Serial- Part 7

Balancing the cup carrier, Seth opened the door to the morgue. He wasn’t even through the door when the smell slapped his face with the vengeance of a scorned lover. Focusing all of his attention on breathing in and out through his mouth, he managed to deliver the drinks without spilling a drop.

            “Wow, thanks! What’s the occasion?” Kim asked before savoring her first sip.

            “Last night you told me to bring the coffee and a good trainee always listens… I wasn’t sure what you like though so I ordered my wife’s favorite for you both.”

            “It’s perfect, Seth. Thank you,” Angela interjected.

            “Okay, coffee break is over…let’s cut this guy open and see what we can find.”

Inwardly, Seth groaned. He had secretly hoped that the autopsy was already under way. Knowing it wasn’t, meant the stench was going to get much worse. Good thing I came prepared this time, he thought while slathering mentholated rub around his nostrils and upper lip. His mask also received its own application of medicated ointment in addition to an ample dose of his strongest cologne. I’d rather smell like I bathed in cologne than inhale the rank decay from our floater. While Seth pulled on his lab coat and gloves, Angela was snapping pictures of the body.

            “Hmm, I wonder what that is.” She muttered, pointing just below the body’s ribs. “It looks like something cut a chunk out of him.”

All three leaned in to observe the not-so-recently deceased’s side, in an attempt to determine the cause.

            “It was clearly a slice and not a bite,” Kim observed. “See how precise the incision is? If an animal bit him it would be a jagged tear.”

            “So, you think someone saved it…like a trophy or something?” Seth asked.

            “Trophy, huh?”

            “Sure, I watch movies and I read Silence of the Lambs. Oh God, do you think someone ate it?”