A/N: I don't own Phoenix Wright or Miles Edgeworth; CAPCOM does. The plot, the victim, Dean Carson, Marlyse Cameron, Elizabeth Partridge and James Doughtery belong to me. Mode of death is historical and not found anywhere in the AA series. :)
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The investigation into the burnt remains on campus begins. A phone call will solidify the horrible death the victim suffered and the students' story will open a new chapter into the horrifying truth behind the death... and the secrets that someone at Cromwell University is trying to hide will be revealed for all the world to see...
The investigation into the death of the victim found at Nathaniel Park will now begin! It's going to be quite a hard investigation to do when Phoenix and Miles will be getting stymied at every turn... which will happen in the next chapter when the President tries to stop the investigation before it even starts.
The story of the two college students, James Doughtery and Marlyse Cameron, makes a nice introduction to the next chapter and it fills the informational gaps nicely. :) They may be back later on; it's difficult to say at this point but you never know. :) Medical information on burning skin and damage from the Brazen Bull is from Dr. David Sustak from the T.V. program Surviving History, Episode 3: Brazen Bull and from Wikipedia.
At any rate, I hope that you will enjoy this latest chapter! :) It's a bit long so I apologize in advance for the length!
Thank you to all my readers: those who have commented, read, reviewed, favourited/story alerted my stories and thanks also to those who have author alerted/favourite authored, as well! I appreciate it very much! I am glad that you are enjoying my stories and I hope that you will continue to enjoy them in the future! :)
Thank you to my beta, Midnight-hunter, for her superb betaing skills! Thanks a bunch! :) Much appreciated! :)
A very special Thank you to my beloved husband, DezoPenguin, for all of his help, advice, nagging [when necessary], for reigniting the fire within me to write and support during the writing process so I won't tear my hair out! :) Love you and thank you!
As always, comments and suggestions are warmly welcomed and appreciated!
Hope you enjoy!
Rated Mature, Graphic horror and violence, male/male relationships, Phoenix & Edgeworth
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Two days earlier...
October 7th
Cromwell University, Nathaniel Park
Los Angeles, CA
5:44 P.M.
Two college students, a young man and a young woman, were poking about in the underbrush in the Park Common, looking for an errant golf ball that the young man had hit into the brambles.
"Do you see it?" he asked anxiously as his companion, a young lady who was at the present moment bent over and looking in the bramble bush, searched diligently, poking and prodding deep into its prickly heart. "I thought it came over this way from the fairway."
She stood up straight a few moments later and shook her head, brushing off little bits of dirt and brambles that stuck to her black skirt like glue with an impatience, giving him an aggrieved look.
"It isn't in there," she said, sighing as her companion made soft exclamations of distress. "Wherever it went in there, if it did, it isn't in that spot."
"Where could it have gone to, Marlyse?" he asked, squinting into the hole in the brush while she rolled her eyes dramatically behind his back. Best friend from childhood or no, she mused, he could be a royal pain when he chose to; this was definitely one of those particular times. "I saw it come down this way; it must be here somewhere! There isn't any other place it possibly could be!"
A few choice responses to that statement immediately came to mind but, as tempting as it was to puncture his priggish demeanor with a razor sharp response, she brushed these aside and instead chewed on her lower lip thoughtfully, her hands balled into fists and resting lightly on her hips. "I have no idea where it's gotten to, James, but it isn't here." She thought a moment. "Should we look a little further down?"
Both in their senior year, Marlyse and James had come to Cromwell University in order to study together, much to the delight of both sets of parents. Marlyse rolled her eyes whenever she thought of her parents' enthusiasm over her going to Cromwell University with James; she was well aware that both her parents, not to mention his, had hopes that they would eventually fall in love and marry as they had although she really didn't see this happening any time soon. She chuckled. Or at all, really.
He was her best friend, it was true, but she had no feelings beyond that of a cherished childhood friend and playmate and she doubted that she ever would. But, for all of his flaws, and there were many, he still held a special place in her heart so one couldn't really say that nothing more would come of it since she didn't know. She was content to leave that up to fate and, for now, to concentrate on her studies. James was studying to become an Engineer and Marlyse was studying History; beyond that, neither of them had any hard and fast plans for the future courses of study beyond their Bachelor degrees save, perhaps, for a Masters degree in their chosen fields some years down the line.
