“Mitch! What is it?” Val repeated.

“Bethany Arias. She’s dead. Apparent suicide. Jumped from the balcony of her penthouse.”

29

Val quickly parked her medical examiner’s office van, opened the door and jumped out into the snow-covered parking lot of Bethany’s complex. The drifts were already midcalf, with more flurries streaming down. Flashing lights of the patrol cars lit up the sky. Not only were cops everywhere, so were reporters. Several put microphones in Val’s face, and immediately began rolling question after question at her.

“No comment,” Val yelled as she hurried to the back of the van to get her supply bag. She grabbed what she needed, fending off reporters, and trudged as fast as she could to the rear of the building, the side that faced the water, to where Bethany lay dead. The reporters followed but only went as far as the first line of officers would allow. Val pulled out her badge and passed through the security checkpoint. Finally, she was free.

A large white tent was protecting the crime scene, placed to shield the body, and evidence, from the elements and also to stop onlookers from watching the investigation from the balconies up above. Val glanced up at the one which belonged to Bethany. Several cops could be seen along with the crime scene crew, who were dusting the railing for fingerprints.

Val parted the canvas doors. Gavin and Warren were standing in the middle of the tent. Two portable heaters in the corner were making the night air almost bearable, not that Val could feel the cold with the adrenaline rush pushing her forward, though her bad leg was starting to tingle quite a bit.

A group of officers, including Gavin and Warren, formed a semi-circle around the body. Blood had pooled, making a wide crimson radius in the snow. Val quickly limped forward.

“She landed on the pavement,” Gavin said. “It was just plowed about an hour ago, not that the snow would have stopped the impact of the fall.”

Val glanced at the lifeless body of Bethany Arias. Her skull had fractured open on the concrete surface and her head was twisted in a way that would not be possible unless her neck was broken. Her legs spread out at odd, unnatural angles, suggesting they too were fractured in multiple places.

“Can you start the preliminary exam?” Gavin asked Val. “Everything has been documented as best we can down here. The crew is still working upstairs.”

“Of course,” Val said as she circled around the body. Bethany wore no coat. She had on a short red cocktail dress, suggesting she had been out at a party. One four-inch high heel shoe clung to her left foot. The right was God knows where. “Do we have any witness accounts?”