Page 11 of Ghostly Bother
"Thanks. Now get out of here so I can finish." She waved her gloved hand at him.
He laughed as he stepped out of the autopsy room to the small area where he could take off his gloves and gown. He tossed them in the biohazard can, then washed his hands.
"Want me to go look for Eden?" Jeremy asked as he floated into the room.
"Nah, she'll be back soon enough. She's the type of person who will want to know everything that's going on. I expect she's gone home for a while, but she'll come back." Lance kept his voice low so nobody but Jeremy could hear him talking. He had no idea how he hadn't been caught talking to the ghost so far. He was ready for someone to tease him about talking to himself, but so far, it hadn't happened. "Media still outside?"
"Yeah, but they must not be bothering Gretta too much. She didn't lock the doors. The chatter among the media is that this was an inside job. They think someone from the Mayor's Office decided things would be better off without her around. Of course, no one has any evidence of anything. Right now, it's a bunch of guessing with no facts." Jeremy shrugged. "Anyway, I'll be gone this afternoon. Isaac and I are following his son around to see if we can get any information on who's supplying him with the drugs."
Lance nodded. He'd almost forgotten about the ghosts assisting the now deceased senator to find a way to keep his son from continuing to buy and use. With the assistance of the police, they hoped the ghosts could give them insight into who was involved in the drug trade, and possible locations where it was happening. Those involved met once a week, usually at Lance's house to talk over what they'd learned throughout the week. Lance usually sat in on the meetings, but he left it up to the ghosts and police to handle things. He had enough on his plate and didn't want to be involved other than as a voice for the ghosts so they could convey what they'd found to Captain Marshall. Angus's mother, Lizzy, who could also see and hear the ghosts, also helped be a voice for the ghosts since Captain Marshall couldn't see or hear them. "That's fine. Hopefully, it will be quiet around here once we send off Eden's autopsy report. I'd tell you to be safe, but…" Lance laughed.
"I know, I'm already dead. But thanks for the thought." Jeremy grinned. "I'm off to meet Isaac. I'll see you tomorrow."
Lance nodded as Jeremy floated through the wall and was gone. He quickly dried his hands, then pushed through the doorway and into the hall, heading toward the front office. He found Gretta and Kyle at the front desk. "No problems?"
"Other than the phone ringing off the hook, it's been quiet. The Neilson family called to find out when we were releasing their father's body. I told them I'd call them as soon as we were done. Other than that, it's all media inquiries." Gretta took a sip from her coffee mug.
"Mr. Neilson is up as soon as everyone is back from lunch. I'm not going out if you want me to watch the front desk for a bit while you go," Lance offered.
"Nah, I'm good. I brought food from home." Lance leaned on the front desk. "Kyle, I'll let you and Carrie decide who'sassisting with what this week. I'm good as long as one of you is by my side."
"I think we're going to trade off, but we'll see how things go. Sam approved my day off on Friday. I'm headed to Oklahoma for an art show this weekend. He told you about that, didn't he?" Kyle looked worried.
"He did, and I'm fine with you going. We only need one assistant here, and we have Brayden too, so we're more than covered. If things are slow, take Thursday as well if you want. You driving?"
Kyle nodded. "I'm too cheap to pay for a flight when I can drive." He shrugged. "We'll see what things are looking like later in the week and I'll decide from there. Thanks for letting me do that."
"Not a problem." Lance straightened. "I need to call Angus. You two yell if you need anything." Lance left them and headed back to his office. It was going to be a long day. Hell, it would be a long week with Sam gone, but if he could keep the Medical Examiner's Office out of the media's attention, things would go much easier.
CHAPTER FIVE
Angus knocked on Lance's office door. "Lunch has arrived." He held up the bag of burgers and fries. "Franks took the drinks to the breakroom."
"I'm starving." Lance pushed up from his seat and went to Angus, pausing to give him a quick kiss. "Did you get my message?"
"I did, but figured we needed to discuss the autopsy anyway. Maybe Eden will show up before we leave. If nothing else, Franks and I needed a break. Things are crazy. The media is all over this, and since we have no information to share, they're getting pushy." Angus turned and headed down the hallway to the breakroom.
"I'm not sure I'll have anything to help. A few interesting findings, but nothing that is going to solve your case for you." Lance shut the breakroom door before taking a seat at the table. "Hey, Franks."
"Have I ever told you how much I like how quiet it is around here?" Franks passed Lance a drink.
"No, but I'm not surprised you find it that way after being at the station all the time." Lance jabbed his straw into the center of the lid. "Thanks for bringing lunch."
"I brought your boyfriend. He brought lunch." Franks laughed.
"He's better than food anytime." Lance grinned at Angus across the table.
"Don't start flirting or I'm going to go out and talk to Gretta." Franks unwrapped his burger.
"No time to flirt. We've all got a busy afternoon ahead." Angus sighed. "How'd the autopsy go?"
Lance finished chewing a fry, then took a drink. "Well, she hadn't been dead long. Probably less than an hour when she was found. The cause of death was strangulation, but that's not a surprise. I think that was assumed by how she was found. What I did find interesting," he lowered his voice to keep anyone in the hall from overhearing, "was that Eden didn't want us to do an autopsy on her at all. She went as far as standing in the way to keep me from doing it. With her standing pretty much in her body, I had to let Brayden do the autopsy because I just couldn't see to do it with her in the way. Eden was pissed. She did all she could to keep us from doing the autopsy."
"Why?" Franks looked confused.
"Seems she had a secret. A pretty big one. She was around four months pregnant." Lance grinned as both Franks and Angus stopped eating and stared at him in shock.
"The mayor was pregnant? But why would she hide that? She already has kids. It's not as if another on the way would be a big deal." Angus took out his notebook and started writing. The pregnancy was a huge break, especially if the child wasn't her husband's. Sadly, they'd be waiting weeks for DNA to come back to verify that.
