“I did, and I’m wondering when you heard me say that.”
I was on the pier now and not at all looking forward to carrying my dirty, wet gear back to my car.
“Of course, we monitored the recovery of the body.” It was Green who spoke.
“Detective Roche and I were listening inside the building.”
I remembered Ki Soo’s warning to me and I glanced at the platform below where he and Jerod were working on their own gear.
“The hose was snagged,” I answered. “But I can’t tell you when that happened. Maybe before his death, maybe after.”
Roche didn’t seem all that interested as he continued to stare at me in a manner that made me self-aware. He was very young and almost pretty, with delicate features, generous lips and short curly dark hair. But I did not like his eyes, and thought they were invasive and smug. I pulled off my hood and ran my fingers through my slippery hair, and he watched as I unzipped my wet suit and pulled the top of it down to my
hips. The last layer was my dive skin, and water trapped between it and my flesh was chilling quickly. Soon I would be unbearably cold. Already, my fingernails were blue.
“One of the rescuers tells me his face looks really red,” the captain said as I tied the wet suit’s sleeves around my waist. “I’m wondering if that means anything.”
“Cold livor,” I replied.
He looked expectantly at me.
“Bodies exposed to the cold get bright pink,” I said as I began to shiver.
“I see. So it doesn’t-”
“No,” I cut him off, because I was too uncomfortable to listen to them. “It doesn’t necessarily mean anything”.
Look, is there a ladies’ room so I can get out of these wet things?” I cast about and saw nothing promising.
“Over there.” Green pointed at a small trailer near the administration building.
“Would you like Detective Roche to accompany you and show you where everything is?”
“That’s not necessary.”
“Hopefully, it’s not locked,” Green added.
That would be my luck, I thought. But it wasn’t, and it was awful, with only toilet and sink, and nothing seemed to have been cleaned in recent history. A door leading to the men’s room on the other side was secured by a two by-four with padlock and chain, as if one gender or the other were very worried about privacy.
There was no heat. I stripped, only to discover there was no hot water. Cleaning up as best I could, I hurried into a sweat suit, after-ski boots and cap. By now it was one-thirty and Lucy was probably at Mant’s house. I hadn’t even noted the tomato sauce yet. Exhausted, I was desperate for a long hot shower or bath.
Because I could not get rid of him, Green walked me to my car and helped place my dive gear into the trunk. By now the johnboat had been loaded on a trailer and should have been enroute to my office in Norfolk. I did not see Jerod or Ki Soo and was sorry I could not say good-bye to them.
“When will you do the autopsy?” Green asked me.
I looked at him, and he was so typical of weak people with power or rank. He had done his best to scare me off, and when that had accomplished nothing he had decided we would be friends.
“I will do it now.” I started the car and turned the heat up high.
He looked surprised. “Your office is open today?”
“I just opened it,” I said.
I had not shut the door, and he propped his arms on top of the frame and stared down at me. He was so close, I could see broken blood vessels along his cheekbones and the wings of his nose, and changes in pigmentation from the sun.
“You will call me with your report?”
“When I determine cause and manner of death, certainly I will discuss them with you,” I said.
“Manner?” He frowned. “You mean there’s some question that he’s an accidental death?”
“There can and will always be questions, Captain Green.
It is my job to question.”