She shook her head, bringing herself back to the present.
No wonder they call it 'Love U,' she thought with some amount of disdain as she followed James as he walked further down the fairway, poking into the bushes intermittently along the way with his golf club, peering inside and moving on again. They've certainly had enough people marrying later on to warrant it. She sighed, crossing her arms over her chest and rolling her eyes behind his back, her mouth twisting into a grimace. I don't know why that happens but it seems to occur with such frequent regularity that you can't simply put it down to just pure coincidence.
She brushed her skirt absentmindedly once again. I'm still not convinced that it's such a good reputation to be tarred within the long run. What if some of the matches don't last? She smiled wolfishly. That couldn't be good for business! The whole thing is just silly.
"Do you see anything?" James asked again in a tight voice, breaking into her train of thought and she looked at him as he stood up, giving her an injured look that Marlyse chose to ignore, shaking her head in the negative.
"Nothing yet," she replied, swatting at a passing insect with impatience, giving her companion a hard look out of the corner of her eye. It was a very hot day today; she felt sticky and uncomfortable which had the unfortunate side effect of making her quite irritable and shrewish. "Keep looking."
"You could try to help," he snapped, giving her an evil glance, thrusting the golf club with a little more force than was absolutely necessary deep into the brambles, "instead of just standing there looking wise!"
Marlyse gave him a black look.
"I've already ruined one skirt crawling around in the dirt searching for the golf balls that you lost last semester and I don't intend to add another one to the growing list, thank you!" she retorted, her green eyes narrowing and glaring dagger at him, her mouth twisting with anger. "It wasn't my fault that you lost your damn ball so I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't be such a prig about it. It's damnably annoying and irritating in the extreme and I'm heartily sick of it and you!"
James opened his mouth to reply but snapped it shut once he saw the angry look on her face and settled for muttering some choice words under his breath as he thrust his golf club once more deep into the bushes, stopping when he heard what sounded like a soft but slightly wet and brittle thump.
He froze, swallowing hard. He wasn't at all sure of what exactly had caused the weird sound but he was certain that he didn't want to find out. Still, he knew he had to look, whether he wanted to or not and, with great trepidation, leaned forward, parting the thorny branches with his hands and pushing through four feet to an opening.
He couldn't figure out exactly why he was feeling so nervous but the eerie feeling persisted the further he burrowed his way into the thicket, not to mention a very sickeningly sweet but burnt odor was permeating the area and it was starting to make him feel queasy. He coughed and wiped his streaming eyes before going forward; the smell became stronger the further he went in, poking and prodding with his nine-iron as he continued deeper into the brambles.
He was thinking of quitting and leaving, since he couldn't see his golf ball anywhere in the immediate area, when he saw that he had come to a natural opening in the branches; he could dimly see a glimmer of a dirty-white object glinting in the gloomy interior and, with a cry of pure joy, practically launched himself into the opening.
At last! he thought exultantly, pushing away the last bit of branches. I've finally fou-
His eyes widened with horror at what he saw lying inside, his body beginning to shake uncontrollably, his gorge rising as he desperately fought off the urge to vomit. He was sweating profusely as he let the branches fall back into place and quickly turned on his knees, scrambling out of the brush as fast as he could make his rubbery legs move. He leapt to his feet as soon as he was clear of the brush, his face draining of all color until it was a pasty white, his hands trembling.
Marlyse had stopped to take a breath before continuing on with her tirade but, noticing the very queer expression on his face, she stopped shouting at him, looking at him curiously. He looked scared and so pale that she couldn't help wondering had happened that brought about such a dramatic change in him.
"James?" Marlyse said, frowning as she saw his strained, white face, his whole body shaking visibly. She reached out to put a hand on his shoulder and she felt it trembling visibly."What's the matter? Are you all right?"
He didn't speak for several minutes and she saw the struggle he had trying to regain some measure of control over himself; whatever it had been that scared him, it must have been considerable since he was one of the most stolid men she had ever known.
