The Night Stalker

The Night Stalker Read Free

Book: The Night Stalker Read Free
Author: Chris Carter
Tags: thriller, Mystery
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Garcia ran a hand over his face. ‘No way.’
    Doctor Hove looked away, but not fast enough to hide the tears that were forming in her eyes.
    Hunter’s gaze stayed on her for a couple of seconds before returning to what was left of the room. His throat went dry, and a choking sadness surrounded his heart. He’d known Doctor Jonathan Winston for over fifteen years. He’d been the Los Angeles Chief Medical Examiner for as long as Hunter could remember. He was a workaholic and brilliant at his job. He always tried his best to conduct most of the autopsies on murder victims whose death circumstances had been deemed out of the ordinary. But most of all, to Hunter, Doctor Winston was like family. The best of friends. Someone on whom he’d counted on numerous times. Someone who he respected and admired like few others. Someone he’d sincerely miss.
    ‘Two people were present.’ Doctor Hove’s voice faltered for an instant. ‘Doctor Winston and Sean Hannay, a 21-year-old forensic assistant.’
    Hunter closed his eyes. There was nothing he could say.
    ‘I called as soon as I found out,’ Doctor Hove said.
    Garcia’s expression was one of pure shock. He’d seen many dead bodies in his career, several of them grotesquely disfigured by a sadistic killer. But he’d never personally known any of the victims. And despite meeting Doctor Winston for the first time only three years ago, they’d quickly become friends.
    ‘How about the kid?’ Hunter finally asked. And for the first time, Garcia heard Hunter’s voice quiver.
    Doctor Hove shook her head. ‘I’m sorry. Sean Hannay was finishing his third year of pathology at UCLA. His ambition was to become a forensic scientist. I was the one who approved his internship only six months ago.’ Her eyes glistened. ‘He wasn’t even supposed to be in this room. He was just helping out.’ The doctor paused and considered her next words carefully. ‘I asked him to do so. It was supposed to be me assisting Jonathan.’
    Hunter noticed that the doctor’s hands were shaking.
    ‘It was a special circumstances death,’ she continued. ‘Jonathan always asks me to assist on those. And I would’ve, but I got held up in my meeting and asked Sean to take over for me as a favor.’ Her eyes filled with horror. ‘He wasn’t the one who was supposed to have died here today – I was.’

 
Five
     
    Hunter understood what was going through Doctor Hove’s mind. In the immediate aftermath of the blast, her self-preservation instinct had kicked in and she had felt relief. She’d had a lucky escape. But now reason and guilt were settling in and her mind was punishing her in the worst possible way. If my meeting hadn’t run late, Sean Hannay would still be alive.
    ‘None of this is your fault, Doc,’ Hunter tried to reassure her, but he knew that words would have little effect. Before accepting anything, they all needed to understand what had happened in that room.
    Hunter took a step up to the autopsy room door as his mind tried to process the scene in front of him. Right now, nothing was making sense. Suddenly, something caught his eye and he squinted for a second before turning to face Doctor Hove.
    ‘Are autopsies ever videotaped?’ he asked, pointing to something on the floor that resembled a camera tripod leg.
    Doctor Hove shook her head. ‘Very rarely, and the request has to be approved either by me or . . .’ her eyes moved from Hunter to the inside of the room, ‘. . . the chief medical examiner.’
    ‘Doctor Winston himself.’
    A single, hesitant nod from Doctor Hove.
    ‘Do you think he might’ve chosen to record this autopsy?’
    Doctor Hove considered it for a moment and her face flared with hope. ‘There’s a chance. If he considered the case intriguing enough.’
    ‘Well, even if he did,’ Garcia cut in, ‘how would that help us? The camera was certainly blown to shit like most of the room. Just look at it.’
    ‘Not necessarily,’ the doctor said

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