Page 12 of In Her Dreams
They found Melissa Stark in her office, peering at a computer screen through reading glasses perched on the end of her nose.The county coroner looked up as they entered, her practical bob of salt-and-pepper hair swinging with the movement.
“Sheriff Graves, Deputy Hawkins.To what do I owe the pleasure?”Her tone was professional but warm.Melissa had been county coroner since before Jenna joined the force, and they’d developed a relationship of mutual respect over the years.
“Richard Winters,” Jenna said without preamble.“Anything unusual?”
Melissa’s eyebrows rose toward her hairline.“I haven’t done the autopsy yet.Why?Has something come up?”
“Just curious if you noticed anything when you were called to the scene.”
“Besides a deceased man who appeared to have suffered cardiac arrest?Yeah, you might say that there was something.”Melissa removed her glasses, letting them hang from a chain around her neck.“Would you like to see for yourself?”
Without waiting for an answer, she rose and led them down the stairs that led to the basement level where the morgue was located.The temperature dropped noticeably as they entered the sterile environment, the sharp scent of disinfectant filling Jenna’s nostrils.
The clinical whiteness of the walls and floors stood in stark contrast to the warm, lived-in feel of the Winters’ home she’d left earlier.
Melissa moved to one of the refrigerated drawers set into the wall and pulled it open smoothly.Richard Winters lay beneath a sheet, his face pale in death.But it was his expression that caught Jenna’s attention immediately.Even in the quiet repose of death, his features were contorted in an unmistakable mask of terror.
“Wow,” Jake muttered beside her.
“That’s...unusual, isn’t it?”Jenna asked, looking to Melissa.“For a heart attack victim?”
Melissa nodded slowly.“I’ve seen my share of cardiac arrests.Yes, there’s often pain reflected in the facial muscles initially, but they typically relax shortly after death.This...”She gestured at Richard’s frozen expression.“This is something else.”
“Fear,” Jenna said quietly.
“Extreme terror,” Melissa agreed.“Like he saw something that literally scared him to death.”
Rusty’s words echoed in Jenna’s mind: “Dad looked terrified, Jenna.Not just in pain, but scared.”
“Could something have frightened him severely enough to trigger the heart attack?”Jake asked.
“It’s possible,” Melissa said.“Acute fear response triggers adrenaline, raises blood pressure, increases heart rate.In someone with a pre-existing condition...”She shrugged.“I’ll know more after the autopsy.”
“There was something…odd…in his bedroom,” Jenna said, pulling out her phone again.“Hanging on the wall opposite his bed.”
She showed Melissa the photo.
The coroner studied it, then shook her head.“I saw that when I was at the scene.Didn’t make much of an impression on me.”
“Any idea what it could be?”Jenna asked.
Melissa squinted at the image.“Looks like a dreamcatcher to me.Probably Native American in origin.”
Jenna nodded, taking back the device.“Think there’s a chance it was used in some kind of ritual involving hallucinogens?”
Melissa frowned thoughtfully, crossing her arms.“I suppose it’s possible—something like ayahuasca or peyote comes to mind.But Richard Winters?Hard to imagine him dabbling in that sort of thing.He was always so buttoned-up, you know?A banker through and through.”
Jenna considered this, recalling Richard as a dedicated family man who had shown little interest in anything beyond his work and home life.“Yeah, I can’t picture him experimenting with mind-altering substances either.”
“Is this going to be one of your peculiar cases, Sheriff?”Melissa asked.
The question held no malice, but Jenna felt herself tense all the same.Like Colonel Spelling, Melissa had long harbored suspicions about Jenna’s unconventional methods.But neither had ever pushed for explanations she wasn’t prepared to give.
“Just covering all the bases,” Jenna replied evenly.
Melissa slid the drawer closed with a soft thud that seemed to echo in the sterile space.“I’ll call you with the autopsy results tomorrow.And I’ll also rush the toxicology, see if he had any drugs in his system.”
“Thanks, Melissa.I appreciate it.”
