She Never Came Home

Chapter 17

Sgt. Boyett gave Heather the lengthy list of callers who'd phoned in after Peter Gregg's TV spot and instructed her to contact each one and ask that they come to the station for an interview. Once Heather left to begin making her calls, Boyett pondered for a moment and then picked up his phone and dialed the Detective Bureau. He then hung up before there was an answer. He mentally kicked himself for assuming the worst about one of his officers... After all, he consoled himself, it was a huge stretch to link Peter Gregg to that girl found tossed off of the Mercy Road Bridge, just because they'd received some phone calls from folks who'd claimed he'd pulled them over.

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Detective DeWitt stared at the young lifeless girl lying prone on the gurney. No matter how many times he'd gone through this process, it never got easier. The medical examiner, Dr. Burman, began calling his attention to specific findings that police agencies usually made note of before the actual autopsy was conducted.

"Note the contusion, or bruise, on her left cheek," Dr. Burman commented. "About the size of a half-dollar."

"Half-dollar?" DeWitt repeated in surprise. "How old are you? When's the last time you've seen a 50-cent coin?"

"Perhaps I am a coin collector," Burman replied in a monotone. He was busy studying every inch of the person he was evaluating. A young woman who was someone's daughter and sister. He'd been trained to remain detached and unemotional, but sometimes he couldn't help but feel some emotion. The girl's eyes were wide open and frozen in terror. The whites of her eyes had turned red, an indication of having been strangled. Which matched up with the ligature marks around her neck.

"That cheek bruise," DeWitt continued, "could it have come from her fall? After she went over the bridge railing?"

"No," Dr. Burman said as he continued his examination, "from the colors and the raised ridges on the contusion, she still had blood pressure when that injury was incurred."

"Meaning...?"

"Meaning she was still alive, and apparently struck with some sort of blunt instrument. Something with a round, circular shape at the end."

Detective DeWitt remained silent as Dr. Burman continued to examine the body.

"We won't know for sure until there's a full autopsy, but at first glance there doesn't seem to be any evidence of sexual assault. No obvious bruising or trauma in the pelvic region." He took a step backward and remarked, "my unofficial opinion is that the victim died of strangulation. We won't know for sure until, as I said, a full autopsy is performed."

"OK," Dwayne said somberly, jotting down notes in his spiral notebook.

Dr. Burman pulled the sheet back up to cover Coreen's body completely. "It will be a few days before we get the lab results from her fingernail scrapings and any evidence found on her clothing."

"Gotcha," Dwayne acknowledged.

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"Hey, Heather, you look like you could use some coffee, so I brought you a Starbucks," Peter Gregg said to Sgt. Boyett's assistant.

"Thanks, Pete, that's very nice of you," Heather replied as she accepted the Grande cup from him. "I have to admit, things have been hectic lately."

"Working on that girl-over-the-bridge case?" he asked casually. "That seems to be the hot topic in the division lately," he added hastily.

"Yeah, that's the one," she replied. "Lots of phone calls, follow-up, paperwork..."

"What's the latest scoop on that case?" Peter asked with interest.

"I don't know much," Heather replied, "Like I said, I've just been making lots of phone calls and handling paperwork."

Gregg leaned forward and said softly, "I've heard through the grapevine that the victim had a piece of ear in her mouth."

"Um, well, I don't know anything about that..." Heather was frankly surprised at his remark.

He stood back up and tugged at his earlobes. "Well, as you can see, both of my ears are intact!" He laughed as he turned and left.

"What the heck?" Heather was confused by remark, but before she could consider it any further her phone started ringing.