Secrets and Lies

"Allow me to introduce Jane the Sixth," Sally announced with a flourish as she slid out the long stainless steel drawer.

The body was still covered by a white sheet but the short buxom goth didn't hesitate to pull that down to the deceased's waist, revealing everything from there up. Especially her cold pallid skin and the large Y incision that marred her pale naked chest.

"Oh hold on," Sally added as she looked at me. "Should've asked this first, but are you ok with dead people?"

My face was probably a tad paler than before but I nodded, "Thank you Miss Stewart, I'll be fine. This isn't my first time in a morgue."

"It's doctor actually," the quirky pathologist corrected me. "Doctor Stewart. But no seriously just call me Sally. Anyways is there anything in particular you'd like to know about Jane here?"

I looked from her back to the body again then sighed, "I'm sure there's a lot of things the inspector and I would like to know, but for now let's start with a closer look at that scar on her left hand. Next to the fingerprints and DNA that's probably her most identifiable characteristic."

Sally nodded, "You got it detective. If you want to get handsy with the deceased there's latex gloves over there. And I'm here to help if you need anything else."

"And I do mean anything," she added with a smile and a wink.

I glanced at Carter in hopes of getting some sort of guidance from him about the pathologist's behaviour. He was still back near the entrance to the chilled room, leaning against the wall as he watched from the opposite side of the room. Nothing in his expression suggested he was surprised by the way Dr. Stewart was acting though.

That left me feeling like I was going to have to fend for myself with Sally, so I grabbed a couple latex gloves from one of the boxes she'd indicated then took a closer look at the dead woman's hand.

The scar looked several years old to me, and appeared to have been made with a sharp bladed object. There were faint marks indicating she'd had it stitched up at the time, and it seemed to have healed properly. Odds are it wouldn't have had any lasting impact on her use of the hand after she'd recovered.

Carter spoke up as I returned the woman's left hand to lay next to her side, "Back when Harry was a constable he was working a Friday night shift in Whitby. Got called in to an altercation outside one of the bars by the quayside, and found himself trying to break up a fight. One of the participants had a knife, and Harry got the sharp end of that in his left hand. You've seen the pictures in his file, they're identical to that injury there."

"Yes sir," I nodded with a frown. He was right, and seeing the scar in person on Jane Doe only reinforced what I'd already found reviewing all the files and images on my laptop.

I'd noticed something else though that didn't add up. As I peeled off the disposable gloves I looked to Sally and asked, "Is there any reason for Dr. O'Conner or anyone else here to do something with the victim's fingernails? They're different from what I saw in the file photos of her left hand."

The cute goth shook her head, "Nah the boss wouldn't have any need for that. But you should know that fingernails can sometimes appear to grow a bit after death. They're not really growing though, that's just due to the skin receding slightly."

"I'm aware of that," I stated, "That's why I'm asking. Because her fingernails aren't longer, they're shorter. They've been trimmed."

After a glance at her head I added, "I think someone's taken a sample of her hair as well. Her bangs are shorter than they were in the file photo."

That got Carter's attention, and he joined me next to the body to see for himself. "You're right Sharpe. I distinctly recall noting she had long nails when we first found her. And I'd put money on her hair being longer as well."

"Ooh, now this is getting spooky," Sally commented with a wide grin on her face. "You figure someone's sneaking around harvesting fingernails and hair samples from the dead? That sounds positively witchy."

I glanced at the inspector again but he seemed lost in thought at this latest development. So I focused on the goth once more and asked, "Can we see Jane Doe number one please? I'd like to have a look at her tattoo."

Sally nodded, "Sure thing detective. You don't mind coming with me down into the catacombs do you? Janes the First through Fifth are all down there, and it'll take me a good half hour to drag her back up here."

My eyebrows crept up as I looked back at the inspector, "Catacombs?"

He shook his head, "She means the basement. Long term storage, for unclaimed bodies, cold cases, that sort of thing."

"Ah," I nodded. "In that case no, I don't mind."

"Then I'll leave you in Dr. Stewart's capable hands," Carter decided. "I've already seen enough of our six victims, but perhaps fresh eyes on the case might turn up something new."

