Then said Saul unto his servants , Seek me a woman who hath a familiar spirit , that I may go to her , and inquire of her . And his servants said to him , Behold , there is a woman that hath a familiar spirit at En-dor .
~ 1 Samuel 28:7
“ She ’ s a beauty , all right ,” Old Gus agreed with Will Cotter as they wheeled the latest Jane Doe to the slab in Room 111-B . “ No sir , you don ’ t get many like her comin ’ in here with tags on their toes .”
Despite the cool 45 degree temperature of the room the old orderly ' s dark skin glistened with sweat . Following a late medical examination and because his associates had decided to call it a night , Dr . Roland had dispensed with protocol and asked Gus to transport the cadaver from the examination room to a numbered slab down the hall . The old man had become a hybrid regarding his official responsibilities and was such a fixture at night on the first floor that almost any job that required either pushing a mop or a gurney naturally fell to him . He had passed Will making his rounds , and the younger man felt like some conversation .
In the three months since Will had started as the night guard , he never saw a cadaver roll past him on a gurney headed for the Colson County Hospital Morgue that he felt much like looking at , let alone one he wanted to study up close . At least not until the night ' s latest arrival .
But then Will had not known many living women who held much interest for him . It was hard to get enthusiastic over someone whose face dropped the moment she saw the car he drove . Seen in perspective , the graveyard shift was not much of a step down from his social life .
She ’ s so young ,” Will said , kneeling to see her face at eye level . “ No more than in her early twenties . This one couldn ’ t ’ ve been a ‘ natural ’. You got any idea what did it ?” As he spoke he stroked the dead girl ’ s soft black hair , and Gus glared at him .
“ Looks to me like we got us more than one kind of ‘ stiff ’ in this room ,” Gus said , rubbing the sweat from his shiny bald pate , and the old man ’ s remark made Will pull his hand back in embarrassment . His eyes dropped to the floor and the old attendant laughed . Gus lifted the girl ’ s foot and read the tag attached to her big toe . “ Well , let ' s have a look . ‘ Jane Doe ’. ID number : 1863D . Yeah , that sure helps a whole lot .”
He pulled aside the white sheet that covered the girl ’ s slender nude body while Will watched . Gus studied the girl ’ s remains briefly , returned the sheet to just below her neck and stepped back . Over twenty-five years in the bowels of the Colson County City Hospital had taught the old man a thing or two about the variety of methods the morgue ’ s residents had when it came to dying .
“ Coulda been a swinger . Don ’ t see no signs of a struggle to call this a homicide , no bruises or such . Hair ain ’ t even mussed . But look at these rope burns around her throat .” He pointed to the thick purple smear just below her chin . “ She didn ’ t get those burns from wearin ’ her pearl necklace too tight . But murder by stranglin ’ s usually messier than this , ' count of the strugglin ’ goes on . Hell , they sometimes even find traces of the killer ’ s skin under a victim ’ s fingernails . But this little girl ’ s just as neat as a pin . Yeah , hangin ’ s what coulda done it . She sure did leave a fine lookin ’ corpse , though .”
For a moment Gus seemed to drift , then he suddenly became all business . “ Anyways , I don ’ t have no time for this mess . You grab her legs while I get this end .”
The old man pulled out the wall drawer numbered 73 and they placed the girl ’ s body on the slab . Her arm dangled over the side , and Will stared at it , hesitating before reaching for it . He held the hand a moment , then gently lifted it and placed the arm at her side . The coldness seemed all wrong , like it didn ’ t belong to the delicate hand he had touched .
“ She looks like she ’ s sleeping ,” Will said . “ Hard to believe she ’ d want to kill herself , a beautiful girl like her .”
Gus snorted bitterly . “ Yeah , but sometimes these Janes get themselves a sweet-tooth habit that gives them a little help checkin ’ in here . Time or money runs out on them . I seen enough young girls on slabs in this room got veins in their arms you could route Amtrak along .”
He turned the girl ’ s wrists toward him and studied the veins threading up from them . “ But not these arms , I s ’ pose . Don ’ t see no signs she did any joy poppin ’ in these arteries . Though sometimes …” He again lifted the sheet from her foot and studied the thin veins spidering from her ankles . “ No , she didn ’ t take no side trips neither . Skin ’ s clean as vanilla . Can ’ t read this one ’ s story on skin this clean , ' cept maybe for them rope burns . But I guarantee tomorrow there ’ ll be some doctors readin ’ her story on this skin .” “ Must be some story ,” Will said . “ Yeah , well you can put the rest of the pieces together yourself , William . I got a few other rooms need tendin ’ to , and I believe you got a TV monitor panel down the hall with your name on it . ' Sides , Dr . Roland don ’ t like no one in here that don ’ t have to be .” He pushed the slab back into the freezer cabinet in the wall .
Slab 73 , Will thought as Gus locked the door behind them . An easy enough number to remember ...
*** From his station in Corridor A , Will Cotter watched monitor 6 showing the morgue as the camera ' s electronic eye panned from right to left and back . Although ten monitors glowed in the dark corner of the hallway where he sat , Will watched only one . The gurney remained near cabinet 73 where Gus had left it . An examination table was in the center of the room , a plastic opaque shroud neatly folded upon it .
For three months he watched how the hospital staff had always strapped a fake IV to an expired patient ’ s wrist whenever they wheeled a gurney from the hospital area to the morgue . This created the illusion that every patient they moved was alive , even if he were not kicking . The hospital brass chose not to upset the other patients with the reminder that not all their guests checked out through the main entrance . Will knew the administrators covered their bases as well as they covered their asses . The morgue had two doors , one leading in from the Pathology Department , and one that opened