*Mention of stillbirth and autopsy of a baby*
A few days later, they were back at work, both promising a few days off for a honeymoon when this latest case was closed. They still had no suspects and the body count was high; when he returned to his desk, Matthew sat down, hoping that with a fresh pair of eyes, he might be able to come up with something new.
When Alice arrived at the morgue, there was a pile of paperwork a mile high to deal with and some samples that needed analysing; just as she went over to the fridge, she came over lightheaded and suddenly realised she hadn't eaten the toast Matthew had made for her. The morgue door opened and in walked Doctor Robert Pugh from obstetrics and gynaecology.
"Morning Alice" Alice looked up and smiled as he continued, "I know this is a bit of a shit one for your first day back after getting married…oh, congratulations by the way" he reached out his hand to shake hers then went on with the rest of what he had to say.
"There was a stillborn yesterday and the parents have requested an autopsy. I'm not sure what it might be as they baby had been fine until the day of the birth. The mother had had an ultrasound a few weeks before since she mentioned that the baby wasn't as active as it had been. I did explain he didn't have as much room to move around, but I'd thought we'd get out the new-fangled ultrasound for a check."
Alice looked at him and suddenly felt quite sick but managed to swallow it back down before looking back at Dr Pugh, "is there anything you suspect Robert?"
"No…Alice, are you feeling alright? You look a bit grey?"
Alice shook her head as if to dismiss his thoughts then went on to ask about the complications of the birth.
"As I said, all was fine until just before the last stage of labour; baby's heart rate reduced really quickly then suddenly there was nothing. Mrs Noble was panicking but the baby was already engaged and in the birth canal so we couldn't do a caesarean section. Honestly Alice, there was no problem with the cord; the placenta was fine when I checked it and really, I'm not sure if the baby just couldn't cope with the stress of birth. Maybe a heart problem?"
Alice explained that she would check and would start now, "would you like to stay Robert?"
"Would you mind Alice? I'll just sit over here and not bother you. I'd just like to know what went wrong. I've started to doubt myself…" he hung his head and said, "you know what it's like."
As Alice went to the fridge to roll out the gurney holding baby Noble, she started to feel clammy and felt a wave of nausea come over her; Doctor Pugh moved the sheet back and as he did, Alice vomited over the floor.
"Robert, I'm so very sorry…let me just deal with this and we can get started."
"Alice…are you sure you're ok?" He leaned down to where she was kneeling, trying to clean up the mess she had just made when he lifted his hand and asked, "Alice, can I just touch your brow to feel for your temperature?"
She nodded, allowing access and as he did, she felt sick again. This time, she made it to the sink and washed it away. Alice finished up with the mess on the floor, washed her hands and said, "Shall we begin?"
Halfway through the autopsy, the metallic smell of blood and the cold feel of the organs through her gloves, had Alice's head spinning. Doctor Pugh looked at her again and commented, "Alice, you really don't look well at all. Maybe you should sit down? Shall I make us a cup of tea?"
Alice nodded, trying to breathe without taking in too much of the smell of blood. When she examined the baby's heart, she noted that there was indeed, as Robert had thought, a problem.
"There is a cardiac malformation. Congenital obviously. Severe cyanotic lesions on the heart. Stress from birth and the congenital cardiac malformation would have resulted in the death of this baby."
Alice removed a small section to examine on a slide, but she was sure of her diagnosis. She then returned everything and stitched the baby back up before returning him to the fridge. She removed her gloves and went to the sink to wash her hands, when another wave of nausea came over her. Again, Alice emptied whatever was left in her stomach into the sink.
Doctor Pugh set a mug of tea and a biscuit of Alice's desk and he took the chair opposite her.
"Alice, when we're done with this tea, you're coming upstairs with me. I think…in my medical opinion…that you are pregnant. We can check it out; try out the new-fangled ultrasound again."
Alice felt fear overtake her and as she sat down, she could feel herself tremble, "I…surely I'm too old for that?"
"For God sake Alice…how old are you? Early forties?"
Alice nodded and Dr Pugh looked over at her and said, "you're a doctor. You know yourself what is and isn't possible."
Alice then raised her voice and shouted, "well I thought I was passed it!"
