  evidence of a placenta," said Augie quietly.

  "You mean…" Jay said before Augie cut him off.

  "This woman was pregnant. By the size of the placenta I

  would estimate she was about four

  months gestation."

  Augie began investigated the abdomen again. "There is

  no foetus present… the sick bastard must have cut it out

  of her."

  "Just like Tessa Hunt," Jay whispered.

  Just like Tessa," Augie agreed.

  Jay ripped the paper from his clipboard and stuffed it

  into his pocket.

  "I’m outta here Augie. Let me know what else you find, will

  ya?" he instructed. Without waiting for a reply, Jay flew

  out the door and into the scrub room.

  "Will courier a copy of my report to you A.S.A.P," Augie

  yelled after him, and then carried on with his autopsy.

  Jay tore off the mask, gloves and apron and hastily

  threw them into the hygienic disposal on his way out the

  door. Halfway down the hall, he realised he was still

  wearing the boot covers. ‘Oh hell’ he grumbled as he

  bent down and pulled them off, throwing them on the

  floor.

  Jay was annoyed at how unnerved he felt. He’d never

  experienced this before and quite frankly it disturbed him.

  He was so rattled in fact, that he didn’t even bother to flirt

  with the blonde receptionist on his way out.

  Jay chose to take the stairs to the street entrance

  instead of the elevator, hoping the exertion of energy

  might have the calming affect he needed. He ran up two

  small flights of stairs, exited the stair well at the ground

  floor and walked out of the big glass doors. Once he was

  back on the street, he fumbled clumsily in his pocket for a

  cigarette.

  As he puffed away heavily, he took out his

  notepaper from the autopsy and read what he had

  written: Victim pregnant- foetus stolen!

  Jay stared into space and whispered to himself, "Dear

  God!"