Here's chapter 4. I'm sorry it took so long! I've had a lot of homework and I recently joined a sports team, so I haven't had a lot of time on my hands. But I'll try to update the next chapter in 2 or 3 weeks. Okay! Now read, review, and enjoy!


CHAPTER 4

WHEN I COME AROUND

"Why do you think someone would steal a body? It's already dead," said Steve.

"Well, why else would it be gone?" asked Mark.

"I don't know. Maybe you could ask some of the staff. I'll go find Jesse, and I'll ask him if he knows where the body is," Steve said.

"Okay. I'll ask around. Are you okay, Amanda?"

"Yes. You go ask around. I'll be right here," sniffled Amanda.

Jesse is 26 years old and is a doctor at Community General Hospital. He is a good friend of Mark, Steve, and Amanda. Sometimes when Mark helps Steve with his homicide cases, Jesse and Amanda will help too. Now was one of those times.

First Mark went to the front desk and asked the receptionist if someone took Heather Aardvark's body for examination. She replied no, but that she wasn't sure because she had just gotten on duty half an hour earlier. Mark said thank you and then went in an elevator.

While he was in the elevator, he overheard a couple of interns discussing an upcoming quiz that they would have to take in class. Mark knew what quiz they were talking about. They were talking about the quiz where they had to look at a dead body and then figure out how that person had died. Then a thought occurred to Mark.

DING! The elevator finally stopped on the third floor and Mark stepped out of the elevator and onto the white tile floor. He went straight to Dr. Johnson's classroom. Dr. J (as he was known to the interns and med students) was a colleague a very good friend of Mark's.

"Well, hello Mark. Good to see you again," said Dr. J.

"Hello, George. You know that quiz you'll be giving your students on the dead body? Do you know whose body that is?" questioned Mark.

"Yes. I believe that's the body of a woman named Heather Aardvark." replied Dr. J.

"Ok. Just out of curiosity, what time are you giving that quiz?"

"Oh, in about……4 hours."

"Ok, would I be able to borrow her to re-examine her?"

"Sure. I just have to finish up a few things with her and you can send someone to pick her up in a few minutes."

"Ok, thanks."

"No problem. Talk to you later."

"Bye."

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Mark rushed back to the Pathology Lab and told Amanda and Steve what he found about Heather Aardvark's body.

"So, we can examine her body in a few minutes," Steve clarified.

"Yes. I'll go page Jesse and have him get her body from Dr. J."

Mark went to the phone, paged Jesse, and then they waited in silence until Jesse called them back. He called two minutes later and Mark asked him to get Heather Aardvark's body and bring it to the morgue.

Fifteen minutes after the call, a young, sandy-haired man of twenty-six came into the morgue wheeling a gurney. This young man was Jesse Travis, a doctor who was also really good friends with Mark, Steve, and Amanda. He was known to make quite a few of the nurses heads' turn as he walked by. He never could get a girlfriend though.

"Hello Jesse. Thanks for getting her body," said Mark.

"No problem."

"We're going to re-examine her body. You're welcome to stay if you like," Mark said with a friendly smile.

"Okay. Sure," said Jesse.

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Ten minutes later, Mark, Steve, Amanda, and Jesse had their gloves on and were ready to begin.

"As I told you earlier Steve, she died of stab wounds to the neck, back, and scapula," recalled Amanda.

"Yeah. Dad, what are you thinking?"

"I was thinking maybe something about her or the way that she was murdered would tell us something about the killer."

"Ok. Let's see. Her tox screen came back clean. So she wasn't a drug or alcohol addict," said Amanda.

"Did she have any tattoos?" Jesse questioned.

"Nothing with boyfriends' names or a family crest or anything that would give us a clue about the identity of the killer. She only had a tattoo of a purple fairy on her right ankle," replied Amanda.

"Ok. Well, let's look at the stab wounds then," suggested Mark.

Amanda pulled back the sheet and, with Steve and Jesse's help, turned her body onto its stomach.

"You say neck, back, and scapula?" Amanda nodded. "It's got to be her left scapula then, and most of the stab wounds are on the left side of her neck and back," Mark said.

"So what you're saying," Jesse said, "is that the killer is right-handed."

"Exactly Jesse," Mark grinned.

"I'm going to call the Captain. Good work guys."


Finally, another chapter finished! First, some thank-yous and comments!

Plant Pot: Yes, you're right about the whole 'Cops would have found the murder weapon' thing. I guess I just figured they wouldn't have thought that the killer would have left the knife behind. And I really appreciate your opinion and your comments. :) Also, I'm trying to make the chapters longer, but it just takes a lot of work.

Tigger: Thanks!

Ann: Thanks!

Daisyangel: Yep! That's exactly why I chose the song title. By the way, blink-182 sings "I Miss You".

Now please review. I love to hear what everyone has to say about the latest chapter. :)