Ghost Medicine Read Online Free

Carolyn pull up in the van. “I have to go meet the ME.”
    Not needing a response, Ella wentto greet Dr. Carolyn Roanhorse. Her friend had never looked better. Losing sixty pounds over the past two years had changed her inside and out. These days, their ME turned heads wherever she went.
    Carolyn worked exclusively on the Navajo Nation, though officially she was an employee of the Office of the Medical Investigator based in Albuquerque. Unfortunately, her job as ME had made Carolyn almostan outcast on the Rez. Traditionalist Navajos believed that her work with the bodies of the dead meant she was contaminated with their essence. Modernists avoided her, too, but with them it wasn’t out of fear. It was a culturally enhanced, natural aversion to someone who spent their day working on corpses.
    Despite the odds against it, Ella and Carolyn had hit it off from the first day they’dmet. Never one to run with the pack or bow to public opinion, Ella had understood Carolyn in a way few ever could have. Over the years their friendship had grown even stronger.
    “You made good time,” Ella said, and smiled. “Hot date tonight? That’s your new blouse, and you did your nails, too. Let me guess. You’re meeting Dr. Sheldon for dinner?”
    “No, that didn’t work out. He was too much inlove with himself.”
    “So who are you seeing? Anyone I know?”
    “Maybe,” Carolyn muttered, not looking directly at her.
    “You’re being awfully cryptic.” Ella was trying to maintain the small talk they always used to take the edge off at crime scenes. It was a survival skill they’d all learned to help them cope with the brutality they often faced. Yet today for some reason Carolyn wasn’t in a talkativemood and Ella was running out of things to say. After a moment she gave up. “I guess I better let you get started. The body’s been mutilated in a way you’ll need to check more closely. We’ve seen stuff like this before.”
    Carolyn nodded somberly, then untied the colorful scarf she’d been wearing and placed it into her pocket. As Ella started to move away, Carolyn touched her forearm gently. “Yousure about the ID?” she asked.
    Ella nodded.
    “All right, then. I’ll give this top priority.”
    A few minutes later, digital recorder on, Carolyn began recording her findings. With more light and an open driver’s door, Ella was able to look over Carolyn’s shoulder and verify that there were no objects under the seats except for a candy wrapper.
    The floorboards showed evidence of heavy rain splatterthat had since dried. The absence of any marks on the now dusty interior, except for the scuff mark left when Andrew had leaned inside, suggested that nothing else had been disturbed recently. Ella made a mental note to ask the locals about the timing of the rain itself. A review of Doppler radar images would also help them establish the time line—at least of the rain.
    Carolyn’s voice was clinicaland her comments precise as she examined the body. Ella moved away. Normally she liked listening in on Carolyn’s observations as she made them, but the identity of the victim changed things. She decided she’d rather face the news all at once than piecemeal.
    Ella was busy searching the ground when Carolyn finally called her over.
    “What do you have for me?” Ella said.
    “Today’s Thursday, so I’dsay he died about forty-eight hours ago. I’d place the TOD Tuesday, between noon and four, judging from the condition of his skin, his eyes, and a few other indicators,” she said. “The finger joints were removed with something like bolt cutters or metal snips, but after his death. No sign of torture. The only thing I found in the victim’s clothing was this.” She held up a paper bag and Ella lookedinside. There was an inexpensive ballpoint pen, a tube of mostly melted lip balm, and a pack of mint chewing gum with two remaining sticks.
    “No wallet, handgun, extra clip, or cell phone?” Ella asked. “He always