Stubborn, too; there wasn't much that frightened him-in truth, she had always been impressed by that since she had been rather skittish growing up and the target of many a bully-but she couldn't think for the life of her what on earth had frightened him so badly that he was shaking like a leaf.
She looked past him into the hole in the hedge and bent down to take a closer look but he grabbed her arm before she had a chance to do so, jerking her back upward. She turned to give him a good piece of her mind but the angry words died on her lips when she took one look at his pale, white face.
"Marlyse..." he said, his mouth working in the most terrible grimace, his skin clammy and his body trembling. "Don't look in there..."
"Why not?" she asked, her eyes narrowing, blazing with blue fire. "I don't know what's got you so worked up but I'm going to find out if you won't tell me. Now, if you would kindly remove your hand from my arm, I would really appreciate it!"
He held her arm even tighter, shaking his head violently. Marlyse was frightened by the horrified look in his eyes and wondered again what he could have seen that made him react in such a manner.
"For the love of God, Marlyse," he barked, his grip on her arm tightening, his lips snaking back to reveal tightly clenched teeth, making his pale, frightened face look like a demented death's head, " just listen to me for once! Don't look in there!"
She stared at him, her mouth working but unable to make a sound; the intensity of his gaze frightened her although she did her best not to let it show. She had no idea of what he had seen that had changed him like this: he looked scared and sick, both at the same time.
Still, her pride refused to let her admit that he could be right and it was with narrowed eyes and a voice of ice that she said, in a tone brooking no argument, "Let me go, James. Now."
He looked startled and opened his mouth as if to argue with her but, giving in to what he knew to be the inevitable, he opened his hand and let her arm go. His eyes were troubled as she rubbed her arm quickly, giving him a dirty look and his mouth turned down at the corners, shoving his hands deep into his pants pockets.
"I warned you, Marlyse," he said one final time before she bent down to take a look at whatever it was that James had seen in the thicket, "always remember that I warned you and you refused to listen."
She shrugged and pushed aside the branches, leaning forward until she saw something in the bushes, a sour, sweet smell coming from deep within. The odor became stronger the further in she went until she had to cover her mouth with her hand in order to go any further in.
God! she thought, her stomach beginning to churn as she made her way in deeper, what the hell is that awful smell?! She wrinkled her nose, trying to keep her stomach from lurching as the sickeningly sweet odour grew stronger the further she went in. It smells like twice burnt pork.
She pulled out her shirt and, bringing the bottom up to her face, quickly wiped her streaming eyes. Whatever that god awful smell was, it was quite pungent and it stung her eyes, making them water. Taking her hand away and covering her nose and mouth with her shirttail, she gently brushed apart the branches with her free hand, poking her head carefully through the hole she'd made.
She was beginning to wish that she had listened to James-wouldn't he laugh if he knew!-and not bothered coming in here but she refused to back down now that she had made such a fuss about it. She sighed, pressing a branch to the side wondering why, of all times, why she was thinking of James at this particular moment which inevitably led to another question: why was she thinking of him at all?
She brushed aside these thoughts impatiently, narrowing her eyes as she squinted to get a better look, shielding her eyes with her free hand. The odor was much stronger here and she was having a very hard time to keep from heaving as the acrid stench hit her nose even through the shirt she had covering it.
She closed her eyes tightly shut, turning her head to the right in order ot avoid the smell but, though she tried, she couldn't escape it and her eyes watered even more profusely than they had before.
What is that?! she thought, her gorge starting to rise, feeling sick from both the smell and a mouthful of bile that flooded her mouth. It's... so... strange... and I... feel quite... ill for some reason... Jerking the shirt away from her face, she spat it out onto the ground behind her, feeling dizzy as the stench assaulted her already overloaded senses with a fresh wave of sweet-smelling decay much like the scent of dying flowers in a crypt.
Oh... God... I'm... going...I...feel ...Oh, God... so... faint... She felt her body slowly pitching forward and she put her hand down on the ground in front of her in order to steady herself as a wave of dizziness passed over her. She felt so sick and dizzy she could hardly see, willing herself not to pass out.
She could dimly hear James' concerned voice shouting at her from what seemed a distance and she tried to respond to his call but her voice came out as a strangled croak as she turned her head slightly to the right... and froze at the horrific sight which greeted her shocked eyes a foot in front of where her hand rested.
