“No, of course not.” He shook his head. “That would be stupid. But it seems like you have a nose for trouble. The kind of trouble that doesn’t solve easily.”
“I’m not so sure. This one could be easier. Although—” She stopped and shook her head. “No, we,… we don’t know that.”
“No, you don’t, and the minute you start getting cocky about it—”
“I’m not cocky,” she interrupted, speaking quietly, wondering why all the doctors in the coroner’s office were so cranky. “But according to a search that Rodney just did, several other vehicular homicides have occurred annually in this area over the last few years.”
“I wouldn’t put more into that than it will carry. University students ride bikes, a lot of them, faculty too. So there is bound to be a higher occurrence of accidents than in other areas. Plus, many ride their bikes while under the influence.”
At that, she winced. “That’s not a smart idea.”
“No, it’s not,” he snapped. “I’ve seen way-too-many kids do stupid shit. I can’t even count the number of times I’ve thought about wringing their necks. But I’d like to do it before they end up on my slab.”
“That would be nice, but it never seems to work that way.”
“No, it doesn’t. They do what they think is a great idea at the time, and then, when they wake up—or don’t wake up—the family is left pondering the choices they made. And so many times it was either while under the influence or otherwise having fun with their friends on a dare. Then it’s left to the rest of us to clean up the mess they made.” A tone of belligerence filled his words.
She wondered how many that he’d had to deal with lately. Her job was tough sometimes, and she hadn’t been on the job all that long. She’d been a cop for a long time, but she had only been a homicide detective for about five months now. She looked down at the body. She found it easier than looking at the doctor’s face and seeing all the lines and creases this job had put there. He was a good man, and he worked damn hard, but, at some point in time, the job got to you. She studied the dead young woman and understood his mood. “What is she, eighteen?”
“The older I get, the more I can’t tell age, but, as we ID her, we’ll nail that down. Probably a student here at the university.”
“And what? Just riding her bike and not looking?”
“That would make it an accident, and you and your partner wouldn’t be here.”
“That depends.” She stared at the coroner, waiting for more information.
“Hey, I’m not here to argue about what the charges will end up being, if any even are, but I’m telling you that just because other people died from bike wrecks around here doesn’t mean there is some great mystery.”
“Meaning that I shouldn’t make too much of the five-year annual repeat within these few blocks?”
“Exactly. All kinds of problems, all kinds of things can go wrong, and it’s got nothing to do with murder.”
“We got called in for some reason,” she noted. “We don’t generally catch traffic cases, even the bad ones.”
“Well now, young lady, that could be because of this.” He tilted the young woman’s head ever-so-slightly.
Kate leaned over so she could see it better, and she stared, shocked. “Is that a bullet hole?”
He nodded grimly. “Yes. She was shot first. And I bet the other cases don’t match that.”
“I have no idea. I have yet to look at them, but this is definitely not what I expected.”
“No one ever does. This is definitely your case now,” he muttered. “God help you.”
“Why? Do you think it’ll be ugly?”
“Anything to do with a young person is tough,” he explained, “and the university is pretty protective of their people, and you’ll have to deal with that bureaucracy as well. Although this isn’t on campus grounds, so you won’t have to bring the RCMP into it.”
“Can’t say I’m too worried about that aspect. I’ll get answers no matter who’s in my way.”
He let out a short bark. “That’s always your attitude, isn’t it?”
“I don’t mean it to be, but I do tend to get in trouble for being on the short-tempered side.”
“Yeah, well, maybe you’ll get some answers, and that is what we need right now. Good luck with it.” He sat back on his heels and glared down at the young woman.
Kate knew Dr. Smidge wasn’t seeing the actual body in front of him. He was viewing the devastation and the wastefulness caused by whoever had chosen to take this young woman’s life. Kate reached down, gently pulled the soft red hair off the victim’s face, and whispered, “Such a waste.”