Chapter 3: Morgue (Alexis)

I had to work late night tonight. My internship with Lanie the ME for the NYPD required me to be on call, and so whenever a body showed up, I had to be there. I've been an intern long enough to get over the creepy dead bodies feel, but tonight was different. It was tonight when I realized that I had become so accustomed to working with dead people in a morgue that I'd forgotten that each and every one of them had a story to tell, and that they were more than just corpses taking up space. That each of them meant something to someone, somewhere. The way that boy clung onto her refusing to let go made me remember. Had I really become that apathetic when it comes to death? I'm pretty sure if it was my dad or grandma here I definitely wouldn't be.

"Hey, Alexis?" came Lanie's voice from the back of the room.

"Yeah?"

"I'm gonna go upstairs and tell Beckett what we know so far, and when I get back I want my toxicology report done, okay?"

"Yeah, sure thing." And with that she left.

I promptly got to work running tests for toxins in her body or anything out of the ordinary all the test results came back negative. As far as I know, I would rule this case as an accident. I'd been done for a while when Lanie still hadn't returned, so I just sat down on a lab bench and contemplated my night.

That boy with that distraught look in his eyes was something that I would never forget… there was something stirring in the back of my mind, but I couldn't put my finger on it. Something about eyes, those black eyes of pain, poor kid… OH! Then it hit me, like a bullet from a gun. The pit of my stomach suddenly felt queasy. That's when I realized why his eyes had seemed all too familiar; he was the same delivery boy I had seen earlier.

Now you may be wondering why Dad made me come with him to work if I already "work here". Mainly because as an ME, I almost never leave the morgue, unless you count going to lunch and the bathroom. Dad just thought it would be great to see what it was like upstairs and how the Homicide team works.

My mind wandered back to Charlie… at least that's what I think he said his name was. I truly felt sorry for that kid; I could tell he was no stranger to pain.

Just then, the door to the morgue opened, Lanie was back. "Girl, do you have my toxicology report?"

"Yes." I said handing her the clip board with all my recorded results. "Everything came back as negative, so I guess we can rule this one as an accident."

"I wouldn't be so sure if I were you. Beckett just told me that this isn't the first death this family has seen."

"So? What are you suggesting? That they killed this woman?"

"Do you even know the name of the family that we are currently dealing with?"

"Yeah. It says here that her name is Maria Locke. So the Locke family right?"

"No. That's what I thought at first too, but boy was I wrong. The family is the Winchester's."

The Winchester's? As in Winchester Arms? The look on my face must've given away the incredulity I held inside.

"Yep, that's them." She replied to my unspoken thought. "If you are thinking of the William Wirt Winchester, then you are right. The same ones who supplied the NYPD with our guns. So we are dealing with a very powerful family here, and if we don't take this seriously and screw something up, then we would be in some deep doo doo."

"Wait, what does the Winchester family have anything to do with this lady? And why do they look guilty of murder?"

"That lady" Lanie said as she pointed at the stiff "was the nanny to all three of Winchester's surviving children. The ones you saw earlier. And as to why they look guilty, or at least the father does is because this isn't the first death in their household. According to records, Winchester's oldest son Tripp died in Afghanistan. No questions there, but his wife was found later having committed suicide by cyanide pill."

"So?" I said. "What's the point? She killed herself out of grief because her husband died. End of story."

"So we thought. But looking back upon their family history back to the very first Winchester, there have been a lot of deaths, and no some of them were not of natural causes."

"That doesn't make the dad guilty, just because a bunch of people from generations before died. That doesn't have anything to do with him."

"Look at you getting all defensive! Lemme guess, it's because of that boy isn't it?"

"Boy, what boy?"

Lanie snorted "Psh, don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about, I saw you. And plus your dad, Castle, told Beckett how you were seeing stars after he came to deliver that smart board. You were all stricken and whatnot, and then Beckett told me. "

I could feel the color rise to my cheeks; I glanced down pretending to study the body further.

Seeing as this made me uncomfortable, Lanie switched topics. "Anyway, the point is, we have reason to question if this really is an accident. Besides, we'll find out whether or not after a bit of digging, and if they really are innocent, they'll be let off the hook easy as that." Noticing that I was still red in the face she added "Look, I know you just broke up with Ashley, but hey the Winchester guy was a cutie, I don't see how one couldn't notice him." I guess she was just trying to make me feel better, but it wasn't working. In fact it just made me feel worse. Sighing Lanie just muttered that she would just shut up from this point on, and that we were done for the night.

I had never been so glad to leave the morgue and that included my first day on the job. I quickly packed up and left before she had time to change her mind.