The Body Thief

by Chris Taylor

  “Yes, of course. I remember you.”

  “Good. I was wondering if you could help me. I’ve obtained the records of everyone who died since the beginning of June who consented to donate their organs. In order to know if the organs were lawfully obtained, I need to compare the terms of the consent forms with the state of the bodies. Are you able to provide me with a list of names of the deceased you’ve had through your office and the evidence you witnessed of the removal of tissues?”

  “I’m sorry, Detective. I won’t be able to help you.”

  Rohan frowned. “Why not?”

  “We don’t keep those kinds of records. I noticed the unusual number of bodies coming in with signs that they’d been organ donors, but I didn’t make a note of who it was or what was missing. And even if I did, it would only be a guess. I don’t reopen the incisions. I can only speculate about what might have been removed.”

  Rohan’s shoulders slumped with disappointment, but he wasn’t willing to concede defeat at that point. “What about some of the other funeral homes? Would they keep those kinds of records?”

  “I wouldn’t think so,” she replied doubtfully. “There’s no need. We prepare the body for its final burial and at all times, we treat it with courtesy and respect. It’s not necessary for us to open the body—and keeping notes concerning who donated what just seems wrong. I think most embalmers would feel that way.”

  Rohan bit back a sigh. Thanking her for her time, he ended the call. Flipping through the police file, he located the phone numbers of three of the other funeral parlors and called them one by one. After the third call, he hung up the phone, defeated. It was just as Hannah had predicted. No one kept records of who had donated organs and tissues and what had been taken. His only hope was to compare the consents with the autopsy reports of the thirty-six coronial cases that had been examined in the Glebe Morgue.

  Tugging his cell phone out of his pocket, he speed-dialed Samantha and couldn’t help but smile when she picked up right away.

  “Hey, you,” she said and he could hear the laughter in her voice. He hated that his request was going to sour her mood.

  “Hi, how are you?” he asked. “How’s your day so far?”

  “Not too bad. Busy. You know how it is.”

  “Yeah, I sure do.”

  “What time will you finish?”

  “I’m not sure. I’m hoping to get out of here by six. How about you?”

  “If I’m lucky, I’ll get out of here by then. Do you have any plans?” she asked.

  “That depends,” he teased.

  “On what?” she replied and the laughter was back.

  “On whether you’re up for another night of passion.”

  “Rohan!” she gasped. “I’m at work! Someone might hear you!”

  “What, do you have me on speaker?”

  “No, of course not.” Her tone lowered. “But, you know…”

  “No, I don’t. Please, enlighten me.”

  “Rohan!” she protested and he could almost feel her embarrassment. It endeared her to him even more.

  “Okay! Okay! I’ll behave; I promise.” He laughed.

  “Good. Now, was there a reason for your call, or did you just want to say hello?”

  Just like that, his mood sobered. “Actually, it is partially work-related. I have a question: When you record details of an autopsy, do you make a note of all of the organs present and those that are missing?”

  “Yes,” she answered warily, as if she wasn’t quite sure where this was headed. “The reports should be in the files I’ve given you.”

  Rohan frowned. He’d been through each and every file more than twice. He hadn’t seen any such reports. “They don’t seem to be there.”

  “They might still be waiting to be filed. We’ve had some of our administration staff down sick on and off this winter. It doesn’t take long for paperwork to pile up.”

  Rohan nodded, accepting her explanation. “No problem, but I need to get hold of the autopsy findings on the thirty-six people who went through your facility over the winter months. I need to compare what was found during the post mortem to the actual consent forms.”

  Samantha was quiet on the other end of the phone and Rohan could understand her reticence. She was a smart woman. She had to know it was almost certain her brother was involved. The question was, whether the good doctor was merely doing his job to a high degree of dedication, or whether something illegal had occurred.

  “I’ll get on it,” she murmured.

