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was aiming for her stomach.”
    Michael’s already pale complexion turned ashen. “I think you’re right.” He reached for the scissors and began cutting the front of Darcy’s chemise. “Faster and easier this way.”
    Folding back the thin material, Michael exposed her breasts and belly. The discoloration of her abdomen confirmed her attacker had focused his attention there. It took a bit more effort to cut through the blood-soaked lower half, and when Michael revealed the area of her hips and upper thighs, both he and Charlotte startled. Charlotte’s body went cold.
    Darcy’s smallclothes were nearly black with blood.
    â€œGo sit down, Charlotte.” Michael’s roughened voice seemed to come from far away. She remained standing. He came around the table and, using the insides of his forearms to avoid touching her with the exam gloves, gently urged her back to the counter. “I need you to record this. Please.”
    Charlotte didn’t sit, instead positioning herself so she could watch him out of the corner of her eye while she wrote. Michael gave her a long look, though he himself appeared as shaky as she felt. Satisfied she was as removed from the proceedings as she would get, he stood between the table and Charlotte to block her view as he continued.
    â€œSevere bruising of the lower abdomen and thighs. Hemorrhaging from the—” His voice caught, but he recovered quickly. “Hemorrhaging from the vaginal canal indicates ruptured organs. No other exterior injuries evident. I will commence the internal exam.”
    Michael retrieved a galvanized bucket from the corner and arranged the tarp to funnel into it to catch fluids. He took up a shiny scalpel from the tray, gave Charlotte a quick check, then returned to the body. His brow furrowed with determination. “I’ve made a Y incision from under each armpit, meeting below the sternum, down around the umbilicus, then to the top of the pubis.”
    Charlotte tried to write without thinking about what the words meant, without connecting them to the procedure. She had to distance herself, as Michael had. Later, when she transcribed the coded marks of her shorthand, she hoped she could retain that distance.
    â€œHeart and lungs appear normal,” Michael said. “Stomach and intestines slightly enlarged. On the left, rib three is cracked and ribs four and five are broken. Ribs four and five on the right are cracked.” There was a pause and the squelch of scissors on something thicker and wetter. “Stomach contents are not identifiable, so she’d eaten several hours before her death. I’ll collect them to test for poisons, just to be sure.”
    He took a specimen jar and spoon from the counter. Charlotte looked over her handwriting until he was finished filling the jar and set it back on the counter.
    â€œSpleen has been ruptured, and there is blood within the abdominal cavity, as expected. Pancreas and liver swollen. The reproductive organs appear discolored. One ovary is ruptured; the other appears bruised. The womb is dark and distended.” More wet scissor sounds. “I’m dissecting the womb to determine its condition. Quite a bit of blood and—Oh, my God!”
    Charlotte spun around and peered over his shoulder. Dark blood and pale pink and gray tissue were their own sort of horror, but what Michael held in his hand made her knees watery and her lower body cramp. A two-inch-long gray, curled form stood out against the palm of his black glove.
    â€œShe was pregnant.”

Chapter 4
    T he room tilted and blurred. Charlotte felt herself sway and automatically reached out to steady herself on the nearest object: the exam table. The sudden realization she was about to touch Darcy made her jerk back, only increasing her disorientation.
    â€œAre you all right?” Michael started to grab for her, but immediately withdrew his gore-slick hand.
    Charlotte waved him