13 Degrees of Separation (52 page)

The
river deaths were out though, he was fairly certain he wouldn't get a lot
there, and besides, some of the bodies had been cremated. Dead end. But he
could look elsewhere. First he had to do some research, in this case, on scene
research.

Chapter 5

He went
to one scene where a 1 year old neolion had allegedly fallen off a three story
building and died, crushing his skull and snapping his neck. He looked up to
the building. “It doesn't add up.” He climbed to the roof, it was hard to get
to the lowest railing of the fire escape, hard for him, a full grown Neo tiger.
He made a note of that, if he had such a hard time how could a cub who could
barely walk have done such a feat? Once on the roof he checked, sure enough the
doors were chained from inside, just as he had suspected. Only an adult could
get up there, and it was difficult, he ruled.

Grimly
he realized his hunch was paying out. He hoped he was wrong, but he wasn't
going to bet on it. But to find out he had to be sure, which meant bending and
breaking a few rules and laws.

...*...*...*...*...

He
found the Neo cemetery and exhumed the tiny body in the night. He brought the
body to the coroner's office, which doubled as a mortuary next to the police
headquarters. The coroner came in and flipped light on to find Nohar standing
there in the corner with the tarp wrapped body on the exam table in the center
of the room. “What the hell? What are you doing in here? I'm calling security!”
the coroner said, backing away.

“Take a
look human,” Nohar growled, good eye sparkling in low light. He pointed to the
tarp. “Prove me wrong and I'll be on my way.”

The
Coroner called security. The guard showed up, as did a detective. The detective
is curious, but waves hand in front of his face. “The body wasn't properly
interred. But let's see what he's talking about Doctor,” the sergeant said,
pointing to the tarp.

“Oh
what the hell...” the coroner put blue latex gloves on and hesitantly pulled
tarp off. The humans backed away. “What the hell? What did you do to this kit?”
The coroner demanded. Then he saw the toe tag. “What the hell” he read it.
“This says this happened six months ago?”

“Almost
seven. Take a look doctor.”

“I
don't have to, I remember. The kit fell and snapped his neck. Accidental
death,” the coroner said with as much dignity as he could muster.

“I said
take a look!” Nohar roared. The humans cringed. Nohar pointed to the body.
“That is a one year old kit. I went to the crime scene. There was no way for
that child to get to the roofs of either building, no way. The doors are
locked, the fire escape is beyond his reach even if he leapt. It was damn near
beyond mine and I'm a full adult!” he snarled.

The
coroner stared, eyes wide. Nohar could smell urine, human urine. The coroner
looked at the body, head turning slowly.

“The
wounds do not match the crime scene. And like a good little human you swept it
under the carpet because it was a Neo,” Nohar snarled just as Magnum came in.
“Come in to take a look?” he demanded. Magnum nodded.

“Take a
good look,” Nohar snarled. He picked up a scalpel and held out to the doctor.
“Take the skin of his head off. You'll understand then,” he growled.

“Are
you serious?” the detective asked. Nohar nodded.

“Bobby,
tell him to do it,” Magnum said quietly. “He's on to something here,” he said
quietly.

The
detective looked over his shoulder to the PI. “You don't call the shots here,”
he said diffidently.

“I...”
the coroner blinked.

“On my
honor as a sergeant of the Federation Army rangers, 501
^st
battalion,
doctor, I will not harm you. I need your help. Please,” Nohar urged, trying to
keep his fur down and ears relaxed. It was difficult with the guard holding a
revolver in one hand, not quite pointing it at him. “Doctor,” he said. “I know
you don't care for Neo's, but we have a killer on the loose.”

“What
makes you think this is victim one?” Magnum asked.

“I'm
not sure. There may be more. Probably are more actually,” Nohar sighed as the
coroner slowly moved forward, arms crossed, still looking at the body. It was a
mess, decomposition hadn't been kind to the body. “But we've got to start
somewhere, and I'm fairly sure this has been overlooked.”

“Do it
doctor,” the detective said, nodding. The coroner looked at the detective. “If
he's right this could add more intel to the case.”

“Right,”
slowly the coroner took the scalpel from the Neotiger. “You are a sleeper?” he
asked.

“Yes.”

“Come
on Tigger, let me get you a coffee and a donut,” Magnum said. “You don't want
to see this,” he said.

“I've
seen worse,” Nohar rumbled, flicking clay and bits of other dirt from his coat.
He, like all other Neotigers hated being called Tigger. He was fairly certain
the human knew that, and had called him that stupid nickname on purpose to
tweak him. He'd been in the military long enough to get used to crap like that.
If you couldn't take a joke you shouldn't have joined.

“What
am I looking for?” the coroner asked, putting a mask on.

“Peel
the skull. Take a good look at the bone. You'll understand,” Nohar said.

“You've
seen this before?” the detective asked.

“Not in
a long time. Centuries,” Nohar said and closed his good eye briefly in pain.

“Can
you skip to the end and tell me?” the detective asked.

Nohar
flicked his ears but shook his head. “Just watch,” he said. The coroner quickly
peeled the skin back, once he had gotten in under it the decomp made it much
easier. The skin had already started to separate from the tissue. He peeled it
back as the humans got masks of their own. The guard nodded to the detective.
Nohar looked at the detective, he'd missed some signal. The guard however
wasn't doing anything rash, he'd holstered his pistol and turned. He left the
room.

Nohar
had a brief flashback of various butchery he'd seen in combat before he blocked
it out of his mind. He needed to focus, focus like he never had before.

The
coroner looked up briefly as the door closed and then went back to work.  After
15 minutes he stopped. “I see evidence of bone fracture. It's consistent with a
fall.”

“From
both sides doctor?” Nohar demanded.

