The atmosphere in Mike's office had changed to an anxious suspense, as both detectives stared at the coroner wide-eyed. Running his fingers along the picture of the incision marks, Ed pursed his lips, as if even he was disturbed by what he was about to say.
"All…his heart, liver, kidneys, lungs, pancreas and parts of the intestine have been surgically removed. Somebody went organ harvesting on him big time, then filled him up inside with crumpled up newspaper. In order to do that process properly, they had to have kept him alive until they were ready to remove the heart and lungs.", Ed said somberly and pointed at the young Inspector, "Stephen, can I borrow you for a second to show the Lieutenant something? I don't have my plastic mannequin nearby…"
Nodding queasily, Steve waited for the smaller man to approach and watched him point at the inside of his elbow, before reaching for his chin and tilting his head to the right.
"Mike, I found injection marks on either side of the body in both, the median cubital vein in the elbow, as well as the interior jugular vein in his neck, right here…", Steve shuddered involuntarily, when he felt the ME's cold hand run along the side of his throat, before pointing at his chest, "It can be very difficult to access the jugular, being that the carotid artery is right next to it. This typically isn't done unless it's a last resort or if large amounts of blood or liquid need to be pumped into the body. This is some skilled workmanship. It goes along with the correct size scalpel being used for the multitude of jobs done on him. Somebody knows exactly what they're doing. If you were to ask me, they had a machine set up to act as an artificial heart and continue feeding his brain and vital organs oxygen, while they operated on him- until it was time to cut the proverbial last cord."
"That sounds downright barbaric to me…", Mike grunted in disgust and absent-mindedly ran a hand over his own heart, as he took another sip of coffee.
"He would have been under sedation.", Ed explained and pointed downstairs, "That's why I am waiting on the tox screen. No matter how sadistic your guy might be, to try and surgically remove organs without general anesthesia would put the victim into such a level of stress, that shock and a heart attack would ensue long before the procedure is finished. That in turn would damage the organs and that's not the idea…"
"So, then we can check hospital records in the region to see who's received a transplant in the last two weeks. That should help narrow down our surgeon gone rogue.", Steve suggested, only to watch Ed shake his head.
"Try it…but I don't think your guy would be that stupid. Most times, when illegal organ trade is going on, the recipients are overseas, or the procedure is done at a secluded private clinic. You'd be chasing his liver somewhere in Hong Kong, his heart in Belgium, his kidneys in Moscow and his pancreas in Lima. Tracing it back to the original source is being made purposefully impossible. Organ trade is an incredibly profitable business fellas, and police have tried to catch these guys for years with little success. As long as there are rich people in this world willing to pay top dollar for an organ they, or their loved ones need, this horrible practice will continue."
"Yeah, I know…", Mike grumbled and bit his lip in dissatisfaction, before clearing his throat again, "Ed, what about the…the newspaper used to stuff the body. Can we figure out which paper it is, find the publishing date and see if we can narrow down our search area a little bit? And what about his face? Is there anything we can do to create a sketch drawing we can circulate?"
"I am having Johnson downstairs working on the newspaper as we speak. The print was jeopardized because of all the blood and the prolonged time in the water, but I think he's making headway.I took a picture of your John Doe's face, so when your sketch artist is back in tomorrow, he's got something to start with."
"Good.", Mike mused and scratched his chin, as his eyes drifted over to his map of San Francisco, "In the meantime, Steve, see what you can dig up in Missing Person's downstairs. I think Ricky is working today. Based on what we found out about the ocean currents, specialize on any areas north of here, say Stinson Beach, Olena, Muir Beach, Bolinas, even Sausalito. If this is a targeted operation, something tells me this isn't the first guy they picked off the streets. Look for a pattern. Young men perhaps, mid-twenties to mid-forties…"
Mike hesitated when Ed raised a hand, before clearing his throat.
"You can actually extend that search across any gender, and age-wise, go up to sixty-five. No limit on how young the victim might be unfortunately."
When he noticed both detectives fall silent at the solemn picture he'd painted, Ed shifted uncomfortably, having nothing to offer but a shrug.
"This is going to include practically anybody reported missing in the past four to six weeks in the entire area…that'll take a little while Mike, I better get going…", Steve explained worriedly, nodding at the other two men for a brief second, before leaving the office.
Mike waited until his partner was out of earshot, before sighing, and facing the ME again.
"This is sounding like something far bigger than what we usually deal with. I am tempted to get the Feds involved. What's your gut feeling on this case, Ed?"
The ME drew in a deep breath, his eyes turning a shade darker at what his mind was imagining. Finally, he shrugged again, before pointing at his file.
"It has the potential to be a big deal, that's for sure, Mike. I am not liking what I am seeing, if that's what you want to hear. These people…that's organized crime, in the worst way possible. And I personally don't think any Homicide department in any city of this country is properly equipped to deal with the level of heartlessness and sheer brutality that these people operate on. Their level of sophistication worries me a lot. You have to remember, you're not dealing with a singular killer here. This is a network. There's no telling how many guys they have on board helping."
Ed hesitated briefly, his nervous hands playing with the outer edges of his file folder.
"For what it's worth, Mike, you ehm…both of you fellas…be careful on this case, please. You're prime targets for organ harvesting yourselves. I'd hate to have either one of you wake up in a bathtub full of ice missing a kidney."