A flash of near recognition showed in her eyes. "Have I seen you before?"
I shook my head. "Not that I can remember."
She shrugged it off. "I'm detective Jo Martinez. Call me Jo."
We shook hands and exchanged greetings. "Well, I can see the resemblance. And you seem just as smart. How old are you?"
"15. I'm a child prodigy."
"So it seems."
"You look like you're pretty smart too. You like to see the big picture."
"Well, I examine the small details too, but-"
"That is more of Dad's job." Saying 'Dad' felt weird on her tongue.
"Yup. Okay, let's get this body to the morgue!" Jo ordered, starting to leave. Me and Henry followed.
When we got back to the Precinct, Jo went to her phone and started to make some phone calls. Henry smiled and gestured for me to follow him to the morgue.
"Sorry I sort of stole your spotlight back there-"
"Rachel! It's no problem! I want you to show off how smart you are! Put on your full potential and flaunt it!" He grabbed my shoulders. "I couldn't be more proud."
I smiled. The elevator doors opened and we went straight to his office. As soon as I closed the door, the phone rang. Henry answered it. "Hello, Dr. Morgan speaking."
I heard an eerie, deep voice that I know all to well coming from the other line. I decided not to say anything. Henry's eyes widened. "No, don't you dare!... I won't let you harm them!" He disconnected the line and then dialed another number.
"Abe? It's Henry. I got another phone call. Yes, and you have to find some way to protect yourself, I think he may be after you! Yes, I have Rachel right in my office... Yes... Okay... You be safe now, Abe! Yes, bye!"
He hung up the phone and then looked past me and out his glass doors. I turned around. The body was here. He went out first, followed by me. He unzipped the body bag, leaving the stark naked woman laying on the table. We put on gloves, grabbed our scalpels, and started gathering hard evidence.
It was hard to believe how much we had in common. Sometimes we would reach for the same tool, or cry out the same thing at once. It kind of freaked me out. I almost decided to take off my gloves and eat a snack, but then something caught my eye. I looked over and saw that her jaw looked like something was in it. I got Henry's attention.
"Help me open her mouth."
He did so, and I reached in there, pulling out a crumpled up piece of paper. I opened it up. It was blank. "Lemon juice, maybe?" I suggested.
"What's lemon juice?" Jo came in saying.
"I found this piece of paper in her mouth," I said, waving the paper.
"And there's nothing on it?" Jo asked, taking the piece of paper from my hands.
"Nope, not as far as I can tell. Even though I just found it."
"Okay. Figure out what it says. Henry, I figured out what college she went to. Wanna come with me to interview some people?"
Henry stole a glance at me. I shrugged. "Take Rachel with you. She has majored in Psychology."
Jo's eyes raised. "Really?" I nodded. "We can really use you! Come on."
I looked at Henry. "You'll be fine, Rachel, Jo can take care of you."
I shrugged and followed Jo upstairs.
"You know, you're a lot like Henry," Jo said as we were driving down the road.
"In what ways?" I asked.
"Well, you look almost exactly like him, for starters. Two, you're extremely smart, like he is. Three, you can read people like a book. The list goes on, really."
"Well, like I said earlier: I'm a child prodigy. I went to college at age eight, so I had a lifetime of learning to do. I have studied at a lot of schools and majored in many subjects, including Psychology and Forensics."
"You two also speak similarly."
"Guess I'm not the only one who can read people."
Just then, we pulled into the parking lot of the community college where Marie Durani attended. We got out and headed to the doors.
