Corpse Suzette

ceiling.”
    “Like I would go within ten
miles of his bedroom... wearing a biohazard suit.”
    As they passed the double
doors to the medical examiner’s autopsy suite, Dirk pushed one open and looked
inside. “Nope,” he said. “Nothing going on in there. She must be done with your
buddy Sergio.”
    “Not my buddy. Never my
buddy. Sergio was only a few degrees away from Kenny Bates. Better dressed,
same lousy attitude toward women.”
    Dirk turned and gave her an
inquisitive look. “I never asked. What do you think of me when it comes to that
stuff? My attitude toward broads, that is.”
    She laughed and punched him
in the ribs. “For a guy who calls females ‘broads’ you’re remarkably
progressive. Go figure. Did you call Dr. Liu earlier to see if she was finished
before we bopped over here bright and early in the morning?”
    “Naw, I never call her
anymore. She gets mad. Says I’m nudging her; that I need to take patience
management classes.”
    “Patience management?
Wouldn’t you have to actually get some patience before you learn how to manage
it? Come on, let’s look in her office.”
    Sure enough, Dr. Liu’s door
was open, and she was sitting at her desk. When she first laid eyes on Dirk,
she gave an exasperated sigh. But when she saw that he had Savannah in tow, she
jumped up and hurried to embrace her.
    “Hey, sister,” she
exclaimed. “You still hanging out with this old dinosaur?”
    “Somebody’s gotta hold his
leash.” Savannah returned the hearty hug and marveled that she could have
probably wrapped her arms twice around the slender M.E. Tall, willowy, and
breathtakingly beautiful, Dr. Jennifer Liu looked more like a lingerie model
than a woman who dissected human bodies on a daily basis. Her long black hair
was pulled back with a bright red scarf and even a baggy lab coat couldn’t
totally conceal her womanly curves.
    But Savannah liked her
anyway. They both loved Godiva chocolate, and that was a powerful bond.
    “You should have called
first,” Dr. Liu told Dirk as he settled onto a chair next to her desk. “I don’t
have anything to tell you yet.”
    “Didn’t you do the autopsy
this morning?” He looked bitterly disappointed. “I figured you’d get right on
it, what with me telling you I need it ASAP and all.”
    Dr. Liu seated Savannah in
another chair and returned to her own behind the desk. “You detectives always
want everything ASAP,” she said, “but you are the worst. You must think
the world revolves around you. The rest of us live and breathe merely to make
your life more convenient.”
    “And pleasant,” he added.
“Don’t forget pleasant. When are you gonna do my guy?”
    She reached for a manila
folder on top of a stack on her desk and tossed it toward him. “I did your guy. First thing this morning.”
    He grinned and reached for
the folder. “Thanks. You’re the best, doc. No matter what anybody says.”
    “I did it right away in
spite of the fact that you told me to do it ASAP. I actually had a hole in
my schedule. Don’t expect that sort of service ever again.”
    Dirk turned to Savannah.
“The good doc here is madly in love with me. Can you tell?”
    Savannah nodded. “Oh, it’s
written all over her face. I think she’s about to ‘love’ you over the head with
that paperweight there.”
    He opened the folder. “I
can’t read this gobbledygook. It’s all Greek to me.”
    “Actually, it’s more likely
to be Latin,” Dr. Liu said. “But the bottom line translation is: I don’t know
what killed him.”
    Dirk glowered. “Well,
that’s just hunky-dory. What am I supposed to do with that?”
    Dr. Liu frowned back. “Not
yet.”
    “Not yet what?”
    “I don’t know what killed
him yet. But I haven’t gotten the labs back. When I do, maybe they’ll tell me.”
    Savannah reached over and
took the folder from Dirk. She scanned the page, hoping it might make more
sense to her than it did to Dirk.
    It didn’t.
    “So,” she said, “tell us
what he didn’t die of.”
    “He didn’t die of heart
disease,” Dr. Liu said. “Or a stroke. No evidence of any sort of illness, other
than a bit of liver cirrhosis, apparently from drinking too much.”
    “Poisoning?” Savannah
asked.
    “Maybe, but I saw no signs
that he had ingested anything toxic. The stomach lining was normal, not
inflamed, and the stomach contents to be expected for a man who had eaten lunch
but no dinner yet. My CSI techs said there were no signs of