Oh...my...GOD! Her terrified mind didn't want to comprehend the sickening display that lay pitifully on the ground or the awful odor that was assaulting her nose and nearly making her ill was coming from these burnt... things.
She wasn't quite sure at first exactly what it was that she was looking at but, as her eyes cleared a little more, she could see that what was spread out before her in the thicket were burnt remains. Animal or human, she couldn't tell, but it was clear that they had been here for some time by both the stench and the marks she could see on some of the bones.
With a strangled scream torn from deep within her, Marlyse shot backward, landing on her rump, scrabbling to try and get away from those awful things. Her feet kicked the ground mutinously, wondering why she wasn't going anywhere, screaming mindlessly as her fingers tore up the ground around her, her eyes wide open but not seeing.
She didn't even hear James pounding into the thicket after her, drawn by her horrified screams until he had his arms wrapped around her waist, dragging her back; she fought him until she realized who it was that was holding her and, with a sob of relief, she went limp in his arms, her head pressed against his chest.
She was still shaking even after James had pulled her clear of the thicket and made his way over to the large oak tree a few feet away, clinging to him desperately, sobbing like a child when he had tried to gently put her on the ground, nearly dragging him along with her as he momentarily lost his balance.
"Marlyse..." he whispered tenderly, righting himself before he fell over and gently stroking the top of her head before he sat down beside her on the ground and leaning against the tree. "It's ok... You're safe... it's ok..."
He wrapped his arms back around her once again, cupping the top of her head underneath his chin, gently rocking back and forth, crooning softly as she cried, clinging to him like a drowning man to a life preserver.
She would never forget what she had seen: the blackened, protruding bones, the smell of burnt, decaying flesh, the blackened, grinning skull, shattered ribs, the burnt...hand that was clenched as if in its death agony... At first glance, she couldn't see if the remains were human or animal but, once she'd gotten closer to them and saw them close up, she realized that these were human remains, the shape of the skull and what was left of the hands were a clear indicator.
She wished that she had listened to James in the first place and not let her pique and anger at him get the better of her. She was stunned that James had come in after her but very grateful as well. As she cuddled close to him, as if she were trying to climb into his body to hide and he stroked her head tenderly, murmuring soft words of comfort, she knew that neither of them would ever be the same again. They had shared a horrifying experience that no one should ever see and it changed them both in ways that neither of them could even begin to imagine at this point; it was enough, for now, that they clung together like lost children, James comforting her as much as he could and Marlyse very grateful for James' warmth and tender loving care.
James could see that from the blank yet terrified look in her eyes and the way she kept shaking that she had had one very nasty shock and she screamed like a banshee if he even so much as put a little space between them in order to settle himself more comfortably beside her. Not that he could really blame her for feeling that way; he was still a little shaken himself. In the end, he'd had to improvise a little and moved very slowly, making sure to have her pressed against him as he lowered himself to the ground beside her, leaning back against the base of the large oak tree, pressing her head to his chest.
She'd started a little as he did so but he quickly moved to comfort her and she had soon settled down again.
For himself, he had been annoyed with her for her callous dismissal of his warning in such a haughty manner but, as soon as she started screaming, all pique left him and he ran to her side immediately, knowing that she had seen that same terrible sight that he had that had shaken him to his very marrow. When he had heard her terrified screams, he'd tossed all his anger and annoyance at her to the wind and had rushed in to pull her out of there, trying not to look at what lay on the ground in front of her kicking feet as he did so until he had managed to extricate her from the brush.
They sat in silence for some time, the last rays of the slowly setting sun sweeping across the park but James and Marlyse weren't aware of it until James lifted his head and saw, to his surprise, that it was dark; the overhead light in the Park was shining brightly a few feet away, a beacon in the darkness.
Marlyse looked up at him, her eyes red-rimmed from weeping, her voice hoarse and he looked at her, his fingertips gently running over the tight skin of her cheeks. Her lips parted softly with a quiet gasp of surprise as she wrapped her arms around his neck, nestling her head on his shoulder.
"James...?" she asked, her voice quivering with fear.