I hadn't quite bargained on being left alone with the goth pathologist, but it was too late to back out now. So I replied, "Alright sir. I'll come find you when we're done."

He glanced at Sally then bid me good luck, before heading out the way we came. Meanwhile Sally slid Jane's shelf back into the refrigerated storage unit and closed the door, then flashed me another flirty smile.

"C'mon detective," she said as she headed in the opposite direction. "We can take the freight elevator, it'll be faster."

I wasn't sure about that, but the doors were right there at the back of the room. They were operated manually, the cute goth slid them open then we stepped through into a service lift that was big enough to accommodate a couple stretchers at a time. Once I was in she slid the doors closed again, and hit the button marked 'B2'.

As we started to descend she asked, "So. Trillium huh? That's a nice name. Kinda unique, at least around here. Pretty flowers, but you don't often see them here in the UK. They're native to North America."

"Correct," I nodded. "Most people I've met don't even know I'm named after a flower, let alone what they look like."

For a moment I thought she was going to ask if my family came from the Americas or how I came to be named after a foreign flower, but I was spared that part of the conversation as the lift reached our destination. There was no bell or anything, it just stopped moving when the indicator over the panel read 'B2'. Sally slid the doors open then led me out into a small unfinished landing area. The walls and floor were grey cement, lighting was provided by a couple bare light fixtures retrofitted with LED bulbs, and apart from the lift the other four doors were all stainless steel. Three of them were windowless and marked with signs indicating they were storage rooms one, two, and three. The fourth door did have a small window in it, and above it was an emergency exit sign.

"This way Trillium," Sally produced some keys. "What you seek lies behind door number three."

That led to a large refrigerated space, filled with a few dozen bodies. Some were on wide metal shelves, zipped up in sturdy black plastic bags. Others were laid out beneath sheets, on wheeled gurneys. And all of them were tagged with barcoded information cards, either attached directly to the body or to the outside of their bag.

My guide led me to the far side of the room, then stopped at one of the sheet-covered corpses. She checked the tag first, then pulled back the covers to reveal our first victim.

"Behold! Jane the First," Sally announced.

At that point I realized there weren't any glove dispensers down here, and I'd neglected to bring a fresh pair. So I kept my hands behind my back as I leaned in for a closer look at the deceased's left upper arm.

"So what do you think's really going on here anyways?" the cute goth girl asked. "I know Carter thinks it's some kind of supernatural crime. That'd be a first though, right? I mean, I've heard about those spells lately, same as everyone else. The first one lets people change their appearance to whatever they want, and the second one's supposed to be magic birth control. This is something else entirely though, right?"

I glanced at her for a moment as I nodded, "I'm familiar with the spells. And yes, this is something else."

Then I went back to inspecting Jane number one's tattoo, which as near as I could tell was the real deal. Like it wasn't painted on, and it wasn't something she had done recently. Definitely not post-mortem either. It looked properly healed, and I took it to be at least a year old. Which meant there's no way someone gave it to her in the hour or two between when the backpacker vanished and this body was discovered. Yet as near as I could tell it was a perfect match for the one the missing man got some eighteen months earlier in honour of his girlfriend.

When I straightened up again I responded, "As for what's going on here, I really can't say. I think Inspector Carter's right that it's very unusual. Possibly even supernatural. I don't believe it has anything to do with that spell though."

That's when I realized Sally seemed to be studying me, she looked me up and down in the harsh light of the cold white LED bulbs. Then she commented, "You're cute, but you don't blush. Or at least I haven't been able to get a blush out of you yet. I like that. It means you're confident. And you're going to be a real challenge."

That actually caught me off-guard, and my eyebrows crept up. "You're trying to make me blush? Why?"

"For one thing I'm positive it'd make you look even cuter," she grinned. "That and maybe if you let your hair down?"

Then she pouted, "Damn it that usually works. Oh well, I can tell it's going to be loads of fun working with you."

I watched her for another second or two then responded, "Sorry to disappoint. And unfortunately I don't know how long I'll be working here. Right now it's only a temporary assignment."

