Free Twisted Reason by Diane Fanning Page A

good, Pierce. But look at what I do every day. It’s nothing but desecration of a corpse. Sanctified, legal and necessary, of course. But desecration it is.”
    “I never knew you felt that way, Doc.”
    “Well, you should have. And after I die, I want to be cremated – don’t want some mortician combing what’s left of my hair or piling make-up on my lifeless face making me look like a kewpie doll from hell, either. How do you think he died, Pierce?”
    “Don’t have a clue, Doc.”
    The doctor grunted. “Well, that’s a first,” he said as he and the tech flipped the body on its back. He pulled out his scalpel and got to work.
    Lucinda hid a smirk by raising the mask over her mouth.
     
    It was noon before Lucinda finally left the morgue. Cause of death was a heart attack. They’d have to wait until toxicology came back to find out if a lack of medication was a factor. And where had he been for five months? Who had taken care of him? Who placed him on the porch? And does that person bear responsibility for his death? Am I wasting my time on a natural death? No , it may be a natural cause, but the means of death had a sinister cast to it – too many questions remain unanswered.
    Lucinda took the elevator to the fifth floor hoping to catch District Attorney Michael Reed before he went to lunch. She wanted to get Evan Spencer’s case closed or at least stalled for further investigation.
    She knocked on the sill of Reed’s open doorway. “Got a minute?”
    “Yeah. But just a minute. Make it quick. I’m meeting my wife for lunch.”
    “The assault charge against Evan Spencer?”
    “What about it?”
    “I think it’s groundless.”
    “And why is that, Pierce?”
    “Because he told me what happened. And he didn’t do it.”
    “Oh. And so now you believe him. A couple of years ago, you wanted me to arrest him and charge him with murder. You blocked his departure from the country on a mission of mercy. And now, you believe him.”
    “I came to believe him back then, if you recall, Mr. Reed. His cooperation led us to his brother.”
    “I can’t keep track of all your flip-flopping, Pierce. I run for office every six years and I flip and flop less than you. Forget about it. Charges are filed. The victim is pressing forward. We’ll let a jury decide.”
    “Sir, at least take the time to thoroughly investigate the woman’s claim before doing anything further.”
    “Right now, my staff is busy with more important things – like murder. You want to look into it, fine. But I can only give you one week.”
    “But, sir, I am in the middle of—”
    “That’s not my problem, Lieutenant. You want to look into it, look into it. But bring me something conclusive in seven days or leave me alone. Now if you’ll excuse me, my wife is waiting.”
    She watched his back as he walked down to the hall and stepped into the elevator. Turning around to face forward, he saw her looking at him and gave her a toodle-oo wave as the doors closed. She knew he was a good prosecutor but sometimes she wanted to kick him down all five floors of stairs and out the front door.
    She walked down the two flights to her office and in the center of her desk she found a note weighted down with a tape dispenser. “Come see me as soon as you can. Interesting developments. Jumbo.”
    The message light was blinking on her phone. She decided to play them back before going down the hall to Jumbo Butler’s office. One of them was from Vicki Humphries: “I have some information you wanted, Lieutenant Pierce. I’m at work now but feel free to call me here.”
    Lucinda flipped out her notebook and punched in the numbers to Vicki’s direct line.
    “Vicki Humphries.”
    “This is Lieutenant Pierce, Mrs. Humphries, returning your call.”
    “I overheard what Dr. Nelson said to you yesterday so I went by his office and got a copy of my father-in-law’s medical records for you. I thought it might save you some time and trouble.”
    “Thank