"Yes, Marlyse?" he replied as tenderly as he could, sliding his fingertips over her jaw line, his brown eyes wide with wonder and speechless respect as he stared deeply into her green eyes.
"Did you... see...what I...I-"
"Yes, I did." He cupped her head in his hand, kissing her tear-stained cheeks tenderly.
"I-i-is..." She had trouble getting the words out, in between hiccups and sobs that burst from her in a steady stream, shaking with terror and horror. Pitiful mewls poured from her tightly compressed lips before she burst into tears again, loud, racking sobs torn from her.
James held her close as she cried, burying his fingers in her hair, his cheek resting against the top of her head. He closed his eyes, his other hand gently rubbing slow circles on her arm, feeling her body shake with the horror of what she had seen.
I warned you, Marlyse, he thought morosely, opening his eyes and looking toward the hedge again before jerking his head away in disgust, I wish that you would have listened to me. He sighed and quickly murmured soft words of comfort when he felt her body jerking with the strength of her emotions. I would have gladly spared you this horror. He held her protectively against him. You shouldn't have had to see that.
When the last bit of emotion had been wrung from her, Marlyse at last fell quiet, clinging to James like a drowning man to a life preserver, her eyes wide open and unseeing. He continued to hold her for many moments until she, herself, pulled away from him though her arms were still firmly locked around his waist. He was glad that the gloomy darkness hid his red face.
"I-i-is... is.."
"Yes," he replied, holding her tightly once more against him, his eyes looking out into the darkness beyond the light. "It is..."
She fell silent for awhile before she spoke again.
"Will we...will we...?"
He nodded, cradling her head against his chest.
"Yes," he said firmly, "we have to report it to campus police as soon as possible."
"Who...who...was...?"
He shook his head.
"I... don't … know," he said slowly, "but... whoever it was, he-or she-had a family... and..." He couldn't continue but she knew what he was trying to say.
She nodded as James pulled out his cell phone, flipped it open and dialed, both of them keeping their eyes averted from the hedge a few feet away...
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Miles, his fingers intertwined and boxed underneath his chin, looked at Marlyse and James when they had finished their story, his expression blank. The two students quailed under his gaze, fidgeting nervously and I could well imagine what was going through their minds from the expressions on their faces and their body language as a whole. I'd seen many a criminal do the very same thing when Miles prosecuted their cases. He was very good at what he did and the intimidation factor did help in many of his early cases and some of the cases we had taken on together.
"And that's what happened, Mr. Wright," James concluded, his arm tightening around the now sobbing Marlyse's shoulders, murmuring soft words of comfort. "We didn't know at the time if the remains were human or not; we still don't."
Miles looked at me and I nodded and then turned his attention back to James who watched him with a look of dread on his face, clutching Marlyse to him like a drowning man with a life preserver. I couldn't really blame him for reacting like that; Miles could intimidate even the most hardened criminal who came before him in court and this was definitely another time when I was very glad that those steely grey eyes were not focused on me.
"The remains were positively identified as human," Miles began while Marlyse gasped in horror and James swallowed hard, "although we don't know exactly at this time whom they once belonged to."
Marlyse wailed, covering her face with her hands, half-turning to bury her face in James' chest while he held her even closer, his own face white.
"Are... are you... sure?" James asked, his voice harsh with emotion. "Are you absolutely sure that... what we found... is... is... human?"
Miles nodded, a grim look on his face.
"One hundred percent sure," he replied. "The remains that you two found in Nathaniel Park are human which upgrades this from a simple missing persons case to a murder investigation."
James' eyebrows furrowed, his jaw tightening.
"Missing... persons?" he asked, doubt and fear co-mingling in his voice while both Miles and I nodded. "H-how... when...?"
"As of eleven-thirty this morning," I replied while both James and Marlyse blanched. "We don't know who he or she is-was-yet but we're awaiting word from the M.E.'s office if the remains belonged to a male or a female and of what age." I looked at my watch. "They should be calling soon."
I hope so, at any rate. I looked at my watch again, my foot tapping impatiently on the tiled floor. They should be done about now.
