Diamond Dust

Sitting uncomfortably in the back of the police car, Cherie’s thoughts tumbled over and over in her mind, sifting through all of the possibilities that could have led her to this point. The more she concentrated, the more she became convinced that is was all just a terrible misunderstanding. “Didn’t Jack just send his tan suit to the cleaners? He had it on the day before yesterday so why would he still have had it on last night? Why would Jack be outside Casini’s Deli that late at night? He always took a taxi home and therefore could not have been found a block from home behind the Deli . . . and most importantly, Jack was six feet, four inches tall and the officer said that this man was about six foot even.” Thus she became more and more convinced that is would all be over soon and her Jack would be holding her close once more before the day was over . . . just a mistake; that’s all this was - just a mistake! The police car pulled up to the curb in front of the Boston City Morgue. Officer Montgomery silently turned off the car, leaving its inhabitants alone lost their individual thoughts. After a moment, he cleared his throat again - breaking the silence - and inquired, “Well - are you ready?” Cherie, feeling more and more confident with each passing moment said, “Yes, let’s go and be done with this once and for all!” She sat forward in her seat, awaiting the officer’s opening of the door and steadily pushed herself from the car and began to stride towards the door, not hesitating or looking back to see if the two men were following her. As the threesome entered the building before them, Officer Montgomery took the lead and led them past the stern-faced, elderly receptionist who glared at them with a withering, disapproving look as they passed and down a narrow, dark hallway barely lit with cloudy florescent tubing. After working their way through a maze of similarly dimly-lit hallways, Officer Montgomery finally came to a stop before a solid steel door marked with the label ‘A-3.’ Before entering, the officer turned and stated, ”This is not a typical viewing room as the body just came in. It is an Autopsy Examination Room so it will have a very sterile, medical look to it. Don’t worry, however; nothing has been done to the body yet so it will look the same as when it was found. No procedures have begun to determine the cause of death so please do not be afraid to look closely for identification purposes.” He paused a moment to let his words sink in and then asked again, “So are you sure you are ready?” Cherie took a deep breath, straightened her shoulders, and nodded in assent. Officer Montgomery entered a code on the keypad to the left of the door; a click was heard; and he then proceeded to push the door open. It swung heavily to the side allowing entrance to a stark, brilliantly-white room, a stark contrast to the poorly lit path leading to it, with a table placed in its center. Upon this table, a draped figured lay; ominous in its unearthly stillness; a silent attendant, a slender, tall man with a hunch beginning in his back dressed also in that horribly sterile white hovering off to the far side of it. In spite of her building confidence on the side of error in the car, Cherie was unable to stop a violent shiver from racing down her spine. She visibly shook it off as Officer Montgomery led her and Bryan to a spot to the right of the table. There, he nodded to the waiting attendant who moved seemingly in slow-motion towards the table. “Come on,” Cherie thought impatiently to herself, “Come on! Move it, why don’t you?? This is taking too long; it is hard enough - hurry up, you feeble-minded fool!” she pleaded silently within her own mind. It seemed an eternity before the attendant made it the few feet necessary to reach the other side of the table. Finally, the moment was upon them - he reached for the sheet where it covered the head and slowly pulled it aside, revealing the face of the unfortunate victim from the unknown events of the night before. Disbelief spread across Cherie’s face as she crumpled to the floor. “It can’t be; it can’t BE,” she mumbled over and over as her eyes took in the sight before her. “Jack - my darling Jack . . .,”she began as she began to pull herself up to him on the side of the table. Swiftly, Bryan's strong arms reached down and pulled her away as the officer moved between her and the body of her beloved. Confused, Cherie looked back and forth between them, begging, ”I just need to hold him one more time . . . please let me touch him one more time . . .” Bryan pulled her to his rugged chest, “Shhhhhh - its o.k.” He looked to Officer Montgomery for support. “I’m so sorry but you cannot touch him, my dear, as the examination for the cause of death has not yet taken place and his body is still considered evidence. To do so would make you guilty of tampering with the only real evidence we have in this case and that simply cannot be allowed if we hope to unravel what really happened last night . . .” Numbly she asked, “When will the body be released to me for burial? How long will this examination take?” “Unfortunately, do to the preliminary toxicology reports we have run, it seems as if a highly infectious toxin was used to institute the beginnings of death and the body will have to be cremated immediately after the investigation is concluded.” “No - he deserves a decent farewell with his family and friends . . .“ Panicked, she turned to Bryan and pleaded, ”Bryan, do something!” “I - I can’t . . . it sounds like it is a safety issue and you cannot argue with that. Jack always said he wanted to be cremated anyways so it really is not that bad,” Bryan replied with tears in his dark brown eyes. “Try to understand, Miss Noble; I know this is difficult and I wish there was something I could do but . . .,” Officer Montgomery let his voice trail off and an uncomfortable silence followed, punctured only by the broken sobs emitted by Cherie. Officer Montgomery finally cleared his throat and slowly began to guide Cherie and Bryan towards the door. Cherie stopped dead in her tracks and whispered, “So this is it? I won’t ever get to see his face again; or touch him one last time?” “I’m sorry, Ma’am, but you need to say your goodbye now . . .” Officer Montgomery responded softly. At this, Cherie took one step back towards Jack’s body before she broke down completely; sobbing as her knees buckled to the floor. Bryan looked over her head at Officer Montgomery’s face and with an anguished sigh, bent his stout, five-foot, eight frame over and scooped her up into his arms. He then made his way through the door towards the squad car waiting to take them home. Shaking his head sadly, and with a final glance at the body before him, Officer Montgomery slowly exited the room to begin the tedious process of filing his report. * * * * * * * * * * * * As the attendant found himself once again alone in the autopsy examination room, he moved slowly back over to the body. As he reached for the sheet once more, Jack suddenly sat up, stretched out his arms, and said, “Good job, buddy! Couldn’t have gone better, do you think?” “What I think,” replied Henry, his gaze drifting towards the door through which Cherie has just past, “is that there must have been some other, less painful way to handle this!” Jack grimaced sarcastically as he eased himself off of the examination table, straightening his tan, pinstriped suit; “No - there is no other way; it had to be done this way - it had to be!” Jack moved over towards the somber-faced attendant, threw his arm over his shoulder, and said, “Come on, Henry . . . Cheer up! Now it’s time for us to go, too. The hard part is over and the transfer is ready; it should be here any moment. We need to get out of here before anyone else comes along and catches on . . .”