The quirky goth's pout intensified, "Aww! I thought you were here to replace Detective Armstrong?"

"I suppose I am, but only until we solve this case," I explained. "And speaking of which, I've seen all I wanted here. Can we head back upstairs now? Hopefully Jane number six's DNA results will in by now."

Sally nodded as she pulled the sheet back up overtop of the first victim. Then as the two of us exited the refrigerated storage together she commented, "As far as I'm concerned the DNA's maybe the strangest thing about this case."

"How so?" I asked as I glanced at her in surprise. "According to the files there weren't any matches for the first five victims. DNA, prints, photos, nothing came up at all."

She ushered me into the service lift then shrugged, "I know there weren't any ID matches, but I mean the DNA itself? All five of them came back with Y chromosomes. Like guys, you know?"

"Not that gender has anything to do with that," she added with a scowl. "Like I'm not talking about stupid social media arguments over basic-level biology nonsense. I'm just saying it's unusual to have five apparently cis women with XY chromosomes show up on our examination tables in a two-month span, let alone all of them being part of the same case. Or six maybe, depending on what our latest Jane's DNA test says."

It took me a second or two to respond, "I didn't even think of that. It wasn't in any of the files either. But now you mention it, if the sixth body's DNA does match Harry Armstrong then she'd have to have XY chromosomes."

Sally shrugged again, "Either that or there'd have to be something very interesting going on with Harry's DNA."

"Anyways it wouldn't have been in the files since it's not the sort of thing we normally include," she explained. "I mean unless there was a reason to look at chromosomes like that? Normally when we run DNA it's either to try and match it to someone else, like to try an identify a body, or it's to check for some genetic disease markers if we're trying to confirm a specific cause of death. I just happened to take a closer look at the data since the case is so weird."

That left me with a thoughtful frown as I commented to myself, "That's another strike against this having anything to do with the spell then. Since that definitely changes the user's chromosomes, along with everything else."

"Oh yeah?" the cute goth asked as she gave me another appraising look. The lift had already stopped at our destination but she made no move to open the door yet. Instead she continued looking me over as she asked, "Just how familiar are you with that spell, Trillium? Are we talking first-hand experience?"

That made me hesitate for a moment, then I straightened my back and set my shoulders. I fixed a firm gaze on Sally and in my best indignant tone asked, "Is that what this is about? The probing questions about my name, the comments about female genetics, now you're asking if I've used a spell meant to help people transition? Has all this been some sort of ploy, to get me to out myself as a trans woman? Because if so, then I'd have to say that's incredibly rude and insensitive at best. At worst it might be a breach of workplace privacy and discrimination laws."

"Honestly," I added as I slowly shook my head in disappointment, "I've come to expect this sort of thing back in London. I was led to believe people were nicer here in North Yorkshire."

By the time I was done the goth woman's eyes were wide and her expression had gone through several shifts in quick succession, from surprise to denial before finally settling on guilt. Her cheeks coloured as she seemed to realize all her teasing had finally come back to bite her in the arse.

She actually sputtered over her words in her rush to explain herself, "I'm I'm sorry ok? I didn't mean to offend you! And the thing with the chromosomes, that's, I wasn't even saying it like that! Same with your name, I was just curious because it's a really pretty name, you know? Please believe me, I've got nothing against trans people. I'm queer myself, and I swear I'm no TERF! I can promise you that!"

"Is that so?," I responded as I continued staring at her for another second. "In that case there's just one more thing I have to say to you, Dr. Stewart."

By that point the corners of my lips were twitching so I finally let my expression soften into a smile, "You're right, blushing does make cute girls even cuter. The sputtering helps too."

"Oh. My. Goddess," Sally gasped as her eyes bulged a little wider. "Holy shit you just hoisted me all the way up my own petard! I hope you're not seeing anyone because I think I'm in love."

I rolled my eyes as I slid the lift doors open then set off to find Carter and Dr. O'Conner.

"If you are seeing someone that's ok too," the flustered goth added as she hurried after me. "I'm poly as well as pan, I'm sure we'll all get along just fine!"