Twist of fate

by Krister Persson

(FBI Field Office, NYC, Day 1, Mid-morning)

"Have you ever seen an autopsy before?" Cassandra asked Martin, as they walked down the hall towards Examining room 1.

"Never in real life, but I've seen the alien autopsy on LaserDisc. Does that count?"

"Not really. Here, put these on." Cassandra handed Martin some scrubs and rubber gloves. She also gave him a pair of protective goggles.

"Do I wear the scrubs on top of my clothes?" Martin asked her.

"Of course not. If you're shy, there's a dressing room down the hall." Casasandra closed the door to the prep room and stripped down to her underwear. Martin gasped. She was indeed a beautiful woman. He forced himself to look away and started unbuttoning his shirt. A minute later, they were both wearing green, ill-fitting scrubs.

"It's through that door," Cassandra pointed. They entered a medium-sized, rather dark room. In the middle was a brightly lit examining table. Cassie walked over to the back wall and opened the freezer door. Martin had to struggle to keep his breakfast down. Inside was a horribly mutilated man, or at least Martin thought it was a man.

"Give us a hand," Cassandra told him. "Grab one end and we'll move him to the table." The stretcher was a lot lighter than Martin had expected. Cassandra told him it was probably because the man had lost an arm and a lot of blood.

[Autopsy Report submitted by Cassandra Hollister, M.D.]

[Subject: John Doe, male, caucasian, approximately 45 years old, 5'11", approx. 170 lbs while living.]

"Whomever or whatever killed this man must have been very strong," Cassandra commented.

"Why do you figure?" Martin asked her.

"Look at the way the muscles in his shoulder are torn apart. His left arm was more or less yanked out of it's socket. It takes considerable strength to do that."

[Cause of death: massive blood-loss eminating from several wonds on the upper body. Face slashed 11 times from what appears to be claws or talons. Left arm missing - most likely torn off. Lower body unharmed except for small scrapes and bruises. No indications that the victim was able to offer resistance.]

"What is that?" Martin pointed at the man's remaining arm. A small piece of cloth was sticking out from his clutched hand. Cassie removed the cloth with a pair of tweezers and placed it under a magnifying glass.

"Looks like it has been torn from a camouflage uniform. I will have to send it down to the lab for analysis." She placed it in a small plastic bag marked: 'EVIDENCE - Do not open unless authorized'. Then she returned to the examining table.

"This might be a bit gross," she told Martin. "I'm going to cut his chest and stomach open to see what's inside."

"Ok, I will look the other way for a while." Martin didn't feel up to seeing the actual cutting. The sound from the buzzsaw alone was enough to make him feel nauscious.

[Stomach content: small pieces of hamburger meat, pizza crusts and a 1/4 pint of red wine. This leads me to conclude that the subject was a homeless man, living on scraps.

Lungs show evidence of heavy smoking. Given their state, the subject would never have reached his 50th birthday.]

Cassandra methodically went over every part of the man's body. From time to time she recorded comments on the tape recorder hanging from the ceiling.

[Summary: The subject seems to have been killed by a very quick and strong mammal, although even a bear couldn't have caused this type of damage. No theory as to what kind of animal it was...]

"Let's go get cleaned up. After that - lunch at my place." Cassandra tossed the gloves in a waste bin by the door. Martins stomach started complaining at the word lunch, but he hoped it would settle, once they were out of the examining room.

The prep room only had one shower, so they had to take turns washing up. Cassandra went first. Martin caught a glimple of her naked body as she entered the shower. he thought to himself, He had to think really hard on his first college football game, to keep from getting aroused.

A very cool shower later, they were both ready to go. Cassandra led the way down to the parking garage. She walked over to a red BMW convertible.

"Wow, a forensics pathologist must make a hell of a lot more than an agent. No way I could afford a Beamer on my salary."

"My dad gave it to me on my 25th birthday. I'm pretty sure you make more money than me."

"Perhaps..." They continued to small talk while Cassandra navigated the streets of New York, towards the Upper West Side. She stopped infront of a beautiful brownstone house. The door man greeted her with a smile and called down the elevator for them.

The hallway was very wide and clean, unlike the many slivers Martin had seen before. Cassie unlocked the door to apartment 11c. At the same time as Martin entered the apartment, a woman wearing nothing but a towel came out from the kitchen. Martin figured it was Cassandra's roommate.

"Martin, I want you to meet my fianc�e Shiela. Shiela, you remember I've told you about Sarah's old boyfriend, Martin Reed." At the word fianc�e, Martin's jaw dropped. Not that he had any prejudice against homosexuals, only he had no idea Cassandra was a lesbian. Martin slowly closed his mouth.

"Nice to meet you, Shiela." he said, shaking Shiela's hand.

"You too," she replied. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get ready for work."

"She's a waitress at a lunch restaurant," Cassandra explained. "Now, for our lunch - I was thinking pizza. Is that OK by you?"

"Sure, I could eat pizza 7 days a week, if I had to."

Cassandra called the local pizza place and ordered two large pizzas with all available toppings.

"Performing autopsies always makes me hungry," she joked.

The pizza delivery guy knocked on the door after only fifteen minutes. Shiela left at the same time.

"Bye honey," Cassandra called to her.

While eating the pizza, Martin asked how long Cassandra had known.

"That I prefer women over men? I fell in love with a woman for the first time when I was 18. She was my biology professor. Unfortunately, she was fired when the School Board found out about our affair."

"That's too bad. Most New Yorkers are more liberal that the average American, but I guess that doesn't apply to the Board."

Cassandra was starting to say something, when Martin's cellphone rang. It was Vanessa, telling him they had made a break-through in the case. She asked him to come down to the office a.s.a.p. Martin could sense a touch of irony in her voice.

"I have to go back to the office," Martin told Cassandra.

"I'll drive you," she offered. "I'd have to go back soon anyway." They finished their pizzas in a hurry and left the apartment building. Martin was very eager to learn what kind of break-through Vanessa and Jim had made.

--------------

[NRPG] We are moving house this weekend, so I won't be able to access the Internet for a while. Hope you enjoy my post.