The Protocol: A Prescription to Die by John P. Goetz Read Free Book Online

sock.
    “What are you doing?” he asked.
    “I’m looking for the paperwork that came with the . . . “
    “Foot. My dad’s foot. You can say it.”
    “We don’t know that yet, Eat,” she said as she touched his shoulder on the way to her desk. She picked up a manila folder. “Here it is.”
    The room was silent while Andy read the papers that came with his father’s foot. For her it was a specimen. Eat didn’t care what she called it. He just couldn’t take his eyes off of it.
    “It says that it was found by a man and his dog while walking by the Minnehaha Creek.”
    “That’s like saying the foot was found in Minneapolis. Doesn’t it give anything more specific?”
    Andy continued reading and moving her finger across the lines of text.
    “Ummmm. 52nd. 52nd and James in Minneapolis.”
    “I know where that is. Lynhurst area. How about a date?”
    “March 2nd.”
    Before that moment, Eat thought the blood was beginning to return to his head. His wobbly surroundings were beginning to settle, but he was severely mistaken. When Andy told him the date, her words acted like a magnet pulling all of his blood back down and forcing it into his two big toes. Eat furtively grasped onto the chair’s arm rests for support.
    “That’s about a week after his funeral. Please check the sock, Andy. Please.”
    “But Eat, think about it. This could be anything. You gave all of his old clothes to charity, right? This is probably some homeless guy who happened to get the socks.”
    He loved her with all of his heart, but Eat wasn’t having any of the what-if scenarios that Andy was suggesting. He understood that she was trying to protect him, but he knew that sock, and the foot within it, belonged to his father.
    “I brought a suit, shirt, tie, shoes, and socks to the funeral home. That is one of the socks I brought. It should have been burned to a crisp along with the foot. They don’t take the clothes off during cremation. Neither of them should be sitting here in your office staring back at me,” Eat pointed to the foot still on the table. “There is a number one stitched on the inside. I’m sure of it.”
    Before Andy could start removing the sock, her telephone rang. They looked at one another and he gave her a resigned look. This was her job. He had to accept that he was in her domain. She put down the foot, and returned to her desk.
    “Forensics. McCorkendale,” she said.
    Eat couldn’t tell what she was talking about or to whom, but he knew that they weren’t going to make much progress with the foot. Andy looked at her watch and nodded.
    “How bad?” She grimaced. “Ok. I’m on my way.”
    She hung up the phone and started pulling equipment off of the floor and packing it into duffle bags. “Some body parts have been found in a garbage bin next to a diner downtown. I have to head over there.” It was as if she could read his thoughts. “No. They appear to be female.”
    Andy walked over to a cabinet, and pulled out a small container. Its top was sealed with plastic. Inside were a plastic bag, a cotton swab, two empty vials, and alcohol pads. She handed it to him.
    “This is what I use for DNA analysis. Take out the cotton swab, wipe it against your inner cheek, and then seal it in one of the plastic vials. Just put it in the fridge when you‘re done. You can throw everything else in the trash. Can you leave your father’s ashes here?”
    She held his face in both of her hands and kissed him.
    “We’ll figure this out Eat. I promise. But I have to go.”
    Andy stacked her duffle bag straps on her shoulder, grabbed her cell, uncovered her car keys under a mound of paper on her desk, and walked out of the office. The wall facing the hallway was a made of glass and the vertical blinds were open. As she walked to the parking garage, she turned and blew him a kiss.
    Eat smiled at her.
    It was a very weak smile.

Chapter 6
    It was almost 11:45, and Eat knew that his mother would be heading to brunch.