Dr. Laura Benjamin was one of the best in her field. Having an extensive education and background in pathology was good enough for what she was in the process of dealing with, but Laura also worked closely with Dr. Mendez, a world renowned forensic anthropologist who was key in solving many homicides in North America. Laura had the opportunity to take a few classes with Dr. Mendez and then had the opportunity to observe him while working towards her specialty. Not long after, when Laura started to work at the Laboratoire des Sciences Judiciaires et de Medecine Legale for the Province of Quebec, to her delight, she saw that Dr. Mendez was still actively working with the laboratory. To have a person of his caliber working in the same building was like winning the lottery. Laura already had a rapport with Dr. Mendez and the fact that he was so close-by, meant that she had someone she admired whom she could go to as a mentor.
Laura started her medical education at McGill university, and with such positive memories of the brilliant professors she was fortunate to have, she wanted to give back, once she was established. Her dream came true a couple of years ago when a position opened up and she got the call. Since then she has been lecturing in the field of pathology and would, now and then, touch on other specialties within forensic sciences. Working closely with the homicide division, she always had real life scenarios to work with and because of it she always had the students on the edge of their seats in awe. Her classes are always the first to fill at registration time and the university has been pressured to open up seats on more than one occasion due to the popularity of her lectures.
The morning after the scene had been processed, as Laura arrived and turned onto rue Parthenais, driving towards the parking area, she couldn't brush off the images of Lisa and the clues left behind by the killer. She had seen many different types of scenes before but never something like this. So out there and precise. It sent a shiver down her back to think that a person could do such a thing after killing another human being. That they could take the time to calmly arrange the scene as if it weren't real but just a prop on a set. She knew they were dealing with someone who was intelligent, in control and organized. Someone who had an enormous amount of confidence and who could kill without so much as a flinch. It wasn't only the scariest kind of killer that you could encounter, but the scariest kind of killer to investigate. A killer of this caliber calculated every move and was always a few steps ahead of the investigators. The team could make no mistakes with this case, and she knew that it would only be a matter of time before he would strike again.
Laura walked into the building, passed security and headed straight to the elevator. Her office was on the 12th floor but she didn't want to be side tracked by any paper work that was waiting for her on her desk, so she hit the basement floor button, where the morgue was located. As she walked through the doors to theatre B, she saw a body bag on the table and she had a feeling that it was Lisa waiting for her to bring justice to the person who did this. As she looked on the board and confirmed that she had the right patient in the room, Janice, the morgue technician, walked in.
"Oh Hello Dr. Benjamin. They brought her in a little while ago with instructions to leave the body and contents sealed until you arrived so I haven't prepped the body for you." She said.
"Thank you Janice. Yes that's fine. I asked them to make sure to bag everything and leave the bag sealed for me. I may add some new procedures on this one as we go along. You'll see why when we open it up and I explain the case to you.".
Laura and Janice prepped for the examination and got to work with the autopsy. She knew that the chances of finding anything on the luggage tag or pamphlet would be next to none but she bagged them and had them sent off to the lab for testing on a rush basis anyway. The sheets were another story. If the perpetrator and Lisa had sex that night there was a very good chance that he would have left some DNA behind but this nagged at her. If he was so bold to leave the two items behind for them to find, would he be bold or stupid enough to have sex with her and leave all sorts of DNA behind? It just didn't match with the profile that she was building. Or did he stop short of getting into bed and having sex with her before committing the act? This she would soon find out. So she removed the sheets from the bag, had them bagged, sealed and documented and included them in the shipment to the lab for testing. She wanted these particular items in the body bag with Lisa in order to maintain as much evidence as possible contained to one area and opened in a sterile environment.
Once all the items had been bagged and shipped off to the lab on the 8th floor, Laura began her autopsy on Lisa. It was evident by all the stab wounds how Lisa died but it wasn't the cause of death that was on top of her list. It was testing Lisa for any signs of sexual activity before she died and whether or not she would find any trace elements of DNA left behind by the perp. And whether or not she was drugged in the process. She would go through the regular routine of looking under her nails, swabbing her for traces of semen and testing the blood to see whether all of it was hers or if during a struggle the perp may have bled out on her somehow. But by the looks of Lisa's body and the location of the stab wounds, Lisa would have probably had little chance of defending herself. Whoever killed her made sure of that .
As Laura and Janice were coming to the end of the autopsy, Detective Aragon walked through the theatre doors.
"So doc, any luck?" He asked.
"Unfortunately, just as I imagined. Nothing. They might have had sex but he obviously used a condom, so if they did so, no trace of semen. Her nails were too clean to be natural so I can only guess he had that taken care of before leaving. From what I can tell, she was stabbed in the back first, to the point that her lungs were punctured and quickly filled with blood. So once he had her on her back, where she would have the opportunity to defend herself, it was too late. Looks like he probably waited for her to fall asleep before he attacked to make it easier on himself and make it a quick one. So far that's all I have but I'm not finished just yet. If there is anything else I'll give you a call when I am done, but don't hold your breath."
Just then the phone rang in the studio and Janice went to answer it. Steve turned back to Laura as Janice started talking on the phone and said
"Instead of calling why don't you just come over tonight and you can tell me over dinner?"
Their relationship had been going on for the last few months but they knew it was better for everyone if they kept it a secret. It wasn't like the others didn't have a good idea that they were involved, but, if they didn't want to share it with everyone then everyone would just act like no one was the wiser.
"We'll see. I still don't know when I'll be finished here. I came straight down to the morgue and still don't know what's waiting for me upstairs. I missed the morning meeting where they distribute the day's cases and I know I got left with the worst of them since I wasn't there to pick. Let me finish here, go upstairs and when I know what I am in for I'll let you know. Ok?".
"Ok, but don't over do it today. When you get wrapped up in a case like this you lose all track of time. And then with all the other cases flowing in on a daily basis it ends up catching up to you. Talk to your boss. Let him know what we got on our hands. I'm sure he'll lessen your load so you can concentrate on this one once he is aware of the circumstances and what we are dealing with. We know this won't be the last one so I'm going to need you out in the field at times while I investigate this thing. And with my partner Greg away on sick leave until only God knows when, I can use your brains and expertise on this one." He said with that look that made her melt inside.
"Look, for tonight I am not making any promises. Like I said, I don't know what's waiting for me upstairs. As for the rest, I'll talk to my boss and see what he says. Luckily, no one is away on vacation so we are full staff and he might be willing to give me some slack on the daily work load but you're going to have to go through the right channels if you want me dedicated to this case. You know how things work here and how political things can get. You work with a team of adults who are professionals in their field but when it comes down to it, it's likes being with a bunch of immature adolescents who are crying that it's not fair every time their routine gets slightly unbalanced." She said with an increased annoyance in her tone.
"Alright, alright, I'll go through the right channels. It won't be a problem. You're working the first victim and are already familiar with the case. I don't see how it will be a problem. Your boss is a smart guy and he gets it. I'm sure George will understand"
She lightly pushed him back and said, "Ok. Now get out of here or I'll definitely be here until all hours. By the way Steve..."
Just as she was about to complete her sentence, Janice called out. "Dr. Benjamin.", she said with a little excitement, "They found hair in the bed sheets. They said it's not hers."
YOU ARE READING
Frequent Flyer
Mystery / Thriller"An international serial crime thriller" Jake Otero turns heads wherever his travels take him. A businessman travelling the globe helping companies stay alive. So why is there a trail of murders left behind in each city he visits? A romantic encoun...