Marlyse began to cry quietly again and James held her close, comforting her as best as he could, Miles and I looking on sympathetically. That something this horrific had happened to these two young people was damnably unfair but, as I had said more than once, life was unfair.
If life were fair, I reflected, a sour taste rising in my mouth, Miles' father wouldn't have been taken from him when he was a youngster by his twisted mentor and Miles wouldn't have suffered untold horrors at von Karma's hands or the horror of what von Karma had planned to do to him. Miles wouldn't also have felt the need to disappear, trying to escape memories that, in the end in the aftermath of DL-6, were too much for him to bear.
I felt my hand slowly curling into a fist at my side and I forced myself to calm down. James and Marlyse were very upset and needed all the help they could get; remembering the unhappy past was not the way to go about supplying it. All that would accomplish was to make me angry and I didn't want either of them to think that this anger was directed in any way at them since it wasn't.
James didn't miss a beat.
"Are you ok, Mr. Wright?" he asked, concern plain in his voice.
Damn. He saw it.
I smiled back at him as if to reassure him, not to mention myself, that I was all right although I did wonder about the shaking in my hands.
"I'm all right, Mr. Doughtery," I replied, pasting a smile on my face that I hoped would pass for genuine, trying to quell the trembling in my hands. "I was just... remembering the past, that's all."
Thankfully, he didn't ask any more questions and instead turned his attention to Marlyse, holding her close to him and murmuring soft words that I couldn't quite catch. I couldn't help but smile when I saw how protectively he held her and how she responded to that by pressing as close as she could to him.
I wonder how long it will be before they get together. They'll make a wonderful pair. I chuckled as I half-turned to see Miles standing beside me, a mischievous half-smile on his lips. I gave him a wide grin back before turning to look at the antique clock on the dean's mantel, my thoughts taking a darker turn.
It seems that at least one problem is solved but then, there's another looming question: where do we go from here? We at least have a start but where will it ultimately end up leading to? And the most troubling question of all: Whom we will find to be the guilty party and who's life will it hurt or destroy?
I didn't have the answer to those questions and it troubled me but I forced a smile on my face, trying to hide my dark thoughts and fears. One thing was certain: someone or perhaps several someone's could be connected to this ghoulish murder but time would tell if it was anyone at the university although, in the back of my mind, this seemed like a forgone conclusion.
It had to be someone at the university, of this I was convinced of; even at this early stage in the investigation, I was certain that someone from Cromwell was connected with the crime. The burning question remained: who which was closely followed by: how?
I was so deep in thought that I nearly missed the ringing of my cell phone, the Steel Samurai ring tone bringing me firmly back to the present. I jumped a little before plunging my hand into my jacket pocket, my fingers tightening around the cell phone as I brought it out, flipped it open and, pressing the "talk" button, brought it to my ear.
"Phoenix Wright," I said crisply as the voice of Elizabeth Partridge, L.A. county's coroner, came on the line.
She chuckled, her warm, rich voice brimming with amusement. "Good afternoon, Phoenix. How are you?"
"Quite well, thank you, Ms. Partridge," I replied, stepping back to the furthest corner of the dean's office which happened to be right by the window that overlooked the university Commons. "I'm assuming that the reason for this call is that you have some news for us pertaining to this case?"
"Elizabeth, please. Yes, we've positively identified the remains"-I could hear the faint rustling of papers being shuffled in the background-"as being human and of an elderly male about seventy years of age, give or take a year or two." I see Miles walking over to where I stood through the window, nodding once to the inquisitive look I could see in his eyes from behind me. "Causes of death were a combination of hypoxia, smoke inhalation and third degree burns."
I closed my eyes tightly. "Was he dead when he was burning?" I asked, feeling sick to my stomach and dreading the answer.
I hope that he wasn't alive. I can't think of any worse fate than burning to death.
She sighed. "No, he wasn't. He may, and this is only a conservative estimate at best, have lived at least fifteen to twenty minutes or so after his skin started burning but he was alive when it did. The thermal damage was quite extensive."
I swallowed hard, bile rising in my throat. I'd hoped that the victim hadn't been alive when he started burning and that the smoke had gotten to him first before the fire did and it made my stomach feel even worse to know that he had been alive when he caught on fire.
