|
Post by Jordanna on Aug 25, 2007 22:57:20 GMT -5
It was the day following the macabre discovery in the basement of the Paragon Club. Promptly at three-thirty in the afternoon, Sid pulled up to the curb in front of Daws' office--in Marty Stringer's borrowed car, just in case anyone unwelcome was watching Daws' office. He waved toward the window, hoping Daws was watching for them.
Miriam Van Linden sat in the back seat, her features obscured by sunglasses and a scarf over her hair. When Sid glanced back at her, she smiled thinly.
"This is going to be interesting."
|
|
|
Post by skybright on Aug 25, 2007 23:05:39 GMT -5
A moment later Daws emerged from the office, locking the door behind her and quickly moving to slide into the passenger seat of the car. "Hi guys." She glanced over her shoulder at Miriam with a wry smile. "Hi, Doc. Thanks for doin' this."
|
|
|
Post by Jordanna on Aug 25, 2007 23:13:42 GMT -5
"It'll actually be almost refreshing--as much of a tragedy as it is," Miriam replied. "I was starting to think I'd never be doing what I'm trained for again."
"I'm still worried," Sid put in as he pulled away from the curb. "Ya got a lot more power than ya used to when ya did this fer a livin'."
Miriam shook her head. "I'll be fine. I don't think it's physically possible for me to read a body that old." She changed the subject, addressing Daws with a slight grin. "So what's this I hear about Major Vance's son joining the outfit?"
|
|
|
Post by skybright on Aug 25, 2007 23:22:14 GMT -5
Daws grinned lopsidedly. "Yeah, he found out his dad was still alive -- and, being related to Jerod Vance, he decided to jump headfirst right into this mess." She chuckled. "He seems like a good guy to have on our side, though -- and Vance was glad to see him again, even if he did put on his tough-guy military act."
|
|
|
Post by Jordanna on Aug 25, 2007 23:34:42 GMT -5
"That's our Major," Miriam chuckled.
A few minutes later, they arrived at Henry's house. The undertaker stepped out of his front door to meet them as they piled out of the car.
"Good afternoon," he greeted them, his demeanor welcoming but serious. "I have everything ready."
|
|
|
Post by skybright on Aug 25, 2007 23:39:51 GMT -5
Daws nodded. "Okay, then. Let's see what our mystery lady has to tell us."
|
|
|
Post by Jordanna on Aug 26, 2007 0:00:54 GMT -5
Henry ushered his guests into the kitchen, where they found what looked oddly and somewhat pitifully like the layout for a pumpkin-carving marathon. The unidentified body, still in her red dress and incongruous coat, lay on a few layers of plastic and old sheets spread on the table. Opposite this, the countertop was laid out with an array of scalpels, forceps, and other tools.
Sid looked dismayed. "Seems kinda undignified, cuttin' her open in somebody's house like this."
"It's either that or give her to the police," Henry reminded him. "I'm afraid none of us can afford for you to get that kind of attention from the law. Besides... we are doing our best to try to set things right for this lady."
"I can manage with this," said Miriam. She was already buttoning an old shirt of Sid's which he had given her to use as a smock, and looking over the equipment Henry had provided. "But it might help if you could bring in another lamp. The stronger the light we can get in here, the better."
|
|
|
Post by skybright on Aug 26, 2007 0:07:33 GMT -5
Daws nodded and disappeared into Henry's living room, reappearing a moment later with a floor lamp. She glanced around for an outlet and plugged it in, focusing the light onto the table. "That better?"
|
|
|
Post by Jordanna on Aug 26, 2007 21:26:29 GMT -5
"That's just fine, thanks." Miriam smiled at Daws, then turned to scrub her hands at the sink and pull on a pair of latex gloves.
