The sound of Holly's phone ringing woke Gail before it woke Holly, the alarm clock read 3:20 AM and Gail wanted to throw Holly's phone across the room. "Make it stop." Gail complained, trying to bury her head under Holly's Pillow. Holly blindly felt around her nightstand for the offending phone, she had been having a wonderful dream about their future wedding and she did not want to be intercepted by work. "Dr. Stewart." Holly muttered into the phone before rolling over to wrap her arms around Gail.
"Dr. Stewart, I'm sorry to wake you. Dr. McAndrews is working a case for 27 and we have a situation." Callahan stated, his voice coming across as both apologetic and annoyed. "Text me the address, I'll be there soon." Holly sighed releasing Gail and sitting up, as much as she wanted to stay in bed, she knew she would need to make quick work of her morning routine or risk falling back asleep. "And Detective Callahan, you better have coffee there when I arrive." Holly hung up and made her way to the in suite bathroom to quickly shower. Her morning routine shouldn't have started for at least another 3 hours, the major downside of being the Chief M.E. meant always being on call.
When Holly reentered their bedroom, she noticed that Gail no long occupied their bed which seemed odd, but she knew that Gail's actions often surprised her. Holly pulled on a pair of jeans and a button up shirt and made her way downstairs. "Coffee and a muffin." Gail squinted, holding out a travel mug and a paper bag, her hair in complete disarray and her shirt hanging off her shoulder. "Thank you." Holly smiled as Gail nodded and leaned forward to kiss her. "Be safe, have a good day, love you." Gail muttered before walking back upstairs to their bedroom. Holly pulled on her work boots and grabbed her coat before walking out the door, she wanted nothing more than to go back to sleep.
"What do we have?" Holly asked as she made her way to Duncan, who stood at the perimeter of the scene. The address Callahan had sent to her phone lead her to a storage facility near the morgue. "Detective Callahan will fill you in, he told me to wait here with this and to escort you inside." Duncan smiled, holding out a large paper coffee cup, Holly had finished the coffee Gail had made on her drive over, but she knew that the ungodly hour would require copious amounts of caffeine. "You're a good man Officer Moore." Holly gladly took the still steaming cup of coffee from Duncan and followed him into the building.
"The scene's at the end of hallway D, a total of 3 units were auctioned off yesterday afternoon from the same owner. Three different people bought the units for nearly 2 thousand dollars each." Detective Callahan called out from further down the hall once he saw Holly approaching. "Thank your officer Moore, please ensure no one crosses the tape and don't release information to the press." Callahan motioned for Holly to follow him as he turned to walk back toward the makeshift command station.
"So why am I here for storage lockers?" Holly gingerly sipped her coffee trying not to spill it or burn her mouth. Her multi tasking skills would not be fully functional for a while, she knew she risked ruining her shirt if she tried to gulp down her coffee and walk at the same time. "The lockers were filled with junk, various tools and household items, each locker also held two large freezers." Callahan watched Holly before sighing, she wasn't necessarily paying attention to him. "The lucky winners of each auction came across the same issue, two freezers, two bodies, 6 in total." Callahan smirked when Holly rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Thanks, I can do math, I did tutor you in high school after all." Holly muttered before walking up to Erin her lab tech. "You will never let me forget that, will you?" Callahan glared at Holly who just shook her head with a triumphant smile.
"Dr. Stewart, the techs are bagging the evidence out here, everything inside the lockers has been cataloged and photographed, and you're free to work." Erin nodded and held her hand out to take Holly's coffee. "When did you arrive on scene?" Holly asked, handing her coffee over to Erin while pulling on a pair of latex gloves. "We have been here for 3 hours, I told Detective Callahan not to call you out until you could access the bodies, no need for you to just stand around and wait." Erin nodded and walked towards the other techs labeling evidence bags on a large folding table. "I don't know if she is afraid of you or if she's in love with you." Callahan laughed, leading the way into the first of three 18x 24 storage rooms. "shut up." Holly groaned, trying to adjust the harsh lighting in the storage lockers.
