Read Online Passions of the Dead (A Detective Jackson Mystery/Thriller) by L.J. Sellers - Free Book Online Page B

tell him to shut the hell up. Instead, he nodded as though it were an interesting tidbit. The last thing he needed was a rumor spreading through the department that he was squeamish about severed appendages. For some of his co-workers, practical jokes would be impossible to resist.
    “I believe her heart was still pumping when the hand was severed,” Konrad said in his flat voice. “But not at full capacity. The single blow to her head probably knocked her out, but didn’t kill her. The bat found at the scene is the most likely weapon.”
    “Are there defense wounds on her hands?”
    “There are none on this one.” Konrad held Carla’s left hand under a bright table light and began taking scrapings from under the nails. “I don’t see any obvious trace evidence either.”
    “Was the hand severed with the same knife that killed the boy?”
    Gunderson spoke up. “It seems very likely. The wounds are all consistent with that weapon, but we won’t know for sure until we do his post tomorrow.”
    Jackson had learned to live with the vagueness of autopsies. Very little was ever completely conclusive, except when things didn’t match.
    Konrad took his time conducting an inch-by-inch search of Carla’s body. He noted the sprinkling of moles on her shoulders and the uneven sizes of her breasts. The reddish-purple livor mortis on the backside of her body indicated she’d lain face up since her heart stopped and had not been moved.
    The internal examination was longer and slower. After forty minutes, Jackson felt jumpy and ready to get out. He’d learned almost nothing except that Carla had a significant scar on the inside of her lower right thigh. Konrad guessed it had been made by barbed-wire fence long ago. The pathologist had opened Carla’s body cavity and examined her organs, which revealed a healthy woman with no obvious disease or damage.
    “This is surprising,” Konrad said, without sounding surprised. He had both hands in her lower abdomen.
    Jackson waited.
    “Her uterus is enlarged and I think she was pregnant.”

Chapter 9
     
    Five weeks earlier, Monday, April 19
    Carla woke up in a good mood. Sunlight slanted through the blinds and a little breeze delivered the smell of morning dew. She loved this time of year when the world seemed fresh and bright again. Carla threw back the covers, put her feet on the floor, and pushed out of bed ready to start the day. She promptly felt nauseated and bolted for the bathroom.
    What the hell was that about? Carla wondered after upchucking what little was in her stomach. Feeling slightly better, she padded into the kitchen to make coffee, thinking she would let Jared sleep in. He’d been getting up for work at the crack of dawn since they’d been married and he deserved a break.
    Not much of one though. He had to find a new job immediately. The seven hundred dollars they had in savings would be gone in a month without his paycheck coming in. Carla pushed the worry away. She couldn’t change reality by making herself sick over it. They would survive this. In fact, if Jared ended up with a job requiring him to pay into social security and unemployment, they’d be better off in the long run.
    The coffee didn’t sit well on her stomach. She dumped the rest, then showered and dressed for work. Carla heard Lori’s radio playing softly and knew her daughter was getting ready. Thank God one of her kids liked to get up early and work hard in school. She was proud of Lori for holding down a waitress job during her whole senior year as well. She couldn’t believe Lori was graduating from high school in a month. Where had the years gone?
    She opened Nick’s door. His alarm blared and he slept right through it. “Nick!” She shook his shoulders. He sat up, slammed off the alarm, then grinned at her. “I’m up.”
    “I’m going to work early. Don’t forget to turn in your homework. Love you.”
    Carla heard the shower running in the hall bathroom, said goodbye to Lori