Page 24 (1/2)

1

Blue lights flashed off the undersides of leaves Off the tall brick buildings Off the stoic faces of New York’s finest The cops forht circle around a tarp-covered body next to a Duaped open like the mouth of a shell-shocked witness

After three ed blood, the aroed me toward the crime scene The humans around ritty city But they couldn’t detect the coppery scent that ue

Delicious Seductive Forbidden

Bright yellow police tape cordoned off the entrance to the park Spectators gathered in a tight clutch on the sidewalk along Central Park West Their edy masks

I shouldn’t have paid any attention I shouldn’t have stopped And I definitely shouldn’t have pushed my way to the front of the crowd

But the blood called to me

A male in a black Windbreaker with the word CORONER on the back lifted the tarp His expression didn’t change as he surveyed the carnage He looked up to address the detective and unifor to hear his verdict “Anyone located the dick?”

A young patrolman lurched his head over the side of the steel box and vomited

“Hey, rookie, you conta to puke about”

The white-faced recruit wiped his loved hand “Found it”

“What’s that he’s got there?” The question ca next to me

All around people started voicing guesses

“Maybe it’s a finger”

“A toe?”

“That has to be an ear”

I bitto be so mad he missed this If he’d been there withlike, “Sabina, dicks in Du matter” Then he’d move closer for a better look

But Giguhl wasn’t there He aiting for o—

The coroner knelt next to the body and frowned “That’s odd”

I halted my exit, curious despite my best intentions

“Dick-ectomies usually are,” the detective replied

The coroner ignored the joke and frowned “Considering the extent of the wounds, there should be a lot more blood”

“You think he was killed somewhere else and dumped here?” the rookie asked

“Negative” The detective shook his head “There are signs of struggle over there” He pointed to the tree line, where stubs of broken branches littered the ground

“There’s blood spatter over there, too,” the coroner said, rising “Just not enough for an arterial wound like this” He sighed and put his hands on his hips He scanned the area, as if searching for the answer—or the perp—ae to shy away To pull uilt on my face But then I remembered that, while I shouldn’t be there, I wasn’t responsible for the human’s death