Holly walked around the freezers photographing the serial number plate and the date of maintenance before opening the door to slide the table out. Inside laid a man in his early 60's gray hair and balding, dressed in a black suit and dress shoes. The second freezer held a woman around the same age in a skirt suit and heels, her make-up pristinely done; the couple appeared to be ready for a memorial viewing. "Thoughts?" Callahan questioned when Holly pushed the bodies back into the freezers and closed the doors. "Freezers are medical grade, the same type we have in the lab to preserve cadavers, they have both had maintenance work done in the last year, and the address listed on the maintenance sticker doesn't match this one." Holly nodded and made her way into the second storage room.
The third and fourth freezers held another man and woman in their early 60's dressed in a suit and a ball gown. Holly noted the same maintenance dates on the freezers before moving to the last locker, from her initial observations she could offer little information. "All victims are in their early 60's maybe late 50's each of them has been carefully preserved, only a medical professional would understand the logistics of freezing a body without causing external and aesthetic damage to the corpses. Once I have them back at the lab I'll be able to complete the exams and autopsies." Holly pulled off her gloves and watched Callahan note the information.
"Thanks, I'll have Duncan drop breakfast by the lab around 6." Callahan nodded and walked towards the group of officers sifting through the piles of miscellaneous garbage near the exit. "The bodies and freezers will be in the lab in 20 minutes, we have 3 of them in the truck already." Erin came bouncing over holding out Holly's coffee cup. "Thank you Erin." Holly nodded and took the cup from her, feeling the effects of the coffee she had on the way kicking in. "Need me in the lab, or here?" Erin asked checking her phone for the time; Holly wondered if she needed to test Erin for un-prescribed Adderall use, no one should be this perky before 5 am. "Please stay here and collect residual evidence that may have been missed under the freezers." Holly nodded before walking back towards her jeep. 6 bodies would take up the rest of her day and would probably be the cause of her missing dinner tonight.
Holly had spent her morning examining the bodies from the storage lockers, after running the maintenance information Callahan connected the bodies and the freezers to a funeral home robbery 8 months prior. He had sent over the original case files as well as the hospital and funeral home records with more coffee at 10. Holly had laughed when Duncan nearly passed out at the sight of the bodies that had taken over the lab, he still hadn't gained his "morgue legs" as Gail called it, the sight of a dead body still made him queasy.
The files Callahan had uncovered matched the bodies from the storage lockers, each body had been prepared for funeral services at the time of the robbery; however, Holly found secondary signs of trauma. The initial reports stated that all of the deceased had died under doctor's care and had not been autopsied, the incisions and reconstruction of the internal organs confused Holly. She had completed secondary autopsies on each of the bodies in record time, she would have time to have lunch with Gail in an hour and hopefully finish her day at a reasonable time.
"Knock Knock!" Callahan stood in the doorway with a women Holly did not recognize, she looked to be around his age with shoulder length nearly black hair. "Dr. Stewart this is Detective Knight from 27, she responded to the original robbery, we are now running this investigation through both divisions." Callahan motioned between the two before pulling out his pen and notepad. The woman eyed Holly t-shirt causing Holly to glance down at the Toronto Police Academy shirt she had changed into. "Nice shirt." Callahan laughed, as Holly's eyes grew bigger in surprise. "I spilt coffee on my shirt laughing at Duncan pour kid still can't stomach the lab, and this happened to be in my jeep." Holly muttered before taking off her lab coat that still had a large coffee stain on the front.
"Nice to meet you Detective Knight." Holly nodded as she handed Callahan a copy of her reports. "The bodies recovered from the storage lockers are the bodies that had been stolen from the funeral home." Holly stated, pulling on her arms, trying to stretch away the ache, it had been a while since she had performed 6 autopsies in the same day. "The medical reports and the files from the funeral home for each victim state that they died under doctor's care and that no autopsies had been performed. Professional autopsies were performed on each body prior to my exam however. While it's not a homicide, whoever stole the bodies had extensive medical training. We found trace evidence inside Mrs. Goldstone, the lab is running tests right now, and it's a safe bet that whoever did the autopsies cut themselves during the process, we recovered a bloody piece of latex from her chest cavity." Holly stretched her neck before walking towards the first exam table on the other side of the room.
"The shape and length of the incision tells me that whoever performed these autopsies has completed their training in the last 6 to 8 years. The stitch pattern used to close each victim indicates that they were trained in Europe. We will have more information in the morning once the test results come in." Holly pointed out the incision before showing Callahan and Knight the pictures of the original sutures. Callahan handed the file to Knight before moving to each body and checking the incision pictures against the new sutures Holly had placed. "So I'm looking for a European doctor in their 30's?" Callahan mused after he had checked the last body. "That doesn't match any of the original suspects we interviewed." Knight spoke up handing the file back to Callahan, the woman seemed disinterested in Holly's findings and explanation.
