06 Double Danger by Dee Davis Read Free Book Online Page A

want toverify that the people in the helicopter were really who we think they were. And ideally, once you’ve all had the chance to examine the various pieces of the puzzle, we’ll have a clearer idea of what the hell happened. And, if it proves to be an act of terrorism, who was behind it.”

CHAPTER 3
    City Morgue, Midtown Manhattan
    T he crash victims had been sequestered in a separate lab at the city morgue, the idea being to keep the bodies together in one place until the autopsies and investigation had been completed. White plastic sheets had been set up around the perimeter, and though they added an antiseptic feel, the air was still permeated with the chemically infused stench of death.
    In the course of his career, Simon had seen his fair share of bodies in the field. But seeing someone lying on the slab, y-shaped Frankensteinesque stitching adorning his or her chest, was more disconcerting somehow.
    The bodies were on tables aligned neatly in two rows, death forced into some semblance of macabre order, several autopsies clearly in progress. In a corner, perched on a stool, a gray-headed woman with wire-rimmed glasses was multitasking, studying something underneath the lens of a microscope while eating what looked to be a pastrami sandwich.
    “Sorry,” the woman said, swallowing a bite of her food as they walked into the room. “I wasn’t expecting you for another half hour or so.” She laid the sandwich on a table and brushed the crumbs from her face. “I have to grab lunch when I can. I’m sure you understand.” With an apologetic smile, she pushed off the stool and strode across the space to meet them, extending a hand. “Lydia Rochard. I’ve been put in charge of the autopsies.”
    “What’s the final body count?” Simon asked after introductions had been made.
    “I’ve got nine here. And there are two more still on the critical list at the hospital.” She nodded at the bodies around her. “But obviously we’re hoping this is it.”
    J.J. had moved to one side, her gaze locked on the body of a young woman half covered with a sheet. “I knew her,” she whispered, the words more of a reflex than anything else. “She had two kids. One of them still a baby.”
    “Sorry,” Lydia said, pulling the sheet over the woman. “I didn’t realize you were acquainted with the vics. If it helps, she was caught by the helicopter’s rotor. She died instantly.”
    J.J.’s face shuttered, and Simon laid a hand on her arm, but she pulled free, her shoulders straightening as she faced Lydia and the body. “So was that true for most of them?” She gestured toward the shrouds lining the room.
    “Yes, fortunately,” Lydia said. “Most of the victims were either caught directly in the path of the helicopter or sucked out of the windows. There’s nothing anyone could have done,” she said, her sympathetic gaze landing on J.J.
    J.J. shivered, crossing her arms over her chest, no doubt remembering just how close she’d come to dying herself. Then she sucked in a breath and lifted her head,eyes clearing as she obviously pushed the memory aside. “So, have you autopsied the pilot and his passenger?”
    “I started on them first,” Lydia said as she ushered them through the plastic sheeting to the back of the room and two sequestered corpses on tables. “But I’ve got to tell you, there wasn’t enough left to ID them visually. They were both burned pretty badly. Although the vic in the passenger seat was wearing a watch inscribed with the initials E.W.”
    “Eric Wilderman.”
    “It isn’t conclusive, but it’s a start,” Lydia said.
    The canvas-covered mounds looked innocuous enough, but Simon had seen the explosion firsthand so he had an idea of just how badly the bodies would have been disfigured. “Was there enough to get DNA?”
    “Yes. And I’ve sent it off for verification. For obvious reasons, the specimens are a priority, and the lab is working as fast as they can, but unfortunately it