The Big Show: Questions Left Unanswered
Questions
In all honesty, Murphy would rather stand in the middle of a gang fight than go to the morgue. The place smelled like disinfectant with death right under the surface. She could stomach watching autopsies, blood and guts never bothered her, but something about the smell of the place got to her. She wanted to get in and get out as quickly as possible. Which was why she was annoyed to find Butters elbow deep in someone’s guts.
“Hey, I thought you called me down here to talk.” She said rather impatiently.
“Oh, hey Murphy.” Butters looked over his shoulder at her, “Just let me get the liver out here and I’ll be right with you.”
She rolled her eyes, “Can you tell me anything while you’re doing that?”
“Sure!” the ME said excitedly. She was his favorite detective to work with, he told her once. It was because of the interesting cases she brought him. Murphy was tickled pink to be the ME’s favorite, it usually meant quicker reports. It also meant invitations to polka festivals that she had to come up with clever excuses to get out of.
“So, your two ladies were definitely alive when they went up in flames.” Butters said, pausing to lift said liver out of the guy on the table. “There’s smoke and scorching in their lungs and throat. Pretty nasty stuff though. The fire was so hot that it had to be up in the 900 degrees or more range. Kinda like Mr. Crispy.”
“Great, Mr. Crispy.” Murphy was not happy to hear that. Mr. Crispy was an open case on her desk that was rapidly going cold. Yet another one of her cases with Harry that didn’t get closed and nagged at her. She made a mental note to ask him about Mr. Crispy when she saw him again. “You told me this in your preliminary report.”
“Yeah, I know, exciting. I’d say they were related except your latest two didn’t have that funny rose mark on the hand.” Butters finished with the liver and put it back into place. He turned to face her, his usual friendly smile in place. His love for polka was proclaimed across his shirt in loopy cursive lettering today. “What they did have in their hands though, that’s interesting.”
“Okay, why?”
Butters peeled off the gloves his hand on and then washed his hands. He apparently did it constantly. That didn’t make Murphy feel any better about touching things he touched. He took peoples’ brains out, she’d seen him do it, and it made her a little nervous about what he might have on his hands. “Well, from what I can tell, that’s where the fire originated from. The hands were the most damaged part of the body.”
“So they were holding whatever set them on fire.” She followed behind him as he moved towards his desk.
“Yeah, I’ve seen it before with fireworks, only usually the hand gets blown off and it’s the flesh around the wrist and arm that gets burned.” He began to dig through the files on his desk. “This wasn’t like that though. No explosion to blow the hand apart. Here it is!” Butters popped up with the file and held it out to her.
Murphy took it gingerly, her interest in the case overcoming her natural inclination not to touch anything in the morgue. “You’re saying it wasn’t a firework.”
“Most definitely not. Most of the stuff in their hands was just a mess. Took forever to isolate individual particles.”
“Probably what the killer was counting on. The fire should have burned away any trace evidence.” She muttered to herself, reading over the file.
“Well, it would have if the fire had stayed in one place but since it spread out, the heat was no longer centralized and trace remained. Anywho, the lab guys say the stuff in her hand is…”
“Tallow,” Murphy frowned at the report.
“Yeah, tallow, but not just normal tallow, this stuff had hair in it. The victims’ hairs. Right at the core of the wax, along with some herbs. Uh,” he shifted to her side, reading over her shoulder as he found the right part of the report, “Calamus roots, devil pods, and black peppers. Both of your vics had the same thing in their hands.”
“So the same person both times. What about gunpowder? Anything incendiary?” She turned her head slightly to look at Butters who shrugged.
“If there was, the lab guys haven’t found it. That’s weird huh? All those herbs and tallow but nothing you know that burns. What do you think?”
“I think you have a customer waiting and that if you come up with anything else you should give me a call.” She snapped the folder closed and tucked it under her arm. “Thanks Butters.”
“Anytime, Murphy. Just let me know how this one ends.” Butters looked slightly disappointed that he didn’t get to hear her theories on what was going on, but she didn’t have any. She left Butters to his work and headed back towards the office. The tallow, the herbs, it was definitely some of Harry’s weird stuff at work, but that still meant there was a real murderer out there and she had to get the evidence to arrest him or her. Without a source of ignition though, it was going to be tricky to prove this was murder.
At least she and Kirmani had one lead to work, Club C7. The first victim, Angela Roots had frequented the club and the second victim, Trishna Waters, had been in talk with C7’s owner about selling him a new property. The question now became who at Club C7 would want these two girls dead? Maybe it was someone competing with the club? Murphy scowled at the elevator doors in front of her as she rode up to her office. She was going to have to talk this over with Kirmani, bounce some ideas around and work out where to go from there.
She stepped off the elevator when it stopped and walked towards her desk. On the way she tapped the file against the top of Kirmani’s cubical. “Hey, report’s in from Butters, come on.” She jerked her head towards her desk clearly indicating he should follow her. “We’ve got work to do.”
