Autopsy By Will Grizz Grissom I went into the office and checked my desk, on it was a stack of lab and

autopsy reports, forms for me to sign and the latest reports from the New York Times. In addition to her own work, Marina had been meticulous, carefully clipping them out for me and laying them out for my perusal. I poured the last of the black sludge that was masquerading as coffee from the coffee maker into my well-seasoned cup. I winced at the taste as I sat down to my stack of work. You know, that!s been there since yesterday, "oc, Marina!s #oice said from behind me. $he had been so quiet I hadn!t heard her enter my office and most likely would not ha#e noticed her presence at all if she had not spoken to me. I glanced up at her she looked as if she was running on no sleep, dark circles rimmed her eyes., I can make us some more. %obby used the last of the Turkish, so we ha#e to settle for that designer foofy shit you brought in last week. &ell, its better than decaf, I said grinning, I promise I will ha#e some of the good stuff back in by the end of the week. That!s what you said last week and you sub'ected us to a $tarbuck!s nightmare gone wrong. The only thing worse is drinking formalin( You drink that and you won!t be drinking anything else, I looked around the top of my desk for the day!s business, )ey, did you get that file for last night!s #ic* +ust as I asked, Marina pulled a freshly assembled folder from the top of the cabinet, and handed it to me. $he was always anticipating what I would ask for, it made the working relationship smoother, I was con#inced. If it were not for Marina!s careful administration of my office, in addition to her own duties, I knew that my desk would swim in a sea of folders and unrelated paperwork. Thanks, I murmured, I!m going to ha#e someone in to obser#e for this one. The photographer last night. ,h yes* I didn!t know that this was a demo autopsy, &ill. $he dumped the

rest of the caraffe of coffee into the soil of the ficus tree in the corner of my office. Marina swore up and down it was good for the tree, and admittedly it had been thri#ing under her touch., You mean the dish that -ieutenant )anna told to lea#e, eh* .ot a hot date with her in the morgue* That!s kinky, boss( No such luck, Marina. That /i0dish/1i0 is the -ieutenant )anna!s wife, and she is my friend, so watch your mouth. I chided her, 2nyway, no, its not a demo, but its a fa#or for a friend, she is doing an assignment for a te3tbook publlisher. 2nyway, its low key. +ust keep an eye out for her. )is wife, eh* Marina smirked, I bet )anna slept on the couch after that scene. 4oor %lot5( )e gets more shit being the new guy. %lot5 could use the chiding. I!ll tell %ernie at the front desk to beha#e himself, my assistant said on her way out.

I ad'usted the microphone that hung abo#e the cada#er table and snapped on a pair of sterile glo#es, picking up the chart I began to dictate. 2rdis also in surgical scrubs, watched intently beside me, her camera ready as we began 6ase number 78799-:;<, Mark $loan. The body of the deceased is that of a well formed adult male, appro3imately aged 8< - =8. The body is <> inches long, weighing appro3imately ?>; lbs. The decedant has sustained in'uries from a fall. I placed the folder aside and e3amined the area more closely, There is a number 8 pencil, broken off appro3imately = centimeters shy of the #allecula, there is some apparent damage near the trachea, not caused by the #ictim!s fall. 2rdis watched me, discreetly taking pictures as I proceeded with the autopsy. ,ne of the things about suspicious deaths, is that a coroner must be thorough. %efore making the Y incision in the body, we rolled the #ictim onto his stomach. The flesh had turned yellow and appeared wa3y as was always the case in death!s process. 2lready the body was in bad enough shape from the fall, but on the small of Mark $loan!s back, 'ust below the latissimus dorsi, was a tattoo. The serpentine dragons encircled each other forming se#eral symbols within one on the #ictim!s skin. It was #aguely familiar but I shook off the feeling and returned to my work.

2rdis, why don!t you get a shot of this. I said, I pulled a ruler from the tray of instruments and measured it. The piece was about the si5e of a plum and looked rather new, like a fresh inking not much more than a month or so old. The autopsy internal in#estigation progressed, the !Y! incison made across the chest from shoulder to shoulder, down the center of the chest and abdomen do the pubis. The organs were all remo#ed and weighed,. @ach part of the process I made notes into the microphone and 2rdis took pictures. $he was not squeamish, and in fact seemed fascinated by the process. @#en with power saws cutting through sinew and bone, organs being bagged, she bra#ed it as well as a seasoned med student. &hen it was all o#er, the opened body seemed less human than he did before. 2rdis and I said little and she looked at her watch, needing to be back at her publisher!s and then quickly home before meeting Aincent for dinner. I wondered how she would fare dealing with food after ha#ing spent the day obser#ing a human being cut open and dressed, in the same fashion that hunters field dress a deer. 2fter a shower I settled into my office with my paperwork. ,ne thing stood out in my mind that I needed to do. It was the least fa#orite part of my 'ob. 6ontacting the ne3t of kin, and informing them that their lo#ed one had been ushered through death!s door. In the case of someone as young as Mark $loan it was ne#er easy, yet I would rather that the notification come from myself rather than the police department. Aincent had said it was my call to make and let me to the task. Marina had carefully printed the name and phone number of Mark $loan!s sister on a slip of paper that she had clipped to the inside of the folder. I dialed the number and e3haled slowly. The phone picked up and a feminine #oice answered as if a call had been e3pected. It!s about time bro .... you!ll ne#er belie#e it - but I was actually getting worried about you. said the #oice on the other end of the phone. I felt my insides tighten, and tried not to imagine that it was me on that table cut from throat to pel#is with half of me bagged rather than Mark $loan. Is this Miss. $loan* Mark $loan!s sister* I managed at last. There was a long pause. Yes....

Miss $loan, This is "octor .rissom of the New York 6ity Medical @3aminer!s ,ffice. I am sorry to inform you that your brother, Mark has been killed. B MaCat 4ublishing, 877?