Free The Divine Appointment by Jerome Teel

schoolteacher complimenting one of his star pupils.
    Cooper twisted slightly in his chair so he could watch as his master pondered the possibilities.
    “Cooper, let’s meet this evening after the Senate adjourns.” The senator slid into the suit coat he removed from the closet and glanced at his wristwatch. “I’ve got to be back on the Senate floor in five minutes, but I think I know what I’ll demand of the president, and I want you to be thinking about it, too. We have several senators up for reelection this fall, and three of them are quite vulnerable. Dawson in Wyoming, Fleming in Kansas, and Martin in Kentucky. The president’s been raising a lot of money for their conservative opponents. If we lose two of those three, then we lose control of the Senate, and we can’t have that.”
    What Senator Proctor didn’t say was that he would lose his Senate majority leader’s seat if the balance of power shifted to the other party. He didn’t have to say it. Cooper knew what he meant.
    “So, I want the president to stay out of those races. I know he won’t endorse our guys. But he can order the party chairman to pull their resources out of those three races. I think that’s worth a Supreme Court appointment, don’t you?”
    “That’s why you’re the boss,” Cooper said admiringly.
    “I’ll see you this evening,” Senator Proctor said as he left Cooper sitting in awe in his office.

Chapter Six
    The medical examiner’s office, Nashville, Tennessee
    “Do you have anything for us, Doc?” Lieutenant Brantley asked.
    The question was directed at Dr. Morris Stephenson, the senior Metropolitan Nashville medical examiner. Lieutenant Brantley and Sergeant Dodson dispensed with the initial pleasantries. They were at the ME’s office in downtown Nashville. It was Saturday—the day after Jessica Caldwell’s body had been discovered. Murder investigations didn’t stop for the weekend.
    Brantley and Dodson were anxious to leave the coroner’s office as soon as possible. The room reeked of the smell of death to Dodson, but it didn’t seem to bother Dr. Stephenson. The doctor, in his midsixties, wore a lab coat with his name embroidered over the pocket. He was about six feet three and weighed about 280, Dodson guessed.
    “You guys in a hurry or something?” Dr. Stephenson talked slightly out of the right side of his mouth. He glanced at the officers with an annoyed expression. “She’s only been dead a little over twenty-four hours.”
    “We are in a hurry, Doc,” Dodson replied. “We’ve got a killer to catch before the trail grows cold.”
    The medical examiner, in a huff, turned his back to the officers and began walking. “I’m retiring at year’s end, and I won’t have to put up with you detectives anymore.”
    Dr. Stephenson led Brantley and Dodson across the room to the table holding the body of Jessica Caldwell. The doctor’s gait was a labored hobble. From other cases he’d worked with the ME, Dodson knew it was from two bum knees. He also knew—from experience and from reputation—that the doctor was rather cantankerous.
    “Two tours with the navy and thirty years with you demanding detectives, not to mention the DA’s office, is long enough for anyone.”
    “The sooner you tell us what we need to know, the sooner these two detectives will be out of your hair,” Dodson said, pointing at Brantley and himself.
    “Not much of that left either.” Dr. Stephenson rubbed his flattop, and began his report from memory. “The cause of death was asphyxia from neck compression. Do you see those marks on her neck?” Dr. Stephenson pointed to the neck area of the corpse and waited for Brantley and Dodson to acknowledge that they saw the markings. “Those are bruises caused by someone other than the decedent. She had hemorrhaging in the throat area, and her hyoid bone was fractured. Clearly strangulation.”
    “What’s that bruise on her forehead?” Dodson asked.
    “Blunt-force trauma, but