In all honesty, Murphy would rather stand in the middle of a gang fight than go to the morgue. The place smelled like disinfectant with death right under the surface. She could stomach watching autopsies, blood and guts never bothered her, but something about the smell of the place got to her. She wanted to get in and get out as quickly as possible. Which was why she was annoyed to find Butters elbow deep in someone’s guts.
“Hey, I thought you called me down here to talk.” She said rather impatiently.
“Oh, hey Murphy.” Butters looked over his shoulder at her, “Just let me get the liver out here and I’ll be right with you.”
She rolled her eyes, “Can you tell me anything while you’re doing that?”
“Sure!” the ME said excitedly. She was his favorite detective to work with, he told her once. It was because of the interesting cases she brought him. Murphy was tickled pink to be the ME’s favorite, it usually meant quicker reports. It also meant invitations to polka festivals that she had to come up with clever excuses to get out of.
“So, your two ladies were definitely alive when they went up in flames.” Butters said, pausing to lift said liver out of the guy on the table. “There’s smoke and scorching in their lungs and throat. Pretty nasty stuff though. The fire was so hot that it had to be up in the 900 degrees or more range. Kinda like Mr. Crispy.”
“Great, Mr. Crispy.” Murphy was not happy to hear that. Mr. Crispy was an open case on her desk that was rapidly going cold. Yet another one of her cases with Harry that didn’t get closed and nagged at her. She made a mental note to ask him about Mr. Crispy when she saw him again. “You told me this in your preliminary report.”
“Yeah, I know, exciting. I’d say they were related except your latest two didn’t have that funny rose mark on the hand.” Butters finished with the liver and put it back into place. He turned to face her, his usual friendly smile in place. His love for polka was proclaimed across his shirt in loopy cursive lettering today. “What they did have in their hands though, that’s interesting.”
“Okay, why?”
Butters peeled off the gloves his hand on and then washed his hands. He apparently did it constantly. That didn’t make Murphy feel any better about touching things he touched. He took peoples’ brains out, she’d seen him do it, and it made her a little nervous about what he might have on his hands. “Well, from what I can tell, that’s where the fire originated from. The hands were the most damaged part of the body.”
“So they were holding whatever set them on fire.” She followed behind him as he moved towards his desk.
“Yeah, I’ve seen it before with fireworks, only usually the hand gets blown off and it’s the flesh around the wrist and arm that gets burned.” He began to dig through the files on his desk. “This wasn’t like that though. No explosion to blow the hand apart. Here it is!” Butters popped up with the file and held it out to her.
Murphy took it gingerly, her interest in the case overcoming her natural inclination not to touch anything in the morgue. “You’re saying it wasn’t a firework.”
“Most definitely not. Most of the stuff in their hands was just a mess. Took forever to isolate individual particles.”
“Probably what the killer was counting on. The fire should have burned away any trace evidence.” She muttered to herself, reading over the file.
“Well, it would have if the fire had stayed in one place but since it spread out, the heat was no longer centralized and trace remained. Anywho, the lab guys say the stuff in her hand is…”
“Tallow,” Murphy frowned at the report.
“Yeah, tallow, but not just normal tallow, this stuff had hair in it. The victims’ hairs. Right at the core of the wax, along with some herbs. Uh,” he shifted to her side, reading over her shoulder as he found the right part of the report, “Calamus roots, devil pods, and black peppers. Both of your vics had the same thing in their hands.”
“So the same person both times. What about gunpowder? Anything incendiary?” She turned her head slightly to look at Butters who shrugged.
“If there was, the lab guys haven’t found it. That’s weird huh? All those herbs and tallow but nothing you know that burns. What do you think?”
“I think you have a customer waiting and that if you come up with anything else you should give me a call.” She snapped the folder closed and tucked it under her arm. “Thanks Butters.”
“Anytime, Murphy. Just let me know how this one ends.” Butters looked slightly disappointed that he didn’t get to hear her theories on what was going on, but she didn’t have any. She left Butters to his work and headed back towards the office. The tallow, the herbs, it was definitely some of Harry’s weird stuff at work, but that still meant there was a real murderer out there and she had to get the evidence to arrest him or her. Without a source of ignition though, it was going to be tricky to prove this was murder.
At least she and Kirmani had one lead to work, Club C7. The first victim, Angela Roots had frequented the club and the second victim, Trishna Waters, had been in talk with C7’s owner about selling him a new property. The question now became who at Club C7 would want these two girls dead? Maybe it was someone competing with the club? Murphy scowled at the elevator doors in front of her as she rode up to her office. She was going to have to talk this over with Kirmani, bounce some ideas around and work out where to go from there.
She stepped off the elevator when it stopped and walked towards her desk. On the way she tapped the file against the top of Kirmani’s cubical. “Hey, report’s in from Butters, come on.” She jerked her head towards her desk clearly indicating he should follow her. “We’ve got work to do.”