When Shadows Fall. J.T. Ellison

to hold him down. They’d very purposefully strangled the man, then set about making his death appear to be suicide.

      Sam felt both vindicated and frightened. Savage had been correct. He had been murdered. And now she was into his case up to her eyeballs, and there was no going back.

      She went through the final steps of the post. His brain was the last piece of the puzzle, and when they got his skull open, even that showed nothing irregular, just the typical undulating coils of gray matter, perhaps slightly looser than they would have been if he were younger.

      Two things were bothering her. First, that Savage himself had known he was in mortal danger and had written to her directly instead of going to the police. It made her distrust June Davidson, someone she needed on her side. And two, that the law firm representing Savage’s estate had ordered him cremated without a proper autopsy. Three things, if she counted Benedict’s murder.

      As she washed up and watched Regina craft beautiful stitches to close the Y-incision, Sam decided there and then to bring all the blood and tissue samples she’d taken back to D.C. for analysis. She didn’t trust anyone in Lynchburg, not now.

      Used to sending samples out for analysis, Regina produced a small cooler that housed everything perfectly. She didn’t raise an eyebrow when Sam said, “I’ll drop these directly at the lab so you don’t have to make a special trip.”

      “Should we go ahead with the cremation now?”

      “If you have the room, why don’t you hold on to him for another day? I’ll call you tomorrow and release the body.”

      “Sure thing, Dr. Owens. Thank you, so much, for allowing me to assist. It was fascinating watching you work.”

      “You have a great touch. Remember the trick I showed you about how to cut the lung tissue so you can always identify it if you need to revisit your samples.”

      “Triangles for upper, squares for lower. Got it.”

      “If you do decide to go to med school for pathology, let me know. I’d be delighted to write a recommendation. I’m teaching at Georgetown now, so if you need a hand, don’t hesitate.”

      Regina smiled widely. “Thank you so much. Do you have a card? So I can keep in touch?”

      Sam gave her one of her new Georgetown University cards, then excused herself, went back upstairs into the grand foyer and called Fletcher. He answered, sounding slightly out of breath.

      “Where are you? I’m finished, and waiting for you on the porch. We need to talk.”

      “We had a looky-loo hanging around. Davidson and I chased him. Guy got away, he’s fast as a greyhound, but I got a good look at him. Five-eight, Caucasian, blondish hair, red-and-white baseball cap. Lock the doors and I’ll be back in five minutes.”

      Sam didn’t hesitate. She wasn’t in the mood to take chances. She went inside, threw the bolt and realized how ridiculous her actions were. The place was huge, with multiple entrances. She rang the bell, and after a few moments, Regina appeared.

      “Dr. Owens, you’re still here. Is everything okay?”

      “Is this the only entrance?”

      “No, there are the back doors to the veranda and the garages downstairs, of course, where we do intake. Why?”

      “Detective Fletcher and Detective Davidson are chasing a suspect. They want us safely inside with all the doors locked.”

      Regina responded immediately. “Follow me. The veranda doors are kept bolted, but the garage door is always open during business hours.”

      They hustled down the stairs. Sam’s hand was beginning to go numb from carrying the weight of the cooler. She wasn’t about to let it go, though. They passed the autopsy suite and the embalming room, and entered a long hallway that led to darkness. Sam followed Regina closely lest she get lost in the labyrinth. After a minute, they stepped into a cavernous space Sam recognized from her own facility in Nashville. There were two industrial garage doors side by side, and a decent-sized body cooler.

      As they entered the room, the lights went on with a hum. Sam relaxed a bit. The overheads were on motion sensors. No one was in here.

      Regina slapped the button and the large doors began to drop. There was an entrance door between the two; she hurried over to it and threw the dead bolt.

      “There,” she said with a grim smile. “We’re all secure.”

      Sam patted her on the back. “You seem like you’ve done this before.”

      “Oh, we have to run drills all the time. And up in Richmond, well, they don’t mess around. We’re expected to know the emergency precautions for any situation. Now, since you’re stuck here for a bit, would you like a cup of tea or coffee? Or something stronger?”

      “Tea would be fabulous.”

      They started back toward the stairs, down the long, dark hallway. As they turned the corner, Sam saw the door to the autopsy suite was open. Regina noticed it at the same time, and flattened back against the wall, an arm held out in front of Sam in protection. They stared at each other, both listening. Sam could have sworn she heard a noise coming from the autopsy suite.

      She pointed to the suite and Regina shook her head, admonishing her to stay put. But Sam knew they had to check, see what was happening. She edged forward, slowly, one step at a time. There, she heard the noise again. It was quiet, barely audible keening. Grief. A breathy little sob.

      What in the world?

      She stepped firmer now, and miscalculated a corner. The cooler clanged against the wall, and there was a flash of movement. Someone burst from the room, ran into them both. Sam was shoved against the wall and knocked down, Regina collapsed beside her. Footsteps rang out as the person rushed away. Sam recovered quickly, ran down the hall after him. She turned the corner into the garage just in time to see a red-and-white baseball cap disappear out the door.

      Chapter

      15

      SAM RAN TO the door and carefully ducked her head outside, but all she saw was an expanse of green lawn and a curving asphalt drive. Whoever had just been in the autopsy suite was gone.

      Fast as a greyhound was an understatement.

      She used a tissue from her pocket to relock the door, careful not to wipe away any possible fingerprints, then hurried back to Regina, who was collecting herself up off the floor. Her eyes weren’t totally focused on Sam.

      “Are you okay?”

      “I think I hit my head. Sorry. Did he get away?”

      “He’s gone. Let me see.” Sam expertly ran her hands through Regina’s hair, feeling for the lump. She found it in the front, near her temple. She gave the girl a quick neurological exam, but she was focusing better.

      “You’re going to have a headache, and you’ve got a little concussion. You might even sport a black eye tomorrow. Keep a close watch on yourself for the rest of the day. If your headache gets worse, go to the hospital immediately, okay?”

      “Yeah. I’m fine. Just went down awkwardly. Hit my head on the edge of the cooler, of all things.”

      “We’d best check the body. Whoever that was wanted something from Savage.”

      They got Regina back to standing and entered the autopsy suite. The body was undisturbed.

      Sam looked around the room but saw nothing out of place. “Regina, before he ran out of here, did you hear crying?”

      “I thought I did. That is so weird. I’ve seen some odd things, but we’ve never had a break-in like this. Nothing taken, nothing disturbed. No harm, no foul. Oh, shoot. I better go check on Roy. He was supposed to be working on Mrs. Edmunds this afternoon.”

      Sam collected the cooler, which had been knocked