“From...”
the coroner looked at the skull again and then rolled it. He winced, seeing how
it had been crushed. “I stand corrected. You were correct, this is a homicide.”

“It's...
I don't get it,” the detective said craning his neck to look over the coroner's
shoulder. “What am I missing doctor?”

The
doctor turned to present the skull to the two humans and tiger. He moved a spot
light so they could see the skull had been crushed. “See, when a body falls,
when it impacts you get the damage on the one side. You'll get a star pattern
from the point of impact radiating outward. The higher the fall the more the
impact damage. But this,” he pointed to a pair of holes and then the damage on
both sides of the skull. “This is as if the head had been put into a vice. A
vice strong enough to crush the body. The child may have broken his neck in the
struggle.”

“So,
you're saying he could have gotten his head stuck and...” the detective paused
as both Magnum and the coroner shook their heads vehemently no. “What?”

“A predator
did this,” Nohar said quietly. All eyes turned to him. “A Neo most likely.
It's... it was common in the wild before we were uplifted.”

“You're
saying a Neo did this?” the detective waved to the pitiful remains on the
table. “Why?”

“In the
wild, when a male took over a pack or pride they would kill the young in order
to eliminate future competition and in order to drive the females into heat
quicker. It wasn't nice, but when you measure control of a pack or pride in a
few years...”

“You've
seen this?” Magnum asked, nodding his chin to the body.

Nohar
looked at the body, ears flat. “Saw? Yes. I nearly was a victim when I was a
cub,” he said, good eye lost in memory. “A Neotiger male went after my mother.
She said no, so when she left for work he came to the door. My sister let him
in. He killed her. Crushed her skull and snapped her neck.”

“Crap,”
the coroner said, eyes wide again.

“I
locked myself in my room and called the police. They didn't listen to me,
thought I was a crank until they heard him ripping my door down. Then, only
then, did they send a drone in to investigate. I'd pissed the bed and closet.
He tore it up, looked under the bed and in the closet. He didn't see I'd
climbed out the window onto the ledge.”

“So
they got him?”

Nohar
nodded bitterly, remembering how his mother had come home and been broken
hearted. How she'd snapped at him to come in when the police couldn't cajole
him into coming in. How he'd obeyed and how once inside she'd clung to him and
licked him until he thought his fur would come off. “Yeah,” he said,
remembering how his mother had struggled to get a gun to kill the bastard when
they'd brought him by to identify, and how a neobear and a robot had stopped
her.

“It
fits the profile,” the detective murmured, “A rogue.”

“So you
knew it was Neo all along?” Magnum demanded.

The
detective shrugged. “No, but this does add a new spin on the situation. Just
where were you when this happened?” he demanded of Nohar.

Nohar
looked at him in surprise and then chuffed bitterly. “It never fails,” he
growled. “I help you and I get the damn blame,” he said.

“Answer
the question.”

“Piss
off,” Nohar snarled, good eye opening to glare. He bit off pig before he could
add it. The cop blinked and then his eyes narrowed. Nohar realized he wasn't
going to give up so easily so he gave in. “I was in Hazard on a case for your
information. I'd suggest you call Coltrain but he's so scatterbrained he
wouldn't remember. I came in on the Thursday red eye so check that. They'll
remember me, I wasn't a happy passenger.”

“Why
bother? He's not a local Bobby,” Magnum said as the detective wrote out some
notes.

“I'll
still call,” the detective said with a nod.

“Whatever,”
Nohar breathed. “Doc, if you examine the marks you may get a forensics bite
match. I don't have the tables, maybe someone could help you,” he said,
remembering Epsilon was a long way away from his time.

“Bite
mark tables?”

“Measurements
made to determine what bit someone. Size, species, that sort of thing. It's too
late for DNA.”

“We
don't have that ability,” the coroner said, now looking at the Neo in
fascination.

“Figures,”
Nohar sighed. “It's never easy,” he grumbled.

“All
right, that's enough, out with you,” the detective said waving them to the
door. “Both of you,” he said as Magnum closed a filing cabinet he had been
snooping in. “Go on, and don't think I didn't see that Magnum,” he growled.

“Gee,
just curious,” Magnum said innocently. They passed the guard who nodded to
them.

“Yeah
well, you know what they say about curiosity and the cats,” the detective said
as they exited autopsy. Nohar heard the coroner mutter about the body as he
unsnapped his gloves off.

“No
what?” Magnum asked.

“They
get killed.”

“Well,
that too maybe, but I was going to say they get put in the pokey to keep them
from being curious,” the detective said. “Get. And stay off my case! As if
you'll listen,” he said.

Magnum
just smiled and twitched his mustache. The detective snorted and wagged a
finger at him. “I mean it!”

“Sure,”
Magnum said. “Say, what's that guy's name? The famous reporter? Reeds?
Ricardo?” he asked.

“Richards?”
Nohar asked.

“Shut
it,” the detective sighed. “Just try to stay out of trouble?” he asked. “The
Captain's on my ass about you two and the media as it is. So don't go causing
me more headaches or I will think of something to get you two in the pokey.”

Nohar
looked at the human investigator. “I think he means it,” he said in a false
whisper.

“Shut
up,” the detective laughed. “Go on, get.”

“I
think you owe me a coffee,” Nohar said to Magnum. “With triple cream,” he said.

“Come
on,” Magnum sighed, waving to the door.

...*...*...*...*...

“So now
what?” Magnum asked outside.

“Now
what, what?” Nohar asked.

“You’ve
got more, I can tell. Give,” Magnum said. “Come on its killing you to tell
someone, I can tell.”

Nohar
snorted as they headed for the red air car. “Do you think it's strange that
there have been over 439 deaths this year alone? Just in the past 6 months? I
did some digging, last year, under 200.”