Chapter 113 - Rigor Mortis

"Did the man who was on fire shouted for any help?"

"Actually sir, I think he was already dead by the time I came." Bill nervously answered.

It was normal for witnesses to be nervous so Patrick was not bothered by it.

"Okay, we will check that"

"Any other information that you guys want to share?" Patrick asked the three people, Bill and the young couple.

The three shook their heads as they had no other information.

There was a red shirt and a blue bed sheet near the body which verified their stories.

"We would have to confiscate your shirt and your bed sheet as it is a part of the crime scene now and we would have to verify it with your story"

"Sure sir no problem" Bill agreed and the young couple too didn't object.

"Did anyone touch the body with your bare hands?"

"Maybe while quenching the fire we might have but I am not sure" Bill explained.

"No worries our forensic team is here, you three need to submit your fingerprints to them, if we find multiple fingerprints on the body, we can eliminate yours" Patrick explained the drill.

They agreed and submitted their fingerprints.

"Sir, we found this article in the pants pocket of the victim" The subordinate handed a paper cutting to Patrick.

Patrick opened the crumbled paper and looking at the article he got shocked, it was an article on Rachel, he wondered why the victim was carrying Rachel's article with him. 

Was it somehow related to the attacks on Rachel or was it all a coincidence. 

He decided to inform Daniel and James about it once he verified it himself as there was no point in worrying them without concrete evidence and information, he will only end up worrying them even more.

The journalist Patrick had a long discussion with, wanted to peek into the article but Patrick didn't let her.

Patrick asked one of the people in the forensics team to safely seal this article and check it for fingerprints.

Patrick then called another subordinate of his and asked him to inform the nearest hospital that a dead body will be sent over and asked one of the pathology doctors to be available at the hospital for the autopsy, as it can't be delayed. 

...

St Christian City Hospital

Friday Evening

Emily and Matt were about to leave the hospital as they were done for the day, they came across Emily's younger sister Lisa who recently joined as an intern. 

After some intense conversation between the two sisters Emily kissed her sister on the forehead and left. 

Matthew understood the situation and quickly went from there to chase Emily. Since they stay in the same building, they come and leave the hospital together.

"Ems are you alright?" Matt was concerned for her.

"Yeah I am fine" she wiped the small tear formed near her eye.

Matthew held her shoulder and turned her around facing him, "Ems you know you can cry right? I am here for you, so please don't keep everything inside, let your feelings out, let those emotions flow" Matt seriously advised her.

"I am fine Matt" Emily tried to smile forcefully.

Tringggg

Emily's phone rang and she answered it, her expression turned into a shock, "Yeah no problem, I am still outside the hospital, I have not yet left."

Someone from the other side spoke something, to which Emily responded, "Sure sir I understand the scenario, I'll do the autopsy as soon as the body arrives"

The she hung up the cal and informed Matthew of a murder that happened and the burnt body is being sent to the hospital so she needs to perform an autopsy straightaway and therefore has been asked to stay back.

"Oh, should I stay here with you?" Matt looked worried.

Emily smiled at him, "I am absolutely fine and you know how much I love dealing with dead bodies, it is my party time so don't worry and go home."

"Okay once you finish off your work just give me a call, I'll come to pick you up"

"No need, I can hail a taxi, I am not a kid Matt so chill"

"Okay, take care" Matt lovingly patted her on the head and left for his home, he was thankful for this case as autopsies kept her busy and distracted.

After an hour the cops reached the hospital with the body. 

Patrick went towards the pathology department to meet the autopsy doctor as he had some concerns about the dead body and he wanted that information first.

Emily was waiting for the body and she was surprised to see Patrick there, he too was equally surprised as he had no idea that Emily was working in this hospital. 

He never asked her where she worked and she too never informed him about it. 

He thought he should not let his personal life affect him so much so he decided to act professionally.

"I am Patrick, the investigation officer for this case" He extended his hand formally and introduced himself.

Emily too is a professional and just like Patrick she too didn't want her personal life to affect her work, "Nice to meet you Mr. Patrick, I am Dr. Emily, I am in charge of the autopsy."

"Okay, there are a few things that I want to verify immediately, can you answer a few general questions before you begin the autopsy?"

"Sure, I'll try my best to answer you."

"The dead body was found around 2 hours back but it is assumed the body was dead long back, so you need to verify that for me and let me know how many hours the victim has been dead for."

Emily glanced at the body that was placed in the autopsy room, she checked the body and looked at Patrick, "The body has definitely been dead for more than 12 hours" she informed him.

"How can you be so sure?"

"You know what Rigor Mortis is?"

"Of course, the state of the body after death where the muscles turn stiff"

"The muscles of this body have already turned stiff" she informed him.

Patrick was busy asking the questions and body was quickly transferred to reach the hospital so he clearly didn't check it.

"The stiffness implies the victim has been dead for more than 12 hours. There is a good chance that the cause of death is not 'body being on fire'" Emily explained.

"How could you say that?" 

"The body is around 30% burnt, no one dies with these burns, probably the murderers were trying to get rid of the body, I can tell you concrete details concretely once I examine this body"

"Okay"

"Do you need any more details?"

"The cause of death"

"Yeah, after autopsy I can. Also, I need to contact your forensics team so please share their contact details"

Patrick gave her the contact of the person who is in charge of the forensics team.

"Will anyone from the police department stay back?" Emily asked

"Yes"

"Okay good" Then Emily went inside the lab with the dead body and to perform an autopsy and continue her work and Patrick went out and sat in the waiting area.

One of his subordinates approached him, "Sir, you can go home, I'll stay back" 

"No need, you have a family right?" Patrick seriously asked.

"Yes sir"

"So you go home and spend the weekend with them, our job for today is done, once we get more information then only we can proceed further"

"But sir…" you are the boss he wanted to say but was interrupted by Patrick.

"I am free and I get bored at home so let me stay here and entertain myself" Patrick smiled at him.

"Okay sir, I'll leave then"

"Yeah and ask others to leave too"

"Okay sir"

Patrick wanted to stay for this case and subconsciously he wanted to stay here with Emily.

The autopsy would take around three hours as that is how much it usually takes so he decided to get a coffee for himself and searched for a vending machine.

He visits hospitals frequently because of the demand from his profession so he knows every hospital has a vending machine.

But he didn't expect to come across familiar people there.

Emily's sister Lisa and her friend Steve too came to the vending machine as they were on all-night duty and they were already tired.

Lisa was shocked to see Patrick there, the last time she saw him was many years ago and she felt thankful that Emily already left and didn't come across Patrick, she knew her sister would break down if she comes across him, she was unaware that they already met during a reunion and Emily is back to the hospital.

Lisa wanted to ignore him so she didn't say anything but Steve couldn't control his blabbermouth, "Senior Patrick is that you?" Steve was excited as well as scared to see Patrick there.