  * * *

  Sam sat beside her mom and did her best to keep her mind off the fact they were once again in the Dialysis Unit of the Sydney Harbour Hospital. Each hemodialysis session lasted about four hours and Sam sat with her mother to keep her company whenever she could.

  It was difficult to sit there week after week and pretend she wasn’t affected by the sight of her beautiful mom getting weaker and frailer each time. The cloud of thick, wavy black hair she used to sport had thinned and faded to a salt-and-pepper gray. Her once-healthy skin now held a sickly pallor and the lively personality was more often than not buried beneath the burden of her chronic illness.

  Sam wished for the thousandth time that either she or one of her siblings had tested positive as a compatible donor, but it hadn’t worked out that way. Enid Wolfe had given birth to four children and despite the fact any one of them would have willingly offered her a kidney, not one of them had been a match. After years of suffering with kidney disease, Enid’s kidney function was totally compromised and she was now forced to rely on dialysis to keep her alive.

  It had been nearly six years since her kidney function had deteriorated to the extent dialysis was necessary. The longer it went on, the more likely it was her kidneys would call it quits altogether. Sam knew as well as anyone that when that day came, her mom’s life would be as good as over.

  Squeezing her eyes shut, she made a conscious effort to block out that depressing thought. Her mom was the only parent she’d ever known. She couldn’t imagine life without her. She didn’t want to imagine life without her.

  There was still so much they had to share. Sam hadn’t given up hope of getting married, having children, celebrating birthdays, christenings; graduations. All the bits and pieces of everyday life that many people, including Sam, used to take for granted. She’d assumed her mom would be around to see Sam live them and yet there was a real chance she wouldn’t.

  Dammit, it wasn’t fair!

  “How have you been, Sammie?”

  Sam forced her lips into a smile and replied in a light tone. “Good, Mom. Busy at work. The usual.” She tried not to think of Rohan and his investigation.

  “How’s Alistair? I haven’t seen him for a week and he hasn’t called for ages.”

  “I think he’s okay. I haven’t seen him for a while, either. He’s really busy, too.”

  “You all work too hard. Ava and Jessie are the same. They sit with me when they can, but I know they both have clients waiting while they’re here keeping me company. Jessie’s phone never stops ringing. She has it switched to silent, of course, but I still hear it vibrate.”

  She grinned and Sam grinned back, pleased to see her mom was in good spirits. It was hard enough for Sam to contemplate what would happen if a donor kidney wasn’t found in time. She couldn’t imagine how much harder it must be for her mom.

  “I’ll call Alistair and let him know that you’re here. He might be able to get away for a little while, and come down and say hello.”

  “Is he at work today?”

  “I’m not sure, but it’s worth a try. He spends most of his waking hours here.” Sam pulled out her phone and dialed his number. The call went through to his mailbox and she left a brief message.

  Enid shook her head. “Like I said, he works too hard. He has a wife and two children who need some of his time, too. He forgets that.” She turned to look at Sam. “How are you doing on that front? Are there any possibilities on the horizon? H
ave you met anyone special on that dating site?”

  Heat swept across Sam’s cheeks. “Mom! I can’t believe Alistair told you! I’m going to kill him!”

  “Don’t be too hard on him, Sammie. He wasn’t making fun of you and he didn’t mean to breach your confidence. I think he thought it would cheer me up, knowing you were doing something about finding a husband. You’re thirty-four, honey. Your body’s clock is ticking. I hate to remind you, but time’s running out if you want to have a family.”

  Sam rolled her eyes. “What about Ava and Jessie? They’re a year older than me and they haven’t managed to produce a grandchild.”

  “Yes, and I give the same talk to them,” her mother smiled. “But at least they have boyfriends. That’s a start.”

  Sam sighed. It wasn’t like she hadn’t heard it all before. “It’s not just kids I want, Mom. I want the whole package—the perfect fantasy. A husband I adore and who thinks just as highly of me. A kid or two. The big backyard and the white picket fence.”