"It's always--a little strange to me, I guess, dealing with remains so old that I can't read anything from them. They used to turn up occasionally in my old job." She smiled thinly. "Sometimes I used to think they were the ones my visions could have helped most, when all the other evidence that might have been on them was long gone."
|
|
|
Post by skybright on Aug 26, 2007 21:47:53 GMT -5
Daws nodded. "I could sure use anything you can tell me the old-fashioned way, anyhow." She said, "We turned up a couple of small clues, but it's not a lot to pin an investigation on after all this time."
|
|
|
Post by Jordanna on Aug 26, 2007 22:41:02 GMT -5
"I'll tell you what I can. There isn't much to work with." Miriam glanced ruefully at the body, then shrugged and stepped over to the table.
"If you want to watch, I don't mind an audience. This case won't exactly be gory--but there won't be all that much to see, either."
|
|
|
Post by skybright on Aug 26, 2007 22:44:49 GMT -5
Daws shrugged one shoulder and propped herself against the kitchen wall. "I'll stick around. I'm not too squeamish."
|
|
|
Post by Jordanna on Aug 27, 2007 20:45:48 GMT -5
Sid shrugged and draped himself over a backwards chair. Henry positioned himself near the table, to help Miriam if she needed it.
"I'll be taking several different tissue samples," Miriam explained, arranging a handful of specimen vials on the table. She glanced up at Daws. "I presume Caddy wouldn't mind running some tests on them."
|
|
|
Post by skybright on Aug 28, 2007 0:34:41 GMT -5
"Of course not." Daws grinned. "You know Caddy -- he'll take any excuse to play around with his microscopes and test tubes."
|
|
|
Post by Jordanna on Aug 28, 2007 20:09:51 GMT -5
"Alright." Miriam looked down at the body for a moment and frowned, biting her lip thoughtfully. Then she glanced up at Daws again.
"I know you're interested in looking for more evidence on the coat... but I'm afraid I'll have to cut it off. There's no other way to remove it without damaging the remains." She shrugged apologetically. "I'll be very careful with it."
|
|
|
Post by skybright on Aug 28, 2007 20:58:30 GMT -5
Daws nodded. "Do whatever you've gotta do, Doc. You're the professional here, after all."
|
|
|
Post by Jordanna on Aug 28, 2007 21:29:50 GMT -5
Miriam nodded. She appraised the tools on the counter, at last picking up a pair of scissors, and turned back to the body. "Will you help me turn her over, Henry? Gently..."
The two of them turned the figure face-down, giving Miriam better access to the coat. She carefully cut open the sleeves along the seams, then probed the back of the coat thoroughly for anything in or under it before slitting it up the back.
As she withdrew the scissors, they came away with a few tufts of age-yellowed white down clinging to them. Miriam raised an eyebrow.
"What have we got here?"
She glanced around at the others, then slowly peeled away the heavy fabric of the coat from the dead woman's back--and caught her breath.
Now plainly visible, folded tightly against the remaining mummified skin of the corpse's shoulders, there were two unmistakable protrusions covered in dingy, ragged feathers.
|
|
|
Post by skybright on Aug 28, 2007 21:36:10 GMT -5
Daws' eyebrows shot up and she slipped her fedora off with an almost-unconscious gesture. "Wow." She tilted her head to examine the dead woman's feathers, and sighed.
"I've got a feeling we just figured out why somebody would want to kill her." She remarked quietly.
|
|
|
Post by Jordanna on Aug 28, 2007 21:46:49 GMT -5
Sid gazed in wonderment at the crumpled lumps of feathers. "Ya mean... are those what I think they are?"
"Wings," Miriam said solemnly. "Vestigial ones, at least. They don't look nearly big enough to have been functional... but she was definitely a mutant."
Henry frowned. "I remember reading something once--that although mutations did appear that long ago, they usually weren't as pronounced as they are now."
"That's one theory," Miriam replied. "Others think mutants back then were just better at hiding it, or went to greater lengths to. What Proteus told us seems to support that."
|
|
|
Post by skybright on Aug 28, 2007 21:57:08 GMT -5
"You can't blame them." Daws said. "The idea of 'mutant rights' didn't even exist back then -- hadn't even been dreamed up yet. As tough as we might have it . . ." she gestured to the body with her fedora, "She would've had it worse."
|
|