The Unborn

Chapter 7

 He still had the visit with the wellness clinic to look forward to yet, boy that would be a hoot. From what Ben had told him about the secretary and the Doctor there, he was quite looking forward to zeroing in on them and digging up their dirty little secrets. Today was probably the best day for him to meet with them, being edgy and short fused could be the clue to getting what he wanted from them. One way or another, Mike was determined to draw them out.

The chime of his wall clock echoed throughout his apartment and indicated that it was eleven-thirty. He glanced over at the bold, roman numerals on its face, they reminded him just how much he despised that clock. It had been a gift from his mother; she’d chosen it especially for him and presented it to him when he graduated from high school. Not that he didn’t appreciate the gesture, but to Mike his mother’s taste left a lot to be desired.

 He chugged down one last mug of coffee and gathered his notebook and case file from the kitchen bench. It was time to make his presence known at the wellness clinic, but first he would check in at the station and see if Jane Doe’s autopsy report had come in. Mike snatched up his keys and made his way out the door and into the garage. His cruiser sprang to life with the first turn of the key, it’s rumbling engine purring under Mike’s control. Easing out of the garage and down the driveway, he changed gears and sped off in the direction of the station house.

 Mike found a parking space, locked the cruiser and fell into the regular flow of pedestri-ans streaming through the station house doors. Once inside, he approached his desk and the mounting stack of paperwork that had been steadily building for the past few weeks. The paperwork and filing of it, had never been one of his strong points, quite often his captain would chew his ear about getting the formalities finalised. As usual, it hadn’t made a damn bit of difference to Mike, he would get to it when he was ready and not a minute before. 'Criminals ain’t caught sittin’ behind a desk fillin’ out paperwork.' He had growled back at his boss.

 There on the top of his latest unfinished pile of papers, sat a document wallet marked, 'Detective Mike Lynch.' He broke the plastic seal and reefed the contents out, spilling them onto his desktop. A hand written note was attached to the top sheet with a paperclip, it read

 Mike,

Here’s Jane Doe’s report, hope you find something useful in it. Nothing terribly groundbreak-ing in my findings, remember it is just a preliminary report to get you started. I am still awaiting the results on trace and toxicology. Will let you know more, as I know. Hope the photo helps with discovering her identity.

All the best,

Dr. Leon August.

 He threw the note aside and turned straight to the report, in search of the photo. Augie had given him two Polaroid’s of Jane, one to keep for his records and one to carry with him to show people in the hopes of someone recog-nising her. So far nobody had a clue who she was, something he was praying would change 102

soon. He stuffed the Polaroid into his pocket and tucked the report under his arm; it was time to pay a visit to Dr. Sugars.

 Back in his cruiser, Mike placed the autopsy report in his locker compartment under the front, passenger seat before starting the engine and speeding away. Thoughts ran through his mind, about Tessa, Jane Doe and Ben’s portrayal of the wellness clinic. Could they be hiding something? Was Tessa more to them than just a client? Mike thought it odd that Dr. Sugars was reluctant to talk with Ben about Tessa. Not too often did Ben feel that someone was hiding something, so when he did feel that way, Mike stood up and took notice. He may have been right, Dr. Sugars could have simply been shocked by the murder and needed time to digest the news, who knows? Either way, Mike wasn’t going to go as easy on her as Ben had, he was going to be like a pit bull with a new chew toy. He wanted answers, he needed them… and now!