  She reached over and took her mother’s hand. “I want what you and Dad had. I know I was too young to know him. Hell, I don’t even remember him, but I’ve heard so many stories about him from you and Alistair as well as a few from Ava and Jessie. I’ve watched the family movies over and over again. They were taken before I was born and yet I can’t help feeling the love and respect that you had for each other and I yearn to have the same. I don’t want to settle for anything less.”

  Enid squeezed Sam’s hand. The faint pressure brought tears to Sam’s eyes. Her mom had been a strong and vibrant woman until the onset of this insidious disease.

  “And so you shouldn’t, Sammie. Hold out for your prince charming. It’s a long time married to the wrong man. A lot of my friends have lived to regret their hasty decisions.”

  Sam nodded. She also had friends who’d married way too young. Many were her age and already on their second time around. She didn’t want to be one of those women. She had too much respect for the institution of marriage and all that it represented to commit herself to someone for life without thinking it through from all angles.

  “Would you like a drink of water, Mom?” she asked and received a grateful nod.

  “That would be lovely, Sammie. Thank you.”

  Sam stood and filled a glass with water from a jug that stood near the armchair where her mom reclined. She handed it to her mother and waited for her to drink.

  “Thank you, honey,” her mom said when she finished and handed her back the glass. “I was a little thirsty. That water tasted good.”

  “You let me know if you want some more, Mom,” Sam murmured.

  “I will, darling. I will.” Sam returned to her seat.

  “You didn’t answer my question.”

  “What question was that, Mom?”

  “I asked if you’d met anyone special on that dating site. I mean, it’s a little unconventional and it certainly isn’t the way we did things when I was young, but if that’s how people meet each other these days, then I guess it’s all right.”

  Sam laughed. She bent down and picked up her handbag from where she’d stowed it under her chair and pulled out her iPad. Logging onto the dating website, she turned the screen around so that her mother could see it.

  “Take a look at some of the people who set up profiles on these sites. Read their bios. Some of them are bound to give you a laugh.”

  Her mother reached for the iPad and began to scroll through the pages. Every now and then, she’d let out a chuckle. Once or twice, she laughed.

  “Oh, this one is downright desperate!” She smiled. “Why on earth would anyone go out with someone like that?”

  Sam grinned. “I guess you have to give them points for trying. You never know… They say there’s someone out there for everyone, don’t they?”

  Her mom’s attention remained on the screen and she didn’t answer. A few moments later, she said, “That’s a nice photo of you, Sammie.”

  Sam blushed. Her mom had obviously found Sam’s profile page. Knowing that her mom wouldn’t stop at the photo, heat crept further across her face. She pulled out her phone and busied herself by pretending to read through emails.

  Her mom eventually broke the silence. “It reads well, Sammie, although I didn’t know you like watching black and white movies. Still, your bio’s appealing and you look fabulous in that photo. If I were a man looking for love, I’d snap you up right away!”

  Sam burst out laughing and her mom joined her. It felt so good to share such a simple thing with the woman she loved more than anyone else in the world. She thought of Rohan and wished for a moment he were there. He’d spoken to her about his parents and siblings and she could tell from the love and quiet pride in his voice how much they meant to him.

  Family was important to him. It was just another thing she liked about him. He was a man with many admirable qualities, not the least being the way he made her feel. On impulse, she opened her mouth and found herself talking about him.

  “It’s funny you say that, Mom. I’m thinking about taking that profile down.”

  “Why, Sammie? It’s lovely and I’ve reconciled to the fact young people do things differently these days. I guess with all this technology at your fingertips, you might as well put it to good use. You won’t be the only person to find the love of their life on the Internet.”

  “Well, actually, I think I might have found him the good old-fashioned way.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “My prince charming.”

  The surprise that flooded her mother’s beloved face was almost comical. “Samantha Grace Wolfe! How could you have kept something so momentous from me! We’ve been sitting here for at least three hours and you haven’t breathed a word! Shame on you!”

