You Belong to Me Read Online Free PDF

conference.’
    ‘No,’ Lucy admitted. ‘It was a forensic pathology symposium.’
    ‘Why lie?’ he asked, more curious than annoyed.
    ‘Some people can’t deal with what I do. It’s easier this way.’
    ‘I guess I can understand that,’ he said with a comforting smile. ‘What happened here?’
    Gwyn looked around Lucy, straining to see the scene. ‘The neighbors said it was Mr Pugh. But you’re here, suited up, and not upset. So it can’t be.’
    ‘I thought it was, but it’s not. We don’t know who it is.’
    Gwyn looked up at her, dark eyes troubled. ‘But you’re sure it’s not Mr P?’ she asked, so honestly concerned that Lucy couldn’t stay annoyed.
    ‘I’m very sure. Look, guys, I have to get to work. I’ll catch you later?’
    ‘Tonight,’ Gwyn said, giving her a pointed nod. ‘Everyone’s missed you.’
    And she’d missed them. Lucy had never been away so long before, and every night she’d wondered what the gang was up to. ‘I’ll try. I may be backed up at work.’
    ‘Which we need to let her get back to,’ Royce said to Gwyn. ‘Come on. You came, you saw, so you can go back to sleep now.’ He gave Lucy a warm smile and her shoulder a squeeze. ‘If you need anything, let us know. I’m glad it wasn’t your friend.’
    ‘Thanks.’ She watched them go, Gwyn small and doll-like at Royce’s side. He’d put his arm around Gwyn, shielding her from the unpleasant crime scene and Lucy felt a tiny pang of loneliness. Gwyn always thought the next guy might be the one, but up until now it had never worked out and they were still single girls together. But this time, Lucy thought Gwyn could be right. Things would change. And I’ll be alone again .
    Which I will worry about later. Get to work.
    When she reached the body, Lucy put her field kit on the ground next to the gurney that Alan had already prepared with a body bag. She looked up at Alan who stood grim-faced, staring at the body. ‘You okay?’ she asked.
    Alan was a little green. ‘Somebody did a real number on him, didn’t they?’
    ‘Indeed,’ Lucy said, feeling a tug of guilt. Alan had been with them for only a few months, and he’d never seen a corpse this mutilated. ‘I should have prepared you.’
    ‘It’s okay. The cops said that you thought it was your friend. I’m glad it’s not.’
    ‘Me too,’ she murmured. Pulling on gloves, she motioned Alan and Ruby to follow. ‘He’s past rigor, so he’ll be limp. Try to keep his hands in his pockets.’
    ‘Why?’ Alan asked.
    ‘His face is messed up, honey,’ Ruby said. ‘Chances are his hands are too.’
    ‘Oh.’ Alan swallowed. ‘Okay.’
    Lucy lightly touched the victim’s head, studying the dried blood with a frown.
    ‘What?’ Fitzpatrick asked.
    Lucy looked up. He and Mazzetti stood a few feet away. ‘The texture of the dried blood is wrong somehow. But I can tell you that his head has been shaved.’
    Stevie leaned close to see. She was a petite brunette, at thirty-four she was a year younger than Lucy, but had always seemed much older. ‘Are you okay?’ Stevie murmured over the dead man. ‘I heard you had a shock. We could call another pathologist.’
    ‘No. I’m fine.’ Lucy managed a smile. She respected Stevie a lot, even though the woman’s side-gig creeped her out. Grief counseling. The thought made her want to shudder. All that focus on death. When someone was dead, they were dead. I should know . Talking about it week after week was futile and just plain strange. ‘But thanks.’
    Stevie smiled back, then straightened, back to business. ‘Does he have any ID?’
    Lucy patted the victim’s coat pockets lightly then grimaced when her fingers met with no resistance where there should have been bone. ‘No wallet. No fingers either.’
    ‘At all?’ Fitzpatrick asked.
    ‘Left hand, they’re gone at the second knuckle. Right hand, the same. Except . . .’ She touched a single finger through the coat. ‘He still has his ring