Ka-boom...the situation explodes

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Chapter 4

It was the next day and even before they started looking at the two files, Sean and Michelle first had to determine if the burnt victim was that of Rick Thunder. And that meant a trip to see the coroner. They arrived there in no time. Their footsteps were the only sounds that could be heard as they walked down the passageway of the Chief Medical Examiner's office.

"I hate going to the morgue," Sean complained, "even the hallway feels cold."

"I doubt our reception with the coroner will be any warmer," Michelle countered.

They finally reached the hospital morgue. The antiseptic room was tiny, chilly and mostly built of steel. Built against the wall were several refrigerated drawers, their rectangular ends facing out.

Coroner Bill Thompson looked up from his clipboard as Sean and Michelle approached him. Determined to ignore them, he feigned reading his clipboard, even as they stood directly across from him.

"Agent Rigby warned me about you two," he stated coolly, his head still down, "he told me I don't have to talk to either one of you."

"That's true," admitted Michelle, "but if you don't, you'll leave us no choice but to use other measures in order to see the file on the burnt victim."

Thompson's head shot up, "What is that suppose to mean? Are you going to resort to stealing files from a federal building?"

"No, of course not," Sean stated, as he and Michelle stepped closer to Thompson, crowding him, "Not stealing, per se. We may, however, covertly take pictures of certain files. So you can tell us now, or we may be forced to return tonight."

"And I should warn you, if we return, I can be very clumsy," Michelle claimed as Thompson looked on with a worried look, "so who knows? You may wake up tomorrow with possibly a broken window..."

"...or a broken lock, " Sean reminded her, "Remember that time you broke into the health department building?"

"...I already told you...I made a mistake because I had a cold that day," Michelle pretended to defend herself, "which is rather ironic being that we were in the health department building."

"Yeah," Sean stated, "but it ended up costing them thousands of dollars to clean up that mess after you knocked over all those test tube samples..."

"Okay, o-kay," Thompson gave in, "I get it. Look, I don't want any trouble. Just..." he looked covertly left then right, "...don't let on to Rigby that you got the information from me."

"Thank you for your cooperation," Sean looked humble.

Coroner Thompson did not look happy, "The preliminary report is that the burnt victim was not Rick Thunder."

Sean and Michelle exchanged knowing glances. Sean was also relieved to hear his friend did not die a horrific death.

"You can tell that just from an autopsy?" he asked.

"Well, I didn't have a choice since I couldn't directly ask the body," Thompson stated, his attempt at humor.

"Sorry, autopsy jokes go over my head," Sean said, his hand flying over his head.

"So how do you know the body wasn't Thunder's?" Michelle inquired.

Thompson sighed, "It's easier if I show you. Follow me."

He led them to one of the autopsy tables where a body was covered by a white sheet. As Sean and Michelle gathered around, Thompson pulled back the sheet to reveal the blackened corpse.

"Ugh." commented Michelle as Sean looked on with interest.

"The victim suffered multiple traumatic injuries," explained Thompson, pointing at various areas of the burnt body with his pen, "fractures, ruptured organs here, and collapsed lungs over there. In addition, he was nearly incinerated."

"So if this isn't Thunder, who is this?" Sean asked.

Thompson shook his head, "I don't have an identification for the burnt victim yet...but...I can tell you this. He was not only the victim, he was also the guy who set fire to Thunder's office."

"What?" Michelle asked incredulously.

"How did you ever draw that conclusion?" Sean asked.

The coroner referred back to the charred body, "The nature of his burns indicated he was near the source of the explosion when it occurred."

"Explosion?" Sean scowled, "What explosion?"

"The one that blew him out the window of Thunder's office and into the trash bin," the coroner said, "From the injuries he sustained, he would have had to fall from a high place. The injuries are concussive-force ones. Only an explosive fall would produce such extreme trauma over his entire body."

"So this body not only isn't Thunder's, it's also the body of the arsonist?" Sean needed to organize his thoughts clearly.

"Correct," the coroner verified, "there's also another reason why this charred body couldn't be Rick Thunder. There is enough evidence that shows this victim here took a bullet in his right shoulder a few years back and Thunder never sustained a bullet injury."

"Humph," Sean said, now able to look at the body impersonally, "Yeah, Rick would have never gotten hit by a bullet from the front. He would be running away at any hint of a gun."

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When Sean and Michelle got back to their office, Edgar was at the computer, testing out various trajectories of the victim's fall. After studying the possibilities, he was able to verify for them that everything the coroner had stated was true regarding the explosive drop of the body.

Sean and Michelle also received from the coroner, copies of some wide and close-up shots of the fire scene. They had been given the pictures if they promised they would never 'visit' the coroner's office again. Edgar studied the crime scene pictures with a deep intensity. It was as though he were trying to thoroughly memorize the pictures so that they would forever be seared in his mind.

"So...what's your opinion regarding those pictures, Edgar?" Sean inquired.

Edgar pointed to one of the pictures, "Thunder's office was origin of fire, Sean. The pattern of spalling on the walls and floors shows arsonist splashed gasoline everywhere. Arsonist was very messy."

