Free The Crucifix Killer by Chris Carter Page A

poured himself a strong cup of coffee and considered adding a quick shot of whisky to it, but that would probably make him feel worse. By six-thirty he was dressed and ready to leave when his cell phone rang.
    ‘Detective Hunter speaking.’
    ‘Robert, it’s me, Carlos.’
    ‘Rookie, you gotta stop calling me so early in the goddamn morning. Do you ever sleep?’
    ‘Sometimes, but last night it was hard to.’
    ‘You can say that again. So what’s up?’
    ‘I just talked to Doctor Winston.’
    Hunter quickly glanced at his watch. ‘This early? Did you wake him up as well?’
    ‘No, he’s been up most of the night. Anyway, he said his team of forensic examiners didn’t come up with anything from the wooden house either.’
    Hunter ran his hand over his chin. ‘Yeah, I was half expecting that,’ he said disappointedly.
    ‘He also said that there’s something he wants to show us, something important.’
    ‘There always is. Is he in the Coroner’s office now?’
    ‘Yep.’
    ‘OK, I’ll meet you there . . . half an hour?’
    ‘Yeah, that’s enough time, see you there.’
    The Los Angeles County Department of Coroner is located on Mission Road. As one of the busiest Coroners in the entire United States, it can receive anywhere up to one hundred bodies a day.
    Hunter parked next to the main building and met Garcia by the entrance door. He’d seen his fair share of dead bodies after ten years as a detective, but Hunter still felt uneasy walking down the corridors in the Department of Coroner. The smell was like a hospital, but it had a different sting to it, something that burnt the inside of his nostrils and irritated the back of his throat.
    Yesterday’s victim’s autopsy had been conducted in a small separate room in the basement of the building. Doctor Winston had been the medical examiner during the Crucifix Killer case; if anyone could identify the same modus operandi, he could.
    ‘Why are we going downstairs – aren’t all the autopsy rooms on the first floor?’ Garcia asked intrigued, as they reached the bottom of the stairs that led to an empty and creepy basement corridor.
    ‘This is the same autopsy room that was used during the Crucifix Killer’s investigation. As the captain said, he wants this whole thing kept under wraps. Those goddamn reporters pay informers everywhere and this place is no different. Until we make sure the nightmare hasn’t started again the captain has asked the good old doctor to use the same precautions as the original case – and that includes no access to the victim’s body by anyone except the doctor himself and us.’
    As they reached the room at the end of the narrow, well-lit corridor, Hunter pressed the intercom button on the wall and smiled a silly smile at the camera mounted just above the door. Seconds later Doctor Winston’s voice cracked through the small wall speaker.
    ‘Robert . . . let me buzz you in.’
    A loud buzz echoed through the basement corridor followed by a clicking sound. Hunter pushed the heavy metal door open and stepped inside the room with Garcia.
    A gleaming stainless-steel table with a sink at one of its ends was positioned close to the far wall. A large surgical light above the table illuminated the entire room. A tray which was used for placing organs as the examiner removed them from the victim’s body sat close to the sink. The drainage tube from the organ tray was stained orange-brown. The stinging smell was stronger inside the room. Two large surgical saws and several blades of different shapes and sizes were neatly arranged over a small table up against the west wall. The faceless woman’s body lay on the steel table.
    ‘Come in,’ Doctor Winston said, showing them into the room.
    Garcia’s gaze rested on the motionless corpse and the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end.
    ‘So, what do you have for us?’ Hunter asked quietly as if scared of waking her up.
    ‘Unfortunately, not much,’ Doctor Winston replied