Free Shadow Dragon by Lance Horton Page A

smokes quickly and stubbed them out in the sand-filled ash can in the corner beside the door. Apparently, it was a common ritual. The dirty sand was littered with at least a dozen butts.
    The sheriff was waiting for them inside. When he stood up from the chair he had been sitting in, Kyle was again surprised by the size of the man. Without further discussion, he led them past the receptionist and down the stark, industrial tiled hallway toward the autopsy room. Kyle noticed that Marasco walked on the far side of the hall from the sheriff.
    As they walked down the corridor, the reason for the smoking ritual became clear to Kyle. The air was thick with the nasal-burning tang of chemicals and more noxious scents that grew stronger as they approached the autopsy room. Anything that would have dulled or numbed his sense of smell would have been preferable.
    Larry Henderson’s naked body lay on a cold steel table. Kyle wasn’t sure if it was the body itself or the harsh glare of the fluorescent lights, but the man’s skin seemed to glow with a ghostly, bluish-white tint. His mouth was agape, as if frozen in the rictus of a scream.
    Standing next to the body with a clipboard in his hand was Alvin Crowe. Crowe was a lean, stoop-shouldered old man with thinning gray hair atop his head, round, gold-framed glasses, and a neatly waxed, handlebar moustache. He was already wearing latex surgical gloves, and even though he had yet to start the autopsy, Kyle was glad when he didn’t offer to shake their hands.
    “You’ve done a preliminary review of the body?” Lewis asked.
    “Sure have. I’m about to start cutting if you’d care to watch. There’s gloves and masks over there.”
    “I don’t think that will be necessary,” Lewis said.
    “Suit yourself,” the old man said with a mischievous grin. “But you’re missing all the fun.”
    “That’s all right,” Lewis said. “What’s your initial impression?”
    “Well, considering the amount of time he’s been missing, the body’s in excellent condition because of the snow, but that will also make it difficult to pin down the exact time of death. The report said the body was found lying face down, which is in agreement with the fixed lividity, so it doesn’t look like it had been moved. There’s very little decomposition and no signs of it being mauled or damaged by any animals.”
    “Any signs of injury at all?” Lewis asked.
    “Not externally. I’ll know more after the cut.”
    “So what? Did he just freeze to death?” Marasco asked.
    “Well, this isn’t official or anything, but he was found lying face down with his right arm across his chest as if he might have been clutching or grabbing it when he fell, and I noticed a small amount of frothy blood around the lips, which leads me to think he might have died from sudden myocardial infarction. It could have been caused by several contributing factors, including alcohol and sudden exertion in the cold. We see it all the time. A big snow hits, and you can expect a least one or two to kick it just from shoveling their drive. But you mix that with intense fear or panic, and you’ve got a heart attack just waiting to happen. Of course, we won’t know anything for certain until after the cut and the tox screen.”
    “So he wasn’t murdered?” Lewis asked in confirmation.
    “Well, it depends on the autopsy and how the rest of your investigation goes, but his death could still be ruled a homicide.”
    Kyle was confused. “How is that?”
    “Deaths resulting from fear or fright induced by threats of physical harm can be ruled as a homicide if there is a close relationship between the inciting incident and the death, which appears to be the case with this one.”
    “So you’re saying—”
    “I’m saying it appears that he was scared to death.”
     

CHAPTER 15
    Denver
    Carrie was suddenly awake. She didn’t know what had caused it, but something had startled her from sleep. Without knowing exactly how,