Once again, her gaze shifted beyond him but came back quickly. “He stayed with me last night,” she said in a voice barely above a whisper. “He stays with me several nights a week. We were supposed to go out to dinner, but he changed his mind, wanted to eat in, so we did.”
“And after that?”
“We watched some TV, then went to bed.”
“What time was that?”
She gave a slight shrug. “Ten? Maybe eleven. But he wasn’t there when I woke up this morning.”
“Is that normal?”
Crystal shook her head vigorously. “No. He’s usually there in the morning.”
“So he didn’t tell you he was leaving?”
“No. When I woke up and found him gone, I figured he had come into the office early. He does that sometimes. When he can’t sleep, he’ll come here, but he always tells me first.” Tears glistened in her eyes. “But he wasn’t here when I got here.”
“Are you the one who called the police?”
She shook her head. “No. Abby did. His secretary. She was expecting him for a six o’clock conference call. He never showed.”
“Is it unusual for him to miss a call or a meeting?”
Crystal’s eyes widened as she nodded vehemently. “Oh, definitely. Mr. Hawkins is meticulous about work. It’s his life. He’s always early. For everything.”
Baz was afraid she would say that.
“Is there anywhere he might go? Somewhere he likes to frequent if he needs to clear his head?”
“No. This is his safe haven. He loves it here. Cedric … I mean, Mr. Hawkins, he loves what he does.”
Baz nodded as though understanding.
He heard Allison’s voice getting louder, and he recognized it as a warning.
“Did Mr. Hawkins get any phone calls last night? Did he seem off in any way?”
Crystal stared back at him as though thinking, and then her eyes widened. “I think he got a phone call last night. I don’t know for sure, but now that you mention it, I had a dream that he was talking on the phone. Maybe it wasn’t a dream?” Her eyes glittered with renewed hope. “Maybe he got a call and answered it while I was sleeping?”
That was a very good possibility. And it would explain why he left when he didn’t usually.
Baz pulled out his card, passed it to her. “Call me if you think of anything else. And if there’s anyone here who has information, I’d appreciate if you’d urge them to call me, too.”
She nodded, her eyes glistening once again. “Please find him.”
“We’re gonna do our absolute best,” he promised.
“Mr. Buchanan!” Joel called from behind him. “I asked that you not speak to anyone without my permission.”
Baz shot Crystal a small smile.
Yep. Busted.
*
“You sure you’re up for this?” Evan asked as Trey led the way down the sterile white corridor, heading toward the morgue.
He peered over at his new partner. “Are you sayin’ I look bad?”
Trey wouldn’t be surprised if he did. He was feeling a little green around the gills.
The smirk on Evan’s face didn’t have an ounce of embarrassment. “I imagine you’ve looked better.”
Trey snorted. “You’ve seen me how many times?”
“Enough to know green’s not your color.”
“Whatever.” He forced a smile. “I’m fine. I’ll be fine.”
“You’ve never done this before, have you?”
“Go to the morgue?” Trey shook his head. “Not on my bucket list.”
Evan chuckled. “Brace yourself.”
Taking Evan’s advice, Trey tried to shore up his nerves as they walked into the room where dead people were prepped and autopsied. Only two seconds in, he decided one thing was for absolute sure: he did not care for the morgue at all. There was a pungent antiseptic smell, the temperature was a little too cool, the room a little too dark, and there was a morbid aura that seemed to surround the place.
“Are you with the task force?” the man sporting wire-rimmed glasses and a blue lab coat asked as they approached.
This guy looked right at home in the death room. He was as pale as the dead bodies he worked on, proof he probably didn’t see a lot of sun. However, his eyes were bright, glittering with knowledge.
“Trey Walker and Evan Vaughn,” Trey introduced, stopping a few feet from the metal table that was covered with a sheet. Based on the lumps beneath, he knew there was a cold, dead body.
“I’m Dr. Jason Davis, the medical examiner.”
Trey would’ve said it was nice to meet him, but he wasn’t sure it was. This guy was a doctor for the dead, and while he had never considered himself squeamish, he’d never been in here before. Needless to say, it wasn’t high on his list of things to do ever again.
However, he couldn’t say the same for his new partner. Evan was handling it like a man who visited dead bodies as a hobby, walking right up to the doc and offering a hand.
“Who would you prefer to see first?” the medical examiner asked, turning to face the two body-covered tables.
Neither. Trey kept the thought to himself.
“We can start with Seth Jacobs,” Evan said, his tone decisive.
Trey was grateful, hoping the man would lead from here on out. At least until they were outside where it didn’t smell like … like a mixture of hospital and dead people.
When the ME pulled the drape back, revealing a naked man with a gruesome Y incision on his chest, Trey realized it could get worse. His stomach twisted unpleasantly, and he had to turn his attention to the far wall. Evan, on the other hand, moved right up to Seth, taking the chart that Dr. Davis passed to him.
“Doesn’t look like a crime of passion was what took Seth Jacobs out,” Evan noted, still observing the body.
“I would have to agree,” the medical examiner said. “No broken bones, no signs of torture or even a struggle.”
“Cause of death?” Evan asked.
“Suffocation. I’d say someone held something over his face. A pillow is my assumption based on the particulates I found in the lungs, but I won’t know for sure until I get the test results back from the lab.”
Trey dared a peek at the body, looked away quickly. “Up close and personal, then.”
“I’d say so,” Evan stated. “Was he drugged?”
“His blood alcohol level was well above the legal limit, but other than that, I found no drugs. I did, however, determine that he had sexual intercourse shortly before his TOD. I identified spermicide.”
“He wore a condom?” Evan inquired.
“Yes, that’s my finding.”
“And Brian Wright? Was he also suffocated?” Evan asked.
“He was not.” The medical examiner strolled to the other body, pulled back the sheet. “Mr. Wright ingested a lethal dose of nitroglycerin.”
Trey peeked at the body. Nope. Seeing another one didn’t make it any easier.
“Was it his prescription?” Evan asked.
The doctor shook his head. “Not that I found based on his medical history, nor did I find any reason to believe he should be during my autopsy. His heart was healthy. His liver, however, had seen better days. I’d say he’s been a heavy drinker for quite a number of years.”