The Tin Bird

A Visit to The Corpse Keeper

Chapter 7: A visit to the corpse keeper

It was past visiting hours and the patients were asleep at last. Dr. Munsen had said farewell to his staff and was now completing his evening rounds.

“Good night Lady Witherby,” he said, and snuffed out the candle by her bed. The aged woman made a small wheeze and muttered something under her breath. But she did not wake up. Dr. Munsen made sure of that.

“Sweet dreams, Mr. Dowell,” he spoke to the next one. He snuffed out the candle and continued on like this until all but one of the beds were unlit. He stopped at this one like he had the others and examined the chart in his hand.

“Good evening, unnamed person,” he said. She was a lovely specimen. Still quite young with rarely proportionate features for a person of the street. To anyone else it would seem a tragic shame that she should be in Dr. Munsen's ward, dying of a consumptive illness. But not to Dr. Munsen. When he looked at her he saw a fresh corpse in perfect condition. He saw internal organs ripe for the picking and another leap of knowledge. He saw money.

“Hello?”

A voice echoed into the empty chamber, followed by a series of frantic footsteps. Dr. Munsen frowned and turned around. He watched a young woman step into the room and nearly trip over her skirt as she did so. Her clothes were patchy and worn and her face was filthy. There could only be one reason for her being there.

“Oh, hello sir,” she said and performed a sloppy curtsy. “I'm Madeline, I-”

“What are you doing here?” Hissed Dr. Munsen. “I have given specific directions to your kind to never meet me here! Do you understand?”

“I can't help it, Sir, I got lost,” she insisted. “I was told that you could give me a job.”

“If you can't even follow the simplest of directions then I don't want to hire you,” said Dr. Munsen. “What are you good at? Do you have any skills that could be of use to me?”

“Begging your pardon sir, but I'm fairly good at sneaking about in places I shouldn't be.”

Dr. Munsen opened his mouth with the intent of sending her away, but then he thought otherwise. After all, he was short on help of late and she might prove her use. If not he could always do away with her.

“Fine, you can start by rolling this bed to the room across the hall. Don't let anyone see you.”

Madeline looked from the girl on the bed and back to the Dr. “So it's true then,” She said. “You sell the dead?”

“Don't be preposterous,” replied Dr. Munsen as he followed her out of the ward. “I am merely a scientist, currently documenting the inside of the human body. It is perhaps the most important medical research to have ever been attempted in our modern history.”

“Oh,” said Madeline in a way that showed her growing disinterest. “Why's it so important to know what's on the inside?” She gave an extra push to shove the bed into the next room. The patient stirred just a little.

Dr Munsen shut the door behind them and was extra careful to lock it. “It is important to understand how the body works in order to attain the knowledge to fix it,” he explained. He flipped on a switch and lights seemed to glare at them from all directions. It was almost blinding before their eyes properly adjusted.

“Some may disagree with my methods,” Dr. Munsen went on. “But the results are undeniable. Soon everyone will see them and know for themselves. But for now this has to be a secret between you and I.”

“I won't tell a soul,” said Madeline. “I think it sounds awfully important. But what do you do with the rest of them? That's what I always wanted to know.”

Dr. Munsen narrowed his eyes and gave this questioning a girl a second glance. “You know an awful lot about my trade,” he said.

“I just know some of the people who work for you is all,” she said. “Who was it? Breather, I think, who said that you sometimes want five a night. What do you do with all them? I guess what I'm say'n is, I know you sell 'em. But who wants to buy a corpse?”

“I have to pay for my research somehow,” said Dr. Munsen. “And, believe it or not, there is a demand.” He went to the cupboard and took from it a small bottle and a syringe with a needle. “We live in a city of many faiths. And some of the old ones have carried through from the centuries of old. It's archaic and completely ridiculous, of course, but there are still those who believe that the dead have value.”

“Like who?” Asked Madeline.

“It isn't important,” said Dr. Munsen. “My work is important. That's all that matters.” He began to fill the syringe with the liquid from the bottle. Then he stopped. There was a noise from outside the room like glass breaking on the floor.

“Did you hear something?” He asked.

“No, sir,” said Madeline. “You were saying about the dead, sir?”

There was another crash and Dr. Munsen immediately dropped the syringe and went to the door. “Stay here and don't utter a sound,” he said. “There are thieves about again!” The ward was no stranger to thievery. Medications went missing all the time, but just once he'd like to catch them red handed. It was probably that rude nurse who had just joined the staff. And wouldn't she look just lovely on a cold slab?

But when he reentered the ward there was no sign of a person. The evidence was there. Two vases lay shattered on the floor with their contents thrown about in a pool of water, but the medicine cabinets were untouched. Still firmly locked and safe.

Someone was in here... He thought. They came for something that they couldn't find. Well let that be a lesson to them then. And surely they would not return. Still, it left him feeling uneasy. It left him feeling watched.

He walked back his examination room with a knot in his stomach. “Madeline,” he said as he opened the door. “You may leave now. I have no further...” He stopped and let the door open wide. The room was just as he'd left it. Except that Madeline was gone, and so was the girl.