"So much for cut and dry." Callahan muttered tucking the folder under his arm. "Can you run Tox screens to ensure the deaths were natural?" Callahan's brow furrowed, Holly knew that he hated complicated cases. "Each of the bodies had been embalmed prior to the robbery, the Tox screens we have been able to run haven't come up with anything, that could be due to deterioration from date of death as well as the embalming process." Holly watched as Callahan took notes before glancing up at her.
"If this turns into a homicide I'm handing it off to Peck." Callahan muttered causing Holly to laugh, since rejoining 15 Callahan had moved from homicide to what Gail described as the general investigation unit. "Please don't this is now a joint case and I've had better conversations with a brick wall, I would prefer not to work with the ice queen on this." Detective Knight huffed looking down at her phone; Holly just stared at the woman standing in her lab, trying to find the best insult for the brunette. Callahan watched Holly wide eyed, He knew from experience that Holly had the same verbal lashing skill's that Gail possessed. "Don't get me wrong, I mean she's extremely attractive, but I need a partner who is more than a pretty face to look at." Detective Knight continued causing Callahan to start laughing uncomfortably.
"What's so funny?" Detective Knight asked, looking up as Holly turned towards her desk; PECK was printed in bold black letters across the back of her t-shirt. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have said that about your sister in law, everyone has such great things to say about Steve's wife." Detective Knight tried to correct herself as Callahan lost his composure and started laughing harder.
"Why are you laughing like an idiot Luke?" Gail asked from the doorway to the lab, a scowl on her face and a paper bag clutched in her hand. Holly smirked as the blood drained from Detective Knights face, Holly knew that Gail had just walked into the lab and hadn't heard Detective Knights commentary. "Sorry, it's just going to be so funny." Callahan choked out between fits of laughter, tears now streaming down his face. "Weirdo." Gail muttered, holding the paper bag out towards Holly. "Ready for lunch?" Gail turned her attention to Holly who smiled and nodded at her.
"I'll have my reports sent over when the test results come in." Holly nodded towards Callahan and Knight as she joined Gail in the doorway. "Oh, I forgot." Callahan finally gained his composure, a devious smile playing on his lips. "Congratulations on your engagement." Callahan called as Holly reached out for Gail's hand. "Thanks." Gail grinned as Holly tugged her towards her office, they could hear the muffled bickering coming from the lab.
"What was that about?" Gail asked once Holly shut her office door. "Detective Knight from 27 thinks you're an extremely attractive ice queen who has the social skills of a brick wall." Holly shrugged, moving to clear off the coffee table in her office. Holly learned early on in their relationship that Gail had heard a lot worse when it came to how people perceived her as both a cop and the ice queen. "Detective Knight should say that to my face." Gail muttered carefully removing her jacket. "She also thought I was Steve's wife, so that made things interesting." Holly laughed to herself as Gail slowly eased herself onto the couch. "You ok?" Holly noticed Gail's expression change from annoyed to hurt as she moved. "I did something to my back, it's been bothering me all day." Gail whined as she organized their lunch on the coffee table.
"How long's your lunch break?" Holly broke their comfortable silence, she was happy to be out of the morgue for a little while and off her feet. "I'm done for the day, my back was bugging me too much to sit at my desk." Gail complained as she finished eating, she reached towards her lower back and tried to knead the tender muscles. She had noticed the pain when she dropped Sophie off for school this morning, how the simple act of getting out of her SUV caused discomfort, it grew to worse the longer she sat in her uncomfortable desk chair.
Holly quickly finished her lunch and leaned back against the armrest of the couch. "Come here." Holly motioned for Gail to lay back against her, Gail's back hurt her from time to time, normally heat and rest corrected the issue. Holly watched as Gail slowly moved to lie against Holly's front, her legs resting against the opposite armrest. "You should get your back checked out; this is the 3rd time in two months that it's acted up." Holly muttered as she kissed the nape of Gail's neck, slowly untucking Gail's button up shirt. "I have an appointment next week." Gail sighed as Holly pushed her shirt up past her hips. "Tell me if this hurts." Holly breathed as she slowly pressed her thumbs into the flesh of Gail's back, feeling the knots and tense muscles contract under the pads of her fingers. Gail groaned and pressed back into Holly, her face scrunching up as Holly's thumbs pressed into a particularly sensitive area.
