Unhinged Read Online Free Page A

going to try to get a set of dental prints. I won’t know how that’ll work out until I apply the mold. The nipples haven’t been found, correct?”
    â€œNo, they weren’t at the crime scene,” Ron said. “What you see is what you get.”
    â€œNot all the time.” Gordo smiled, seemingly amused by the information he was about to offer. I think he’d watched too many episodes of
CSI.
“Mr. Gant here came to me without his penis and scrotum. Like the areolas, I assumed they had been removed and were also missing until I examined Mr. Gant’s mouth and found the genitalia stuffed nearly into his throat.”
    â€œGood God.” Ron revealed uncharacteristic shock.
    â€œTell me about it,” Gordo agreed. “I’ve read about such things, but I never thought I’d come across it. Only in New Orleans, huh? I’m giving you my opinion, but you can bank on the fact that the accelerant used to burn his head was the absinthe, and I can tell you he wasn’t drinking it.”
    â€œSo, the killer must’ve been drinking it,” Ron stated.
    I had stopped writing long ago, fearing I’d lose my balance.
    Gordo’s assistant tilted the pan containing the penis and scrotum toward us, and sure enough, there was a cooked penis lying there as if it were a charbroiled cocktail weenie. The scrotal sack had shriveled into a crispy nugget.
    That was enough for me. Miss Caldwell stared at the floor, and I found the room had gotten smaller.
    â€œI gotta make a call,” I said, grabbing Ron’s elbow and handing him my pen and paper. I charged out of the room, down the hall, and to the restroom, where I discovered what partially digested shrimp looked like.
    Certain things tended to go through your mind when you tossed your cookies. This time, I thought back to simpler times in high school and college when I used to get drunk, throw up, and it was funny to everyone else. The next morning, I’d awake with a massive hangover that would make an entertaining story in class on Monday.
    Afterward, there were no dry heaves or stomach churning, just a feeling of stupidity. Now I had to face Ron again and expect a nickname involving puke from my fellow officers. But I was not going to quit or allow this case to break me.

I sat outside the coroner’s office on a bench facing the housing development, shaded from the afternoon sun by a magnolia tree. A squad car drove by and eyed me, making sure I wasn’t up to no good. My throat felt gritty, and my head pulsed with pain. I was hungry again.
    My partner probably didn’t want anything to do with me. He was most likely telling Dr. Gordo what a huge pussy I was. He was probably right, too. For this line of work, I might be a lightweight.
    Ron came out, carrying a coffee he had acquired during my absence and a manila folder. If he was upset with me, I couldn’t tell. I braced myself for a maybe-this-isn’t-for-you speech and was ready to absorb all criticism. But Ron’s face was relaxed. If this had happened three months ago, when he wasn’t talking to me much, I doubt he’d have been this calm.
    â€œYou didn’t throw up, did you?” He sat next to me.
    â€œNo. Almost. I’m sorry about that.” I looked out at the decay and litter in the street. Lying was a habit I didn’t want to start, but if he knew, I would probably never have his total respect.
    â€œDon’t be. Like I said, you’ll learn to deal with it. What’s important is you face it head-on. Let me fill you in on what Gordo found.”
    I gave him my full attention. “Shoot.”
    â€œThere wasn’t any visible semen found in Gant’s ass. The best Gordo could tell was that he hadn’t had any dicks up there recently, being that he found no tears or blood vessels ruptured in the interior lining, or some shit like that. Mr. Happy wasn’t bitten off like the nipples. Gordo