Tangled

by Uc Amalu, Jr

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  Jay found himself back in Augie’s autopsy suite for the

  second time in a week. The sterility of the room always

  gave him the chills, but this time it was the brutal murder

  of a woman he knew. That gave him the chills. Augie and

  his two assistants, Pete and Ed, were preparing the

  instruments and scanning paperwork on the far side of

  the room. The stench of death hung thickly in the air. For

  the briefest moment, Jay felt as though he might be

  violently ill. He didn’t recall feeling this way when he

  attended Kylie-Anne’s autopsy, perhaps it was the

  familiarity that sickened him, not the surroundings.

  He stared solemnly at the metal gurney in the centre of

  the room. Marla’s body lay there beneath a crisp white

  sheet. Her left hand protruded from under the white

  covering. The fingernails on both her hands were tattered

  and torn. One was completely ripped away. A deep,

  jagged gash appeared in the centre of her palm. Perhaps

  the killer did it when her breasts were being tied to them.

  Or perhaps it was from being dragged or pushed out the

  broken window in her bedroom. However it happened,

  Jay knew that Marla had suffered far worse than that

  gash, at the hands of her murderer. Her index finger was

  bent backwards. It hung down like a small twig hanging

  from a branch. The dislocation of it affected Jay more

  than he could understand.

  “Ready to start?” Augie stood in front of him.

  “Huh? Oh, yeah.”

  The suite suddenly buzzed like a beehive of frantic activity,

  Ed and Pete both like soldier bees running from one

  location to another, gathering bowls and surgical

  instruments in readiness for the queen bee, Augie. Their

  sterile gloves, aprons and boot covers crackled with each

  movement they made. Pete walked towards Marla’s limp

  body and pulled the sheet back, exposing her and her

  ravaged body to all present. Jay’s eyes traced the line of

  her torso and came to rest on her chest. Mangled skin

  and raw tissue was all that remained of her breasts. Apart

  from the curve of her full lips and the chiselling of her

  defined cheekbones, everything that made Marla feminine

  had been stripped from her. His eyes fixed on her

  abdomen. The murderers grotesque incisions left her

  gaping wide open from the navel down. The sight

  repulsed him, yet he could not look away. He needed to

  see this again, needed the reminder of how desperately

  this twisted killer had to be caught.

  Augie walked over and stood beside Marla, and together

  with Pete and Ed, the examination commenced.

  “Pete,” said Augie. “Ready with the camera?”

  “Sure thing,” he replied, picking up the large black piece of

  equipment from the work bench.

  “Taking notes, Ed?”

  “I’m on it.”

  “Frontal examination presents numerous abrasions to

  the head, face, neck and left shoulder. As per previous

  victims Tessa Hunt and kylie-Anne Saunders, Both breasts

  have been removed in their entirety. Incisions appear to

  be smooth and clean, instrument used was extremely

  sharp and accurate, my guess is a scalpel or perhaps a

  boning knife.”

  The flash of Pete’s camera startled life back into Jay, his

  senses peaked and he regained composure from the

  trance like state that had over taken him earlier. He

  squinted his eyes and found his focus, the flash having

  temporarily blinded him. Augie continued with his

  external documentation.

  “Both arms bear deep abrasions and sub-sequent

  bruising. Fingernails on right hand torn, minor cuts

  present. Left palm presents a deep gash approximately

  five centimetres long by one and a half centimetres wide.

  Fingernails torn, one completely removed. Index finger

  appears fractured and dislocated.”

  “How you going there, Ed? You getting this all down?”

  “On target, Dr. August.”

  Augie glanced over at Jay. “How about you, Jay?”

  “I’m hangin’ in there. Doing ok,” he lied. His stomach was

  churning and he felt like he was going to lose his

  breakfast. Each autopsy he attended proved worse than

  the last. After seeing death and violence everyday, it

  surprised that he still couldn’t cope with an autopsy.

  Augie held Marla’s left hand up for Pete to take a photo,

  the flash lit up the room again and the documentation

  continued.

  “As we come to the abdomen, it is apparent that there

  has been some major amateurish surgery performed.”

  “Amateurish surgery?” Ed queried Augie, a strange

  expression on his acne-ravaged face.

  “Yes, that’s the best way I can describe it, I’m afraid.”

  “Once again, by visual inspection only, her abdomen has

  been cut in a manner as per a crude caesarean section.