Hitting the Morgue

JP with Lumina and Corinth

"I think we are done here. Book upstairs, book downstairs...I doubt there is anything else in the middle. Still not sure I agree with you on leaving those books here at the house, but if upper management asks me why, I'm telling them I trusted a Warlock's judgement."

Exiting the house, he gave the impatient cleanup crew the go ahead to do whatever it was they were supposed to do. "What did that Ley Line spell do? Turn you into some type of battery? I mean, I felt the surge and you did have a funny look on your face when you everything was over with."

Getting into the car, he looked up the hospital and turned on the GPS. It was a little ways deeper into the city, close to downtown. It was the only hospital that was close enough to all three crime scenes so it made sense all the bodies were taken there. At least until the funeral home comes to collect them and that could be any moment, depending on religious beliefs and other factors. Hopefully, still being part of an investigation, the bodies were staying put.

The drive was minimal and most traffic had died down by the time they were on the road. A few twists and turns, a few stop lights, and they were there, pulling into the parking lot, the sun moving behind the horizon not to be seen until the next day.

"This may be a little tricky. You're not exactly dressed as anybody official so convincing the right people to let us through might prove...annoying." He looked over at her as they made their way into the main entrance of the hospital. "Might want to start having a little forethought in your clothing if you plan to stay my partner. I'm not saying FBI business suit, but something a little less...," he pointed at her,"...that."

The automatic doors opened and Corinth went to the information desk and greeted a nice old woman. He showed her his fake police badge and asked her for directions to the morgue.

"Take the elevator over there and go down to basement 2, then follow the signs." Corinth smiled and thanked her.

"See how easy that was? Regular people rarely question a badge as long as you have the confidence and the look to back it up." He pushed the button to the elevator and the doors opened up for them. "After you," he said, gesturing her inside. Once in, Corinth pressed the button marked B2 and down they went.

The basement level of the hospital was very stereotypical in it's look. The kind of long, white, cinderblock hallways one would normally see in a horror movie. The temperature was colder than the rest of the hospital, partly for being so far underground and partly for having large refrigerating units to keep the bodies cold. Leading the way, Corinth walked with the swagger of a seasoned investigator, but maybe not so much a detective.

Pushing through a pair of swinging doors, the duo were now standing in the morgue with no less than five naked dead bodies on gurneys and one very surprised, and soon to be angry, coroner.

"John Doe number 445 has a deep laceration to his...what is the meaning of this? You are not supposed to be down here," said the coroner as he pulled off his bloody gloves and turned off his microphone. "What is the meaning of this?"

Corinth put his hands up. "Easy there. Where detectives from the San Fran PD and we need to have a look at the bodies."

"Again," questioned the coroner. "Your people were just here yesterday and the day before that. How many times do you need to look at them?"

"This is the last time. I have a special consultant with me and she needs to look them over."

The coroners eyes squinted, "what kind of consultant?"

Sighing, Corinth moved to the coroner and placed his arm over his shoulders, turning him around and away from Lumina. "Look, I'm not supposed to say anything, but she's a," he whispered low so only the coroner could hear, "a psychic." Corinth made a face and rolled his eyes. "The department is looking into some of that new agey stuff and I got stuck with her. Her names Lumina for Christs sake. Give me twenty minutes and we'll be out of your hair, promise."

The coroner looked over his shoulder at Lumina and then shook off Corinth's arm. "I'll need to see the warrant."

"The warrant's up with your Dean of Medicine, alright? We've already talked to her before we got here. Now, we can either go back to her office and listen to her spill it, or you can give me the damn twenty minutes I've been asking for. Let's make this easy, okay?" Corinth was losing his patience, but he knew the coroner wouldn't want to go see his boss just to get chewed out over a lousy twenty minutes.

"Alright, alright. Twenty minutes. I got to go make a few calls anyway."

"We'll be done by the time you get back, promise," Corinth shot back with a smile. When he looked back over to Lumina, the smile was gone and in a serious no shit voice, he sternly said, "You got twenty minutes, Hawkins."