  Sam laughed and her mom joined in. “I want to hear all the details,” Enid begged.

  Now that she’d opened that Pandora’s box, Sam wasn’t sure what to say. Since she’d spent the night at Rohan’s house they’d barely seen each other. He was busy with the investigation and she was also doing long hours at work. Between the two of them, they’d only had time to make the occasional phone call and most of those had been late at night.

  Sam thought of the call they’d shared the night before and blushed. It wasn’t exactly phone sex, but it had sure sent the heat rushing through her veins. Her mother’s eyes narrowed and a smile played around her lips.

  “Sammie… Talk to me,” she said sternly, mock warning in her voice.

  Sam took a deep breath and exhaled. “His name is Rohan Coleridge. He’s a detective, stationed in the city.”

  Her mother’s eyebrow rose in surprise. “A detective? How did you meet?”

  “I’ve known him since I was in college. He used to date my roommate.”

  “Oh, wow! That’s interesting! All that time and you never thought about hooking up.”

  “It was…complicated.”

  “And now it’s not?”

  She shrugged. “Something like that. Let’s just say, we sorted out our differences.”

  “Well, I’m glad, Sammie. Is he nice?”

  “Yes, Mom. He’s very nice.”

  “When do I get to meet him?”

  “Mom! We’ve only just started going out! We’re not exactly up to the ‘meeting the parents’ stage.”

  “But you’ve known him for a decade.”

  “Yes, but… As I said, back then it was complicated.”

  “Are his parents still alive?”

  “Yes, they live at Cronulla. His mom’s been sick with a prolonged bout of the flu, but otherwise I understand they’re reasonably healthy.”

  “That’s good. Does he have any siblings?”

  “Yes, a lot. Four brothers and three sisters. I’m not sure where they all live, but Rohan’s the only one in Sydney.”

  “Mm, I’m glad he has family. Family’s important. Life can throw you curve balls when you least expect it. Having family around is one of the th
ings that can see you through to the other side. Nobody knows you like your family and you can’t rely on anyone like you can on them.”

  “If you’re close,” Sam added.

  Her mother frowned. “Is he not close to his family?”

  “I’m not sure, Mom. I guess so. He speaks about them with fondness. That’s how I know he cares.”

  “You said he’s a detective. That’s a very challenging job. Long hours and very little gratitude from those they serve and protect. I think life’s tougher on police officers than most.”

  “Yes, more often than not, it’s a thankless job. You couldn’t pay me enough to be one.”

  Enid smiled. “And this is coming from you—a person who spends their days examining corpses.”

  “Mom! I love my job! It’s very intriguing and rewarding and—”

  “Hey, I’m glad you feel that way,” her mom said holding up her hands in a sign of surrender. “All I meant was, some people would find your job as undesirable as you find that of a police officer.”

  “You’re right. We’re all different. I guess that’s what makes things interesting.”

  A comfortable silence fell between them. Sam returned to her emails.

  “So, is he good-looking, this detective of yours?”

  Sam blushed. “He’s not mine, Mom! We’re dating; taking it slowly; seeing where it might lead.” She paused and then added, “But yes, he’s definitely been blessed in the looks department. He reminds me of pictures I’ve seen of Dad. Blond and blue-eyed with a broad chest and shoulders.”

  Enid’s expression turned serious. “Do you think that might be why you’re attracted to him? Because he looks like your dad?”

  Sam contemplated the question. Until now, she hadn’t given it any thought. “I don’t think so.”

  “It’s not good to go looking for a substitute father figure, especially one you never knew. Nobody can live up to the ideals of a ghost.”

  Sam was shaking her head even before her mom had finished. “No, Rohan’s definitely not that. He has coloring like Dad’s, but that’s where the similarities end.”

  “How old is he?”

  “The same age as me.”