Val and Gwen walked through the doors and into the morgue. As the doors closed behind them, Val took a deep breath. There was one more person they needed to be worried about. Howie. He was around somewhere. She looked up and down the halls for him.

“If we see Howie we’ll use the same excuse that you gave Ken,” Gwen said. “How did you come up with it? God, it was so plausible you even had me convinced that’s why we’re here.”

“Lying is a skill I’ve been developing. It tends to come in handy.”

“I should take some lessons. Convincing someone of something I’m not would be a pretty good talent to have.”

Val almost laughed at the irony of the statement. “I’ll let Jack in. Go to autopsy room one and meet us in there,” she said, quickly walking down the corridor, heading to the drop-off bay. There was an odd stillness in the morgue. The night shift was always quite a contrast to the hustle that occurred during the day. Now, it was just eerily quiet and Val felt her skin prickle. No one was around.

As she was about to turn the last corner that would lead her to the doors, her motions grew slow. She thought she heard a series of pattering noises. Standing still, listening carefully, she heard it again. It sounded like someone walking, sneakers squeaking on the tiles. And it was coming towards her. Before she could do anything, Howie came around the corner and nearly collided with her.

“Val?” he asked, staring.

“Hi, Howie. I need a report for Dr. Blythe. I have to get it to him by tomorrow,” she rambled. As soon as she said the words, she wished she hadn’t.

“What brings you down here then?” He looked confused.

Her excuse, at this point, could only backfire—her office was down a different hallway. If she needed to get a report, there was no reason for her to be where she was. Val’s eyes shifted past Howie. As she scrambled to think, she saw her answer. Pointing to a bathroom door that was about ten feet away, she said, “Ladies room. The one by my office didn’t have any toilet paper.” Her gaze went back to him and she waited to see if he bought her story.

“Are you okay?” he asked, staring again at her. “You look really pale.”

“Just scared that’s all. The morgue is scary at night.”

“It’s not the dead you have to be worried about, it’s the living. You couldn’t be safer here,” he laughed. “You should know that by now.”

Val crossed her legs and bounced up and down. She needed to get rid of Howie as fast as she could. “I don’t mean to be rude, but I have to go.”