Harmless. (boyxboy/sequel to Priceless)

Chapter 6.

JPOV

“Ugh, that .. that smell.” Tom coughed and squeezed his nostrils with fingers as we arrived at the hospital. It was around 10AM in the morning and luckily, I didn’t have any breakfast before that. It was normal for some people to experience nausea and a desire to throw up a little bit from the sight of a dead body, not to mention the smell of it, but when the corpse was decapitated, it was even worse. Luckily, I’m a freak, so I don’t mind beheaded men. In fact, I’ve fantasized about chopping off some heads before, and trust me, it feels so good to imagine how you kill your enemy by cutting off his brain sack.

“I still wonder why you’re a cop.” I looked at Tom curiously. “If you can’t stomach the sight, you’re not fit for the job.”

“Oh, shut up. You’re Asian, you eat raw octopus balls for breakfast. A decapitated body is nothing compared to what you cook at home every day.” He frowned. I shook my head with a slight chuckle and paid attention to the autopsy, which was being held in front of our eyes. We were simply spectators, watching from afar and taking notes from the doctor who recorded his progress by dictating.

“Doesn’t he get tired from talking to himself? I mean, it’s been fifteen minutes and he mumbles under his nose like he’s doing some sort of a voodoo magic.”

“Actually, he’s been doing it for six hours now. We’ve arrived at the end of the autopsy. Since it’s a homicide, it takes longer to perform.”

“Oh yeah? So what have we figured out for five hours of autopsy?”

“Well … the gender.” I smiled.

“No shit.” Tom huffed.

After a few more hours which we spent in small talking outside the operating room, the doctor finally came. He carried quite the amount of pages, plus a few pictures. I quickly took them with one hand and signaled Tom to pay.

“Wait, we’re paying? I thought cops didn’t have to pay.”

“Cops are people, and autopsy reports are usually paid to get.”

“Sheesh.” Tom sighed and took out what looked like 300 dollars, which he reluctantly handed to the coroner.

We left the building and made our way towards a café. It might not be the best place to review autopsy reports, but in a big city like this one, people don’t really care. Also … Tom wanted coffee.

“Dude, so what? These are just autopsy reports. God, I need coffee before I throw the fuск up..” He mumbled and sat on a table. He ordered espresso, while I decided to drink some iced tea with sweeteners. I usually like coffee, but at the moment, my guts were telling me it was best to pass the caffeine to someone else.

Yes, I know. I’m weird like that.

“Alright, now give me the papers.” I said as I took the report and looked at the first page. On it were the three names, home, address, type of death, description of body, a sketch of a human figure and other details. Unfortunately, there was little that could tell me more about the case. Tom was dealing with the girl’s autopsy report, while I was dealing with the man’s.

“Let’s see … Male, Caucasian, mid fifties. Home address unknown, occupation unknown.”

“We should just call all the work facilities in town and ask if an employee skipped a day.” Tom suggested with a cheeky smile and drank some of his coffee.

“Ha-Ha.” I rolled my eyes. “Type of death – violent.”

“No shit. His fuскing head was chopped off. Oh, wait. You’re gonna like this.”

“Did you find something?” I asked as I looked at Tom. His eyes were sparkling and locked on the papers in his hands.

“Oh, yes. The girl – Ashley – she’s been poisoned. That’ the cause of death.”