Page 21 of Flash and Bang
“We wanted to get a look at the body ourselves,” Jarrett said with a frown.
“Good. That’s why we’re here too,” Snow said.
The nicer of the two agents, Lincoln Snow, seemed to be all business and Thayne could appreciate that, but he was very interested to see why the FBI had been brought in on the case just like Jarrett was. Terraciano was going to be a pain in the ass.
The M.E. put on a clean set of gloves and pulled the sheet back down. “As you can see, Greg Mason has a large number of burns on his body as well as injuries from the impact of debris. I just got the body a few hours ago and I won’t finish up the autopsy for a few more but on cursory examination, it looks like the skull fracture may turn out to be thecause of death. Though, it might also be the extensive amount of burns. He never woke from the coma that he was in when he was brought to the hospital immediately after the explosion and once I open the cranium, I expect to find hemorrhaging and bruising there as well.” She stepped back and walked over to a light box, switching it on to show a skull X-ray hanging on it. She pointed to some spots on it which appeared to be white. “This is where he had a skull fracture. You can see that here.”
“What caused it?” Jarrett asked, squinting at the X-ray as Thayne joined him to look at the X-ray as well.
She stepped back over to the body and reached out, taking Mason’s chin and turning it to the side. There was a massive laceration on the man’s left temple where the hair had been shaved away. He looked like Frankenstein’s monster. Thayne swallowed hard as he felt his mouth fill with saliva. He felt like he was going to be sick and the smell of burnt flesh in the room was just nauseating. He glanced at Jarrett who didn’t seem bothered by any of it at all and then at the two FBI agents, both of which had masks in their hands covering their mouths. Even Special Agent Snow’s mocha skin looked kind of green come to think of it.
“As you can see, something struck Greg Mason on the side of the head.”
“Is there any way you can determine what struck him?” Jarrett asked.
“Not really. If it were something like a baseball bat or bludgeon, I’d be able to tell, but this wound shows that he was struck with a small blunt object which would have caused immediate incapacitation. After that, the burns could have occurred when he was caught in the blaze the fireworks blast caused. Whatever burns he suffered,” she waved her hands over his skin, “would have been secondary to the wound.”
Thayne watched her hand, noting how she seemed to dismiss the possibility that the burns had been the cause of death. “Okay, so he’s hit by an object of some kind and then he probably went ‘lights out’. Was the hemorrhaging the cause of his coma?”
She turned her bright sights on him. “Yes, exactly,” she said.
“But he could have just as easily been pelted by debris from the explosion,” Special Agent Terraciano concluded. “Then again, it happened on a military base so it could be another terrorist like the guy who shot up Fort Hood.”
Thayne turned around and stared at him for a second before letting out a breath he wasn’t aware he’d been holding. He exchanged a glance with Jarrett who was doing a good job of biting his tongue. He looked murderous.
“That was an Army base but IthinkI see where you’re going with this,” the coroner said hesitantly. “Until I finish, it’s all inconclusive.”
“Okay,” Thayne said as she covered the body back up. “I assume you’ll let us know your findings once you conclude your autopsy?”
She smiled at Thayne as she turned to him. “Yes of course.”
Thayne handed her his business card.
“Thank you,” Jarrett said. “Can we talk to you out in the hall?” he said to the FBI agents.
Thayne glanced at his partner, hoping that he wasn’t planning on starting something with these two. He knew sometimes his partner had a short fuse. Then again, Thayne did too, especially when they were dealing with stupid people. Fortunately, the two FBI agents looked more than capable and not in the least bit stupid and they had planned on calling them anyway. Terraciano’s conjecture that the killer may have been a terrorist and in the military like the FortHood shooter wasn’t sitting well with either of them, however.
Special Agent Snow held out his hand. “After you.”
Thayne and Jarrett walked out of the M.E.’s office followed by Terraciano and Snow. He noticed that Snow seemed to be the senior of the two agents even though he was younger… and much less of a hot head. Terraciano reminded him of Jarrett with a mouth that was trouble all the way. Thayne almost had to smile about that.
“Tell us what you’ve found out so far in this case,” Jarrett said. “Anything other than the fact that it happened on a Marine base have your panties in a wad?”
Special Agent Snow held up his hands in a placating manner. “Look, we are more than happy to share if you are.”
“Good,” Thayne interjected immediately. “Is there a serial killer using fire as his weapon of choice? You mentioned that.”
“No, we’re not saying that. We were brought in because Homelandisconvinced there may be some terrorism connected to this,” Snow admitted.
“Terrorism?” Jarrett asked.
“We’re not sure but if you’d like, we could discuss this over coffee,” Snow said. “Would you like to join us, Investigator Carrillo?”
Ada smiled at Snow. “It’s nice of you to ask, but I really have some things to do.”
Special Agent Snow smiled at her, holding out his hand. “No problem. Nice meeting you.”
She shook his hand and then Terraciano’s, Thayne’s, and Jarrett’s as well. “Keep me updated on anything I need to know?” she asked Thayne.