Waking from hibernation
驚蟄 [14] / [20]
"Hello," a friendly voice rang out,
"You must be Alexander, and this is Cynthia, correct?"
The man was short and slender, with a round, jovial face and mouse-like features.
"I'm Doctor Michael Burburry, the head medical examiner here."
He shook hands with both of them. Alexander, who phoned ahead to announce their coming and why, spoke up first.
"Thank you for letting us drop by."
"We really appreciate it,"
put in Cynthia.
"Where is the body?"
Dr. Burburry laughed,
"Not a problem at all, not at all. As you can see, right now we're pretty dead."
He reared with a sudden barrage of laughter, and, out of politeness, Alexander and Cynthia both chuckled. Seeing that his joke was having less than the desired effect, he got down to business, yet still with the jovial air of a man who enjoys his work.
"He's just this way,"
he said, waving them ahead toward a table in the back of the room.
A body laid atop it covered in a white sheet. Even from ten paces away, in such a clean, sanitized room, the stench was almost overwhelming. Cynthia and Alexander both held their breath as they approached and the doctor pulled down the sheet. The body was obviously in an advanced state of decay. It was bloated, blackened, and, even without identifying features removed, it would've been difficult to make a positive ID. Alexander looked down at the upper right arm. Beneath what was clearly a tattoo of a rose were written the words Nonna Lucia di Bari, with the date 12*15*33.
There wasn't any viable way to identify the body except for the tattoo, which they already knew existed from the photo.
"How much did John work on this investigation?"
Alexander asked.
"Only got DNA. And not very much of anything else. He collected materials that mesh with what we've got from other units and here. It seems like there's not that much more here that will help us,"
Cynthia looked closely at the body.
"Twelve, fifteen, thirty-three . . . What do you suppose those numbers mean?"
She looked at Alexander's face. He frowned, deep in thought.
"I have no clue. Maybe a date. I am not sure."
"Nonna Lucia di Bari. Hm, it seems Italian."
"Lucia should be a name, though."
