They watched through the window as Lynn rolled Jane Doe out on a cart into the middle of a gray, sterile, depressing room, and then, as promised, she invited them inside. ‘Take your time, and tell me when you’re ready,’ she said softly, speaking to the parents.

Mr. and Mrs. Jessup stepped closer to the table on the opposite side to Lynn, while Sergeant Boudreaux and Alyssa positioned themselves near the head and foot of the medical slab, respectively. Mr. Jessup tightened his hold around his wife’s shoulder, and then gave a curt nod. ‘We’re ready,’ he whispered, his words coming out as a croak.

Alyssa found herself holding her breath and watching their expressions as Lynn gently pulled down the sheet covering Jane Doe’s face, careful to keep the rest of her body hidden in an effort to shield the Jessups as much as possible from having to see the extent to which their daughter – if that’s who she turned out to be – had been abused.

A wail escaped Mrs. Jessup as her knees gave way, and she collapsed toward the floor, held from crashing all the way down by Mr. Jessup’s grip and the fast reaction of Sergeant Boudreaux who’d jumped over to assist as soon as he’d seen the tormented expression on her face.

‘Oh God, Oh God, Oh God, Nooooo… Meghan, please God, No, don’t let it be. Noooo.’ Her moans echoed throughout the room, bouncing off the walls and shooting like arrows straight into Alyssa’s heart. She fought the temptation to close her eyes and ears against the anguish permeating every inch of this suddenly very tiny space.

Lynn gently pulled the sheet back over Meghan Jessup’s face, and as Mrs. Jessup sobbed into her husband’s chest, clutching at his arms as if he were the only lifeline holding her to shore, she stepped to the side of the room, where she would be as unobtrusive as possible. And only when the hysterical sobs subsided into tormented, strangled cries did she offer to give them a few minutes of privacy in her office, if they needed it.

Eyes red, wet, and already swelling, Mr. Jessup peered first at Lynn, then Sergeant Boudreaux, before finally settling on Alyssa. ‘Do you know—?’ His words were choked off with an anguished howl, and he had to start over as his wife began to screech again with the pain erupting inside her. ‘What happened to her?’

Alyssa deferred to Lynn in this case, and the medical examiner explained only what she knew, offering the words as plainly as possible while omitting some of the more painful details because there was simply no way of softening the blow. And with every word out of Lynn’s mouth, more of Mrs. Jessup’s soul fell from her eyes. In that moment, all Alyssa could see was her own mother and father as they discovered that their son had been murdered. If only they’d known the truth.

After Lynn finished, she tried guiding the Jessups out, but Mrs. Jessup refused to leave her daughter’s body. It took several minutes before Mr. Jessup was able to convince her to go. Alyssa’s heart fractured as she watched Reed Jessup guide his wife out the door, even as her arms stretched back as if she could take her daughter with her.