Get Charlie Noah

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER ONE

'He's been tortured for a while before he was killed.' The forensic pathologist looked up at the huge bulk of a man standing on the other side of the autopsy table. She was tiny compared to him but what she lacked in size she more than made up in the smarts. Dawn Stone waved a gloved hand at the feet of the naked man on the autopsy table. 'Both big toes broken. That would have damn well hurt.'

'Any idea how his toes were broken?' asked Detective Sergeant Ross Davidson as he pulled out a small inhaler, put it to his mouth and inhaled two deep puffs. He coughed slightly and put the inhaler back into his trouser pocket.

'There is no sign of external trauma like a hammer or anything,' said Dawn. 'I think someone strong who knew what they were doing just grabbed hold and snapped them.'

'And I was told that the Australian Gold Coast was such a friendly place,' said Davidson.

'I was told you had been transferred down from Brisbane,' said Dawn as she began to cut open the chest of the deceased. She used stainless steel spreaders on the skin and then picked up bone cutters.

Davidson took a large handkerchief from another trouser pocket and covered his nose and mouth. 'Promotion,' he said, taking a step back from the autopsy table.

Bone crunched as Dawn cut open the rib cage. 'Straight into this eh?'

'I've never been much good at autopsies.'

'Neither have I,' said Dawn as she used another stainless steel spreading device to push the rib cage open. She looked at the detective. 'What I mean is that I'm good at them from a professional point of view but I don't like doing them all that much.'

'I can understand that,' said Davidson.

Dawn sliced the lungs out and lay each in a separate stainless steel bowl. A crime scene operative by the name of Rhonda King stood close by taking numerous photographs. Everyone in the autopsy room was gowned in hospital green other than Davidson. Following this particular autopsy and the dry cleaning bill he would receive for special processing of his suit, he would choose to wear a surgical gown boots and cap in the future.

Dawn's assistant labelled each lung with small plastic stickers. Dawn looked closely at the heart and pointed to a cut in the right ventricle which was quickly photographed by Detective King. 'I'd say that knife cut finally finished him off but he went through a world of pain before that happened,' said Dawn. 'The index fingers on both hands snapped backwards as well. What the hell did the man do to deserve this kind of treatment?'

'He was just a writer,' said Davidson.

'Just a writer?' asked Dawn.

'A screenplay writer actually,' said Davidson.

'Someone obviously didn't like his work.'

'We're checking into that.'

'Do you know if they forced him to do anything during the time they tortured him?' asked Dawn.

'We're checking into that,' Davidson repeated.

'Sand has adhered to his body as you can see and I understand he was found naked.'

'Buried in the sand hills just off the Sheraton Mirage,' said Davidson.

'That's a lonely stretch of beach sometimes,' said Dawn. 'Who found him?'

'Some lovers from the resort.'

'That would have buggered up their romantic getaway,' said Dawn.

'Didn't help it much,' said Davidson as he watched Dawn cut the heart out and drop it into a stainless steel bowl. 'He was buried shallow and while they were romping around doing their thing, the girl found the hand.'

'Charming,' said Dawn.

'She felt the fingers of the hand touch her leg,' said Davidson. Her boyfriend had both his hands on her so she knew right away that something was amiss.'

'I'm sure she would have,' said Dawn. 'How dreadful for the poor girl.'

'Yes.'

'Does the deceased come from around here?'

'No. He's from Sydney. He's a big shot screenplay writer so I'm told. He's worked on movies with Nicole, Hugh, Russell and lots of other famous people.'

'That's the sad bit about the movies,' said Dawn. 'You only get to know the stars. All the people behind the scenes, who actually create the movie, are rarely known.'

'I suppose so,' said Davidson.

'What was he currently working on?' asked Dawn.

'Some Chinese film. I'm still having that checked out.'

'Chinese eh? Isn't that a bit strange for an Australian production?'

'I suppose so,' said Davidson, reaching for his inhaler again.

Dawn looked at the face of the deceased. 'Well he's got a Chinese surname and slight Chinese features so I guess perhaps it makes sense that he would be working on a Chinese screenplay.'

'I guess so,' said Davidson just before he inhaled from his puffer.

'John Cheng is the name on the toe tag,' said Dawn. 'I'll need his medical history, wherever that is.'

'We're getting that,' said Davidson.

'You've got yourself a very nasty murder here,' said Dawn.

'Yes,' said Davidson. 'I know.'

"****"