Michelle spoke out, "I don't get it. How could there be an explosion from someone just splashing gasoline around and setting it on fire? If I'm not mistaken, gasoline doesn't explode...it just ignites into flames."

Sean looked at Michelle with admiration at her intelligence.

"Yes, Michelle," Edgar robotically answered, "but gasoline can explode if in a closed container."

"But it wasn't in a closed container when it exploded," Michelle speculated, which gave Sean a brilliant theory.

"No it wasn't...but..." Sean started to look excited, "it was in an enclosed room! That's it! That's why it exploded! The office acted like a closed container!"

"Yes, " Edgar nodded once, "a gallon of gasoline can equal twenty sticks of dynamite."

"So what you're saying," Michelle theorized, "is that the arsonist closed the door behind himself, started pouring gasoline around the office, struck the match in order to ignite the gasoline and then ka-boom?"

"It's not that easy," Sean jumped in, "What probably happened is after he lit the match, the gasoline didn't catch. Frustrated, he looks around for something to 'help the fire along.' He then probably rolls up some random papers he found like a torch, lights it, and tosses it across the room. What he doesn't realized is that gasoline fumes have been building up in the confined space."

"...Ka-BOOM!" Edgar gestured an explosion with his hands. He gave a boyish grin, seemingly having fun saying that word, "Hot damn!"

Sean and Michelle smiled at Edgar.

"Anyway, because of the arsonist's own foolishness," she concluded, " he gets blown out the window and lands all ablaze, in the trash bin in the alley below."

So there was a chance that Rick Thunder could be alive.

"Come on, Michelle," Sean said, getting up, "we need to go."

"We just got here!" Michelle felt they had been busy non-stop, with no time for her to catch her breath, "You want us to do some investigating NOW?"

A slight smile peeked out of Sean, "No."

"Then where are we going?"

"Somewhere you'd like..." he stated mysteriously, enjoying keeping her in suspense.

Michelle was baffled but intrigued, "What? Where?"

Sean could barely contain his grin, "I thought I might accompany you to the gym...after I change into my sweats, that is."

A smile burst forth from Michelle, "Give me a sec and I'll go change into my workout gear, too!"

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They had gone to the gym excited and pumped up, but returned frazzled and tired.

At least one of them felt that way.

Sean was almost limping as he entered the office houseboat. With a big moan, he plopped down on his chair. Michelle, on the other hand looked as fresh as a daisy. They were the only two in the room, for Edgar had already left for lunch.

"Oh, come on, Sean," Michelle said as she did a few running-in-place sprints, "it wasn't that bad, was it?"

"Let's just say that every human has a finite number of heartbeats," Sean noted, tenderly rubbing his legs, "and in the future, I don't intend to waste any of mine running around and doing exercises."

Michelle grinned, "I suppose you would love to find an exercise bike with a nice little basket so that you can have somewhere to put your nachos."

"Is that so bad?" Sean wanted to know.

Michelle rolled her eyes, "Then answer me this, Mr. Workout Guy. If you don't go to the gym, how do you figure you'll get your exercise?"

"The usual way," Sean stated, "I'll sleepwalk. That way, I can combine exercise and rest at the same time!"

Michelle laughed.

"Well, while you contemplate the merits of sleepwalking," she decided, as she started to take off her jacket, "I think I'll go in and hit the shower."

Sean shook his head, "Uh-uh, no you don't."

She was in the middle of trying to get her arms out of the sleeve of her jacket and paused, "Why? What do you mean?" she questioned.

"This is my place, my shower. Therefore, I'm going to shower first," he announced.

"Whatever happened to chivalry? Of letting a woman go first?" she questioned.

"You're confusing opening doors with showering again, Michelle."

Her lips thinned as she tossed her jacket on a chair, "Then what am I suppose to do while you shower?"

Sean went and held up the two folders that had been laying on his desk, "You can peruse through the two cases Thunder had been handling and tell me which one we should investigate first."

Michelle did not look happy, "Okay, but I know whatever case I pick, you're going to investigate the other one," she predicted.

"So what's your point?" Sean countered as he headed for the bathroom. He then shut the door behind him. Michelle sighed as she went over to Sean's desk to look over the cases. Soon she could hear the water running from down the hallway.

Inside the shower, Sean allowed the water to run down his body, He liked the hissing sounds of rushing water while the hydrating sprays brought comfort to his sore body. He allowed the water to continually pour down the entire length of his body until it became completely wet.

Through the door, Michelle could hear the shower running. She tried to concentrate on the folder in front of her, but couldn't help imaging Sean's toned physique silhouetted against the shower door, water dripping from all the soft and hard angles of his body. Her own body heat rose at the visual picture of Sean getting soaped up and then rinsing himself off.

And she felt the flutterings down low in her body.

The water had stopped. Michelle could hear the shower curtains being drawn opened and she pictured Sean emerging from the partially wet shower, wrapped only in a towel, his wet hair gleaming in the artificial light.

The rush of her heartbeat filled her ears as she caught a single glimpse of him walking across to his bedroom, his wrapped towel slung low on his waist.

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(A/N Thanks everyone for reading, especially those kind enough to leave a review...each one brings a smile!)

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