Doctor Pugh reached over and gently touched her hand and said, "drink up the tea Alice, then we'll head upstairs and check you out. I'm going to assume you and your now husband didn't wait till you were married to…you know."
Alice could feel her face turn red with what Robert was inferring and she hung her head but said nothing.
"Alice, I judge not. Hell, judge not lest ye be judged. I've been there myself."
After tea, they made their way upstairs and Dr Pugh took Alice into a side room, brought out the ultrasound and explained what he was going to do. Within a few minutes, Alice could see a black and white image and as Robert moved the wand, she suddenly felt her breath catch as she saw the image of a very small baby on the screen. Alice covered her mouth with her hand and felt tears well up in her eyes.
"I'd say we've just confirmed that you are pregnant Alice. Looking at the size of this baby and…let me just take a few measurements…I'd say you were around 2 and a half to 3 months."
When he turned to look at Alice, he could see she was crying. He handed her his handkerchief and asked, "aren't you happy Alice? You'll have a little baby with you and your husband at the end of September maybe beginning of October. We'll do this again in a month or two and we'll have a better idea of dates then. Would you like a little photo of the baby Alice? You can take it to the inspector."
"I am happy…so very happy…I'm just…I…I never expected this."
As Alice moved off the bed and fixed her blouse she remarked, "I'm older Robert…will the baby be…will…"
Doctor Pugh touched her arm and said, "Alice, you're healthy and I don't see why things shouldn't go to plan. I'd like to keep an eye on you regularly because you are a bit older and this is your first baby…it is your first isn't it, Alice?" She nodded and said, "yes…yes, first baby." Alice placed her hand over her stomach and felt tears well up again. "Sorry…I'm just…"
"Overwhelmed?" Dr Pugh asked as he handed Alice the little sonogram of her and Matthew's baby. She put it into her pocket and thought about how she would tell Matthew when she got home that night.
Alice had had an idea about the material that was found in the wounds of the gunshot victims; she placed some of the material into a small jar, placed in her handbag and decided to take a walk into the town; she needed some fresh air and that would give her some time to process what had happened earlier that morning.
Errol Stott owned a gun shop and Alice had a few questions she wanted to ask; she found Mr Stott behind the counter and showed him the contents of her bottle, "I can't be sure Mr Stott but I was wondering if this looked like the contents of a bullet?"
Mr Stott took the small bottle and looked at it under a small desk magnifier that he had, next to a lamp, "Let's look at this doc. Yes…it looks like Cordite, a smokeless powder. Where did you get it from?"
"It's from a case I'm involved in and this was collected as evidence. Where would one find such a thing?"
"Well, I have some, but it's generally used by folks who would prepare they own ammunition. Most folks who come in here would buy ready-made bullets for use; there are very few people who buy the component parts around here."
"Would you have a list of the people who make their own ammunition? I can ask…the Chief Inspector to come by if you don't want to tell me?"
"You don't need to send your old man on me Doc! I heard you two got married. Congratulations."
Mr Stott walked over to his drawer, pulled out a large leather-bound book and wrote down two addresses, "One is old man Thompson but he's about 40 minutes out of Ballaratt, bit of a hermit. The other one is Brian Mulgrew, has a house and garage near the forest, it's not that far from here actually."
Alice took the names and addresses and headed back to the hospital. She needed to deal with some paperwork but would give Matthew a call and let him know about her findings.
"Constable Peter Crowe speaking."
"Hello Peter, is your boss around? I'd like to talk to him about the cases in the woods."
"No doc, he's gone out. Said he had some thought about the case and went out a couple of hours ago."
Alice's heart sunk, she wasn't sure why, but she had an awful feeling something was wrong.
"I'll be right there" Alice replied and hung up the phone.
Alice pulled on her jacket, picked up her bag and ran to the car, driving as fast as she could to the police station. When she arrived, she ran straight to the bullpen, heading straight for Peter and Bill.
"Alright Doc?" asked Bill.
"No…no…everything is not alright."
Alice rambled her way through the story of the foreign material, the handmade ammunition and Brian Mulgrew. Alice started pacing as Bill and Peter started calling round and carrying out some investigations on Brian Mulgrew.
Half an hour later, with a lot of pacing from Alice, Peter and Bill headed over to Matthew's desk, where she was sitting with an untouched cup of tea in front of her.
