An hour and twenty minutes passed before Lestrade strolled through the automatic doors, followed by two men. He pounded the bell on the counter. "Hurry up, doctor, I don't want to wait around all night."
I could hear his impatient fingers drumming on the countertop as I propped open the door to the receiving room and approached him. "Hello, detective. What have you got?" I asked, coolly.
Lestrade motioned and one of the men- another police officer- set the body bag down on the stretcher I had set up.
"Is there anything else you need, sir?" the weary police officer asked. Lestrade shook his head. With a polite "good night," the junior officer disappeared through the doors.
"So who's your friend?" I asked, causally directing the question at Lestrade. I glanced at the other man Lestrade brought with him before (much to my embarrassment) doing a double take. Lestrade and his companion could not have been more physically different. Lestrade was a short, balding, rat-faced man with poor grooming habits. On the other hand, his good-looking friend stood a good six feet, clad in a long, jet black trench coat that further emphasized his height and pale complexion. His disheveled hair was the exception to his otherwise immaculate appearance.
Lestrade made introductions hastily, gesturing to his companion. "Dr. Watson, this is Jacob Holmes, my… colleague. Jake, this is Dr. Watson, the ME on duty." Lestrade's slight hesitation before mentioning his relationship with Holmes did not escape my notice.
I smiled nervously at Holmes, meeting his gaze, and not completely comfortable under the scrutiny of his piercing blue eyes. I shook his outstretched hand firmly. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Holmes."
He nodded. "Likewise, doctor."
Grabbing the stack of paperwork that inevitably went with any body brought in by cops, I made my way over to the stretcher and began wheeling it into the room I had prepared earlier, Lestrade and Holmes at my heels. "So what's the history?" I asked, as I stuffed my shoulder length hair into a cap, put on a face mask, and a new pair of latex gloves. I was anxious to begin the initial inspection as I gestured to Lestrade and Holmes to do the same.
Lestrade whipped out his notebook. "Victim is a 28 year old Asian female discovered dead on the floor of her bathroom by her mother this afternoon around 4PM. She was completely nude except for socks. By her side we found two razors and an empty bottle of generic aspirin. She was last seen yesterday night after she completed her day shift, so she was unaccounted for about 9 hours."
I proceeded to unzip the body bag. Lestrade had donned a pair of latex gloves himself and helped me move the body from the bag onto the examination table. "Are you sure you want to do this one alone?" he asked, one last time.
I glared at him before answering. "Yeah, yeah." I nodded absentmindedly. And then I saw her face.
It was like looking into a mirror.
AN: Thanks to Anneliese for (their) support!