Chapter 3 – Body of Evidence

1947

With a shake of the head, Woody pulled himself from his reminiscences, telling himself that he had too much to do in the present to dwell on the past. With that thought, he gave the clock a cursory glance, determined that the day was still young, and decided to set out for the most logical place to begin a missing persons search: the morgue. Gathering up his hat, coat, and cane, he lumbered out of his inner sanctum, pausing in front of Lilly's desk to let her know his plans.

"New case?" she asked, eyes round with excitement as they always were when anything new came their way.

"Yep. Missing person. I'll be at the morgue this afternoon if anyone stops by."

"You're going to the morgue?" Her voice rose several steps, reminding Woody of her inexplicable fascination with the place, or possibly the people who worked there.

"Yes. I probably won't be back in today, so feel free to take off whenever you need to."

"All right. Say hello to Dr. Macy for me; won't you?" she asked, the tips of her ears turning a delicate crimson.

"Will do. Have a good evening." And with that he was gone, stepping out once again into the cloudy Boston afternoon, feet planted reluctantly in the direction of the city morgue.

"So, Hoyt, what can I do for you?" Garret Macy, chief medical examiner for the city of Boston, inquired of his unexpected and rather uneasy guest.

"I'm working a missing persons case, actually, Dr. Macy, and I thought I'd stop by to see…"

"…if I had any bodies matching your missing person's description?"

"Exactly. Female, late twenties, brown hair and eyes, last seen wearing a red suit and coat." As Woody rattled off the statistics, Dr. Macy noticed the detective nervously playing with a worn scrap of paper.

"You working the Cavanaugh case?" he asked.

"How did you know about that?" Woody exclaimed, incredulous.

"I've known Max Cavanaugh and his daughter a long time. She usually stops by here fairly often, and it's been awhile since I've seen her. Max was in here a few days ago, and he seemed pretty worried about something. I figured she'd gone missing again."

"I've been asked to keep it a secret, but since you already know…" He sighed. "Yes, Max came in earlier today asking me to find her. This seemed the logical place to begin."

Dr. Macy glanced suspiciously at him for an instant before resuming his professional veneer.

"Sorry to disappoint you, detective, but I don't have anyone here matching her description."

"Thanks anyway, Dr. Macy. To be honest, I'm glad you don't."

"You know the Cavanaugh girl?"

"Not very well," he lied, "but I've been needing a new case with something to interest me."

"One too many searches for lost jewels?"

"Lost dogs, actually, but what can you do?"

Macy laughed at his feeble attempt at a joke as both men rose.

"Good luck with the case," he added as they shook hands. "Let me know if she turns up."

"Thanks, Dr. Macy. I will. Oh, and by the way, Lily asked me to say hello for her." He turned to go, but paused, his eyes landing on a figure that had just passed the doorway. A woman, dressed to perform an autopsy, was sauntering up the hall, dark brown curls and swaying hips all too familiar to the young detective. He shook his head, and when his gaze refocused, she was gone. Convinced that he was beginning to see mirages, Woody took his leave of the medical examiner and hobbled toward the exit, hoping that a stiff drink and some rest would set him to rights.