"Doc…we might have a problem on our hands." Alice jumped out of the seat and looked at Bill, waiting or his to continue, "Mulgrew is apparently well known for making his own tea."
"Tea? What the Hell has tea got to do with this? We need to find Matthew."
Peter looked over at Alice and said, "we've tried the radio in his car but he's not answering…the tea is made from magic mushrooms…you know the ones that make you hallucinate and…"
"I'm well aware of the effects of psilocybin constable now what does this have to do with Matthew?"
Alice was beginning to feel desperate and kept clutching at the buttons on the top of her blouse. She unbuttoned the top two buttons to try and make it easier to breathe but it didn't seem to help her much. She placed a hand over her stomach subconsciously but when she realised, she started to think about having to bring the baby up with no father and how she would not get the chance to tell Matthew. One thought rolled into another and she started to hyperventilate. Peter helped her back into Matthew's chair and tried to soothe her by saying, "come on Doc, we'll find the boss. He's probably safe and well and will wonder what we were all worrying about!"
"No Peter, something is wrong, I can feel it…I…I don't want to be a widow 3 days after we get married. Please Bill…Peter…help me find him." The last part was said through tears and Peter just handed Alice a clean handkerchief.
"Doc, it sounds like this guy is a bit…of a mental case. He's really into shooting and hunting; likes a bit of fishing too but last month we were called out because he was letting off explosives in Lake Wendouree and told us he was trying to catch fish quicker. Maybe too many mushrooms have tipped him over the edge?" remarked Bill.
Alice picked up her bag and commanded, "you better call for some sort of backup because we need to go to this man's house and find out if Matthew is there. If you're not coming with me, I'm going alone!"
Peter and Bill picked up their hats and headed out to one of the police cars, with Alice following behind them. A few others were heading out behind them as backup; the three of them sat in silence all the way to Mulgrew's house.
When the finally arrived, Alice got out of the car and looked around; this house was right on the other edge of the woods and would be an easy point to access. When the Bill and Peter got out of their car, they and the other officers started searching the area and trying to access the house.
One of the young constables came from the garage holding cut cable ties and said, "looks like there's blood on the floor but could be animal as it looks like he processes his hunting kills in there."
Suddenly, there was the sound of a gunshot and they all looked at each other, trying to decipher which direction the sound came from. Alice held her stomach with one hand and leaned on the police car with the other, retching into the grass. Peter came over and said, "come on Doc, you sit in the car and we'll go find out what's happening."
"No…no…" Alice took a deep breath and righted herself, wiping her mouth with Peter's handkerchief.
"I'll be sure to replace this Peter."
He just smiled and said, "seriously Doc, why don't you wait here?"
She shook her head and said, I'm coming with you. I wish I'd brought my medical bag."
The others had headed in the direction of the gunshot and when Alice and Peter had caught up with them, Bill was trying to take to Brian Mulgrew; he was trying to convince him to put his rifle down. Alice noted the rifle was a Winchester 88 which would hold the .308 Winchester bullets she had found in the bodies she had examined for this case; she started to panic but started looking around the woods nearby where they were all standing. Some of the officers were hiding behind trees and tall grasses so as not to overwhelm Mulgrew. It was quite clear that Brian Mulgrew was having an episode of some sort and when they had disarmed and arrested him, would require assessment for his competency to stand trial. He really looked, and was acting, as if he needed some mental health treatment.
Alice was scanning the woods as far as she could see, "bloody Hell" she thought, "where are you Matthew?"
Just as angst and fear were about to overwhelm her, Alice saw the flash of pale blue from Matthew's police shirt; when she looked closer, she could just make out that he had no shoes on and was only wearing his trousers and shirt. Matthew turned briefly and their eyes met, Alice was slightly relieved that she could see him, and that Matthew was still alive, but she knew he was still in danger.
At the same time Bill was trying to talk Mulgrew out of the rifle and Alice noticed Matthew, Mulgrew also saw the glimmer of pale blue and fired another shot in Matthew's direction. Alice saw Matthew fall forward and after that she could see nothing. Her heart sunk and as she turned, she saw three police officers, including Peter and Bill, disarm and arrest Mulgrew. Alice ran as fast as she could in the direction of where she last saw Matthew.