I could feel Miles' comforting hand lying on my shoulder, squeezing it tenderly and I was very grateful for his presence at this moment especially. That someone would deliberately burn someone when he was alive when they did and that the perpetrators made sure that the victim was alive while he burned raised the callousness of this crime to new heights of diabolical cruelty.
"Phoenix?" I could hear Ms. Partridge's concerned voice coming from out of the fog somewhere. "Are you all right?"
I waited for my stomach to settle before I answered. "Yes, Ms. Par-I mean, Elizabeth. I'm just feeling a little... queasy, that's all."
"I can well imagine," she said sympathetically. "It's quite a nasty shock, to say the least, even to me who deals with death in its various forms every day."
I believed it, too. "I agree; this has really... hit me pretty hard, a lot harder than I expected." She remained silent. "I've never come across something this vicious before and the method... God, it sickens me!"
"I can't argue with you there," Elizabeth said quietly although I could hear the underlying tone of fury in her voice bubbling just underneath the surface. "I've not come across this kind of extreme cruelty before in my nearly thirty years with the M.E.'s office although I have had cases that came close but nothing with this degree of barbarism and malice." I could hear the very real and palpable concern in her voice. "You have one very sick individual here, Phoenix. Be careful."
"I will and thank you."
"My pleasure. Oh and Phoenix?"
"Yes?"
"Get the bastard responsible for this."
"I will."
"Good. Say hello to Miles for me, will you? Give him my best."
"I'll do that. Is there anything else you can tell us about the victim? Did he have any personal affects on him before he was burned?"
"None that I saw except for a half-burned picture we took out of the pocket of his jeans. I'm surprised that it survived at all but somehow it did, although the middle is missing and the corners are burnt, it's still in remarkably good shape considering."
My eyebrow raised. This was an interesting bit of information. "What kind of picture was it?"
"A faded snapshot of a woman, very pretty, too," Elizabeth replied, "and I'm assuming that it is an old photo of either his wife or daughter that he was carrying around; since its pretty beat up, that tells me he's had it on his person for quite a few years."
"How many?"
"I'd estimate at least thirty to forty, give or take."
"Hmmm." I put this away in the back of my mind so I could digest it at a later date. "Is there anything else?"
"No, that's about all I have to tell you at the present. Stop by tomorrow afternoon at my office and we can go over the autopsy report in more detail, if you like; I'd rather go over it face to face than over the phone, anyway."
"That sounds like a good idea," I said brightly, turning to Miles and relaying the information to him in a hurried whisper. "What time will you be available?"
"I have a few more autopsies to do so I should be done about three-thirty or five o'clock, at the very latest."
"Excellent! We'll see you at around five or five-thirty, since we both have some more interviews to conduct with the dean and then with the university president which I'm assuming will take a bit of time to do."
"All right, Phoenix," Elizabeth said with a laugh. "Make it six o'clock and make sure you bring Miles with you. Since you two are collaborating on this case, I'd rather have you both in my office together so I don't have to go over all of this again at a later date with Miles."
"I will and thank you, Elizabeth, for the confirmation and the tidbit. Take care."
"You, too."
I clicked the "talk" button once again and the connection faded. I sighed as I flipped the phone closed and put it in my pocket, my face troubled and concerned. I waved off Miles' attempt to speak to me and he nodded once to show that he understood that I needed some space to think for awhile and walked back over to where dean Carson was standing.
I turned back to the window, my fingertips resting lightly on the sill, going over all the information that Elizabeth Partridge had given me. I found myself wishing that the elderly male victim, whoever he had been, could have had an easier death than the one he'd had; odd as it may seem to an outsider, to one who deals with this on a regular basis, such as myself and Miles, you can't help but develop a certain empathy-most of the time-with the victim in wishing that their demise could have been a much gentler one.
You'd think that people would treat each other better than we do, but we don't. Wild animals treat their prey better than human beings treat each other... and we're supposed to be the ones with superior brains. I looked down at the sill for some time before I lifted my head again. It really makes you wonder, doesn't it?
Little did I know then that, when I finally got the answers to all of my questions, seven more people would be dead and Cromwell's ugly past would be spread out for the world to see.
