Jack Beale 00 - Killer Run

Victim. It seemed so straightforward, so why did he think of him as a victim? Maybe it was just too many years on the force that led him there whenever there was no obvious reason for the death, but until the autopsy was complete, he wouldn’t know for sure. He was just reaching for the phone to call the coroner’s office, when his phone rang.
    He answered. “Lieutenant Malloy.”
    For a moment there was only silence on the line. Then a faint, shaky female voice asked if he were the person to talk to about a missing person.
    “Yes, I can help you.”
    “My name is Polly Christian. I live in Leavitt Town, New Hampshire, and my husband is missing.”
    “I’m sorry, but why are you calling this department if you are from up in New Hampshire?” He tried to sound as sympathetic as possible, but he had to ask the question.
    “He ran a race yesterday, a trail race, and he hasn’t come home. I called the race director and he said that his records showed that my husband ran and finished. He didn’t. He couldn’t have. He didn’t come home. I didn’t know who else to call.”
    At the word race she had his full attention.
    “Mrs. Christian, would you mind telling me a little more about your husband? What he was wearing, height, weight, anything that might help us.”
    She answered his questions and then finished with one of her own. “Do you know something that you are not telling me?”
    Everything she had told him sounded like John Doe, but he wanted to be sure before he either gave her hope or devastating news. He chose not to answer her question. Instead, he thanked her and assured her that he would do everything that he could to find her husband. He didn’t like deceiving her that way, but he’d feel better after talking to the coroner.
    As soon as he said goodbye to Polly, he made the next call. “Hey Jamieson, can you give me anything yet on that body I sent over yesterday?”
    Jamieson Flannigan had been the coroner for longer than Malloy had been on the force. From years of experience, his preliminary assessments were usually spot on. Malloy knew that it could be weeks before all the final reports were prepared, but that wasn’t what he needed. Right now he needed an ID and cause of death.
    “Mornin’ Mark. He’s here. I’m about to start on him. What’s the rush?”
    “I just got a call from a woman up north in New Hampshire who said her husband is missing. He ran the race where we found the body. He was accounted for in the results, but by her description, this guy might be him. Still, I wanted to talk to you first before having her come down.”
    “I see.”
    “From what I saw at the scene, it looked to me like he probably slipped and fell down an embankment and hit his head on a tree. When I call her back, I’d just like to be able to tell her that it was an accident and not something else.”
    “Give me an hour. I’ll take a quick look and call you back. Remember, whatever I tell you will be only preliminary, and until I complete a full autopsy I won’t really know for sure.”
    “That’s all I want. Thanks.”
    Almost two hours passed before Jamieson called back. “Hey Mark. It does look like he died from blunt force trauma to the head. The cheek bone under his left eye is broken, and from the cuts, bruising, and pieces of tree in his face, it’s pretty certain that his face hit a tree.”
    “So it was an accident.”
    “I don’t think so.”
    “You don’t?”
    Jamieson hesitated before answering. “There’s another wound on his head, and in my opinion, it was probably the cause of death. But again, until I finish the autopsy, I won’t know for sure.”
    Now it was Malloy’s turn to be silent. Finally he asked, “From the fall?”
    “I don’t think so, but again, I won’t know for sure until …”
    Malloy cut him off. “In other words, he was killed.”
    “High probability.”
    “Thanks Jamieson. Let me know as soon as you have something more concrete. I’m going to call her back and have her come down and look at the body. At least then we might find out who he is. If it is him and it wasn’t an accident, we’ll at least have a starting point. Thanks.”
    “Call me when you know what time you’ll be coming by.”
    Malloy sat at his desk, thinking about this new development, picked up his phone, and dialed.
    * * *
    Polly hadn’t expected to hear back from Lieutenant Malloy so quickly. Emotionally drained from a morning spent on the phone with no success,