Chapter 56

[Lorenzo’s POV]

“Come on, Lorenzo!” Eleanor called out from the doorway.

Lorenzo was just about finished getting himself ready so they could head back out to the coroner’s office. The alpha had recognized a sudden shift in his Luna’s behavior quite recently.

For the past couple of weeks, Eleanor’s mood had been grim and practically despondent. With the lack of movement in the case, her hopes were beginning to slip.

Unfortunately, the one and only break in the ongoing monotony was the unforeseen death of one of the victims. Lorenzo was certain that whatever was left of Eleanor’s hope had surely diminished.

‘I’d never seen her in such a state of anguish,’ he’d said to himself.

His wolf had persistently claws and whined for him to stay by her side even when she’d gone off to piece together the evidence board. He knew she was still heavily unstable but hadn’t wanted to force her.

What Lorenzo feared more than Eleanor’s wavering sadness was an inevitable burnout. He’d become a silent nervous wreck that she would end up pushing herself too far at some point.

The call from the county coroner had come in around three o’clock the following day. Lorenzo had half a mind to not tell Eleanor about it and take the trip back by himself, wanting her to take some time for herself and actually rest.

‘You know she would never let us hear the end of it,’ his wolf pointed out.

So, against his better judgment, Lorenzo found Eleanor in her usual place in the study and told her that the forensic report had come in. The woman jumped up from her chair with an energy he hadn’t seen in a long time.

“Hold up,” he said firmly. “Yes, the result came in. However, the coroner has also told me that it would be wiser for us to come after hours, once all the reporters have gone.”

Her excitement instantly dulled. And so the two of them waited until the sun sank well beneath the horizon before making it out the door to the car. Lorenzo was grateful for the tip the coroner gave them about arriving later.

The place looked entirely deserted as Eleanor glanced at him with a look of concern flashing across her eyes.

“Don’t worry,” Lorenzo tells her. “The back doors are always open. The coroner tends to work later at night, he’ll be here.”

Once they made it inside and saw that the lights were on towards the back of the place, he noticed the tension in Eleanor’s muscles ease up. The two headed down the hallway till they came upon the head coroner’s office. Lorenzo gave a respectful knock as they entered.

“Oh! Good, you’re here,” the older man said with a soft smile. “Let me grab you that report.”

“Thank you for doing this,” Eleanor said graciously.

“I think it’s truly commendable what you’re trying to do for these girls,” he said.

He’d grabbed a spare metal key off the counter and unlocked the top drawer of his filing cabinet. Lorenzo wasn’t sure how he felt when he noticed just how thick Agatha’s medical file was.

Suddenly, the gentle atmosphere in the room turned grizzly as they all set their eyes on the beige-colored folder.

“May I?” Eleanor asked.

The coroner gave a curt nod and took his seat back in his chair. She opened the file on the nearest counter available and slowly started to spread through everything. Both the executive summary and the conclusion were on the shorter end when it came to giving vital information.

The coroner cleared his throat and gave the back of his neck an awkward scratch. “I apologize for the lack of detail I have there in the beginning,” he commented. “I know that the girl was originally taken a few years ago, but because we found her a little over a week after she’d been dead, that was all I had to go on for the summary.”

Eleanor shook her head. “Don’t worry, what we’re really after is what the analysis contains,” she assured him.

Yes, unlike the other pieces of the report, the analysis was quite lengthy. It contained all the possible results from the tests they had run. There was even a rough outlined sketch of what Eleanor assumed to be a representation of Agatha’s body.

Their eyes narrowed in question as they stared at the strange markings that covered the girl’s limbs.

“Excuse me, but what are these?” She pointed to the crescent marks.

The coroner gave them both a graved look and sighed. “...Bite marks.”

Lorenzo’s entire body flinched when he heard Eleanor let out a sharp gasp. She clamped her hand over her mouth to stifle any further sounds.

“Can I see her?” she asked suddenly.

The alpha was seconds away from breaking out into a cold sweat. “Eleanor, are you sure?”

“I need to know exactly what this poor girl has been through. I know everything we need is in the report, but those are just words on paper...I need to see her,” she explained, pleadingly.

Much to his own dismay, the two followed the coroner into another side room where they were currently holding the body until releasement.

Eleanor reached for Lorenzo’s hand and grasped it tightly. The man pulled back the white cloth, revealing the horrors and tragedy that had consumed the poor girl.

“Would you two mind giving me a moment alone with her?”

Eleanor’s POV

I could tell from the pained look in Lorenzo’s eyes that he was really against the idea of leaving alone. But I needed this. I needed to make my peace. But, what I needed above all else was to get a closer look at Agatha’s wounds.

I tried to get a good look at each of the several bite wounds before grabbing for my phone. I wasn’t sure what other kinds of photos that report had, but I wasn’t going to waste the opportunity.

‘Isn’t this highly illegal?’ my wolf asked.

“Oh, very likely.” I snapped over a dozen close-up photos of the wounds and saved them all before stowing my phone back into my bag.

I pulled the sheet back over Agatha’s body, only leaving her face exposed. She looked so delicate, like a sleeping angel.

A storm of emotions wrestled inside of me. “I will find whoever did this to you. They will pay for it,” I promised.