Free The Deadly Embrace by Robert J. Mrazek Page B

Dunbar.”
    “That autopsy has already been concluded,” said Captain Sleeves, his eyes still on the young scrubwoman as she backed away down the hall. “According to the family’s wishes, she is being cremated.”
    “I need to examine that body,” Liza said forcefully, stepping in front of him.
    The man had brown close-set eyes and a little upturned nose. A heavily waxed mustache extended across his upper lip like a propeller blade.
    Seeing her for the first time, he stepped back as if he had received a jolt of electricity. After studying her identity card for several seconds, he looked back up at her and smiled, revealing a row of ferretlike teeth.
    “Are you a licensed pathologist, Miss … Marantz?” he asked, his eyes dropping to her breasts.
    “No, I’m not … and it’s Lieutenant Marantz.”
    “Yes, I can see that,” he said, his body inching closer to her.
    “Elizabeth Marantz,” he said, “very pretty name … beguiling, in fact.”
    “Captain Sleeves, it is imperative that I see Lieutenant Dunbar’s body,” she said. “My orders are to...”
    “Marantz … German, isn’t it?” said Captain Sleeves.
    He had already moved close enough for her to smell the stale coffee on his breath. Liza decided to humor him for the last time.
    “Yes … German,” she said.
    His thick eyebrows rose to meet one another above his eyes like two caterpillars.
    “I thought so,” he said.
    Farther down the corridor, a young man came out through a pair of swinging doors. He was wearing a blood-smeared gray lab coat. Striking a match against the red brick wall, he lit a cigarette.
    “German of the Hebrew persuasion?” asked Captain Sleeves.
    “Yes, I am Jewish,” said Liza. “Now...”
    “I thought so,” he declared again, with the hint of a smirk.
    “Are you going to allow me to examine the body of Jocelyn Dunbar, or do I need to see your superior officer?” Liza demanded loudly.
    “I am in full command here at the present time,” he said, as if holding the beachhead at Dunkirk. “Of course, you can always contact Major Faulks in Supply and Administration.”
    “Where is he?”
    “Haven’t the slightest,” said Captain Sleeves. “Probably on his rounds of the city facilities.”
    Liza watched him glance at his wristwatch before his eyes swept over her again.
    “If you’re trying to keep me occupied while they destroy Lieutenant Dunbar’s body, then know this,” she said, fiercely. “By allowing it to happen, you may well be compromising the security of Operation Overlord. I assume that even someone like you knows what that means. I am here at the direct command of General Ernest Manigault, the head of Military Security Command for Overlord,” she lied. “If I am not allowed to examine Lieutenant Dunbar’s body right now, I promise you, Captain Sleeves, that instead of your comfortable little post here in Golders Green you will be spending the next thirty years in a military prison.”
    The caterpillar eyebrows began oscillating up and down.
    “Corporal Moncrief?” he cried out as if calling for reinforcements.
    The young man down the corridor dropped his cigarette and stubbed it out with the toe of his boot.
    “I’m afraid you’re too late, Lieutenant,” he said, coming toward them. “She went to the fire. Those were my orders.”
    “From whom?” she demanded.
    “From him,” he said, pointing at Sleeves.
    The captain was slowly backing up into his office.
    “Who ordered you to destroy her body?” demanded Liza.
    “I must follow orders, even as you must...” he began.
    “Who gave you the order?” she demanded.
    “Colonel Gaines … called to say that Lady Dunbar’s family wanted her cremated as soon as possible after the autopsy,” he mumbled.
    “It’s possible she could still be in the holding area over there,” said the young corporal. “They’ve had a lot of business today.”
    “Where is it?”
    “I’ll take you,” he said.
    As she followed him down the