"Sorry." Holly murmured easing the pressure and move to a new spot, noticing Gail's face relax and her eyes fluttered closed. Holly continued her massage as Gail drifted to sleep, her breaths evening out and her body completely relaxing against Her. Holly wondered if they needed a new mattress, or if Gail should ease off her yoga routine for a few weeks to let her back heal. Holly felt Gail's back muscles spasm as the blonde jerked awake with a yelp, she had only been asleep for a few minutes. "Mother fucker." Gail cringed, standing straight up, both of her hands reaching for the spot the pain radiated from. "Are you ok?" Holly had only seen Gail move that quickly for two things, free drinks and sex, her concern grew the long Gail stayed silent. "No" Gail grunted through clenched teeth as she shook her head. "Ok, let's go I'm taking you to see Dr. Cromwell." Holly stood up and grabbed her keys and bag; surprisingly the blonde didn't put up a fight as she followed Holly out to the morgue parking lot.
Gail laid on the exam table face down, her shirt and bra now removed as the doctor poked at her lower back. "Do you sleep on your stomach?" Dr. Cromwell asked marking areas along Gail's back with a pen; Holly sat nears Gail's head running her thumb up and down the blondes forearm. "Mostly." Gail grunted as he pressed along her spin. "Have you had prior back injuries?" He moved towards Gail's head notating her responses on her chart. "No." Gail muttered her eyes locked on Holly's mouth, she had been chewing on her lower lips since they entered the exam room. "Ok I need for you to put your head here." He pointed towards the head rest. "I need to check your spine." Gail moved to rest her face on the cushion and dropping her arms to the side of the table as Dr. Cromwell adjusted her position.
"Give me." Gail muttered lacing her fingers with Holly's, Holly found Gail's neediness amusing when she was injured or sick, the normally tough cop turned into a baby. "I need to put pressure on your spine, if it's uncomfortable, let me know." Dr. Cromwell stated before pressing down on Gail's back, Holly watched as he moved lower and Gail's grip on her hand grew tighter. "Ow." Gail complained, trying to move away from his touch. "I need to order a few tests, I will be back shortly." Dr. Cromwell nodded towards Holly before leaving the room.
"You ok love?" Holly asked as Gail moved to rest her head on her arm again, the pout made Holly worry. "Just hurts." Gail muttered, running her thumb over Holly's engagement ring. "Can you ask my mom or Andy to pick up Sophie from school, the sitter's out of town today." Gail searched Holly's face, they had finally found a sitter for Sophie when they both were working late or had been called out to a case.
"Sam is picking her up, Andy is on shift and your parents are both in meetings." Holly smiled leaning forward to kiss Gail's forehead. They had been in the doctor's office for an hour already and Holly knew they would be here at least another hour before they knew the cause of Gail's discomfort. "We need to run some tests; right now I'm almost positive that you have a herniated disk." Dr. Cromwell noted setting a tray on the table near Gail's chart. "I'll bring you to radiology for an MRI and we will discuss our options once we have the results." Dr. Cromwell set a surgical gown on the counter and pointed to it, Holly nodded as he walked out. "You need to stand up so I can help you put this on." Holly smiled as she moved to grab the gown. Gail groaned as she slowly eased herself off the exam table and into a standing position.
Holly held the gown open to Gail as she stepped closer, she usually enjoyed looking over Gail's naked form, right now she knew that Gail was in pain and that normal extracurricular activities would be off the table and looking over her body made her feel guilty. "I'll make Mac and Cheese for dinner and you can have all of the junk food you can eat, I promise." Holly smiled as Gail wrapped her arms around her. "I just wanna go home and sleep." Gail mumbled against her neck, Holly could hear the frustration in her voice. "Soon I promise." Holly kissed her hair as she tied the gown closed. "I need you to remove your belt and pants." Holly laughed as Gail made no effort to move. "You do it." Gail muttered as Holly reached between them to undo Gail's belt and zipper, slowly pushing Gail's pants over her hips and holding onto the blonde as she stepped out of them.