The Prom King: A Murder Mystery ✔

Chapter 4: Autopsy

I was making myself a PB&J in the kitchen the next day when I heard the front door open. It was Jonas.

"Hey," he said, "Is your dad home?"

"Yeah," I replied. "He's making a phone call. I think it's about the autopsy report."

"Great! Hopefully we'll start getting somewhere."

I heard my dad's office door open as he emerged saying, "Thank you very much. Make sure to send me a copy. Bye."

"Was that the autopsy report, Dad?" I asked, no longer interested in my PB&J.

"Yes, it was. There were surprising discoveries."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you two were certainly right. Chase did not have a reaction to nuts. He reacted to penicillin."

"Penicillin?" I asked.

"Yes, somehow Chase ingested penicillin. Jonas, we may need to speak with your father to get his medical opinion about this." Jonas's dad Dr. Simmons was our physician. Hopefully he would be able to tell us something about Chase's reaction.

"Sure thing," Jonas said. "I'll ask him to come over."

***

About half an hour later, Dr. Simmons arrived on his lunch break.

"Hello, everyone, what can I do for you all?" Dr. Simmons had dark hair and eyes like Jonah, and seemed younger than his forty-seven years.

"Mike, (Dr. Simmons) we wanted to ask you about the symptoms of a penicillin reaction."

"Certainly! There are many different symptoms to penicillin. Anything from hives, to fever, shortness of breath, any of those and more. Now when someone has a fatal reaction to penicillin, there can be nausea, dizziness, loss of consciousness, and so forth."

"It did seem hard for Chase to focus towards the end of his speech," I said.

"It could've been because he was starting to get dizzy," Jonas replied.

"That's most certainly a possibility. Also, Richard (my dad), you may want to note that a fatal reaction to penicillin occurs about an hour after one takes penicillin," Dr. S. explained.

"That will be very helpful, Mike. Hopefully this will get us some answers. Also," my dad said with a quizzical look, "there was something else we found in the autopsy. Chase was taking steroids."

Jonas and I looked at each other, confused. Chase always played by the rules. It seemed ridiculous to think he would do otherwise.

"Dad, are you sure?" I asked.

"Unfortunately, yes. Did any of you notice changes in Chase the last few months?"

We all pondered for a moment before we answered. "Well, now that you mention it," Jonas started, "Chase was able to lift heavier weights more quickly than the rest of the football team."

"He did have more muscle mass at his last check-up a couple weeks ago," Dr. S. said. "It just never crossed my mind that it might be the result of steroid use."

"I never thought Chase was capable of breaking the rules," I said.

Chase wasn't as perfect as we thought.

A/N: What's up, everyone? Hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Were you intrigued by the autopsy? I hope you all enjoyed Memorial Day yesterday. Shout out to all of you who serve in our military or have family or friends that do. We are thankful for your service. Don't forget to vote and comment! Until next time,

-shalom900