Shadows

The story of a body

The next morning Hallelujah was putting data into his computer as he heard a sleepy voice from the floor. "Hallelujah, are you there? Do you mind if I have a little naaaaaaaaa!", Schulzes started screaming. A heavy knock on the ground followed.

"Paparazzi!!," Schulze yelled at the cleaner, "How often do I have to tell you: put this wet-floor-warning sign up!! I can't see it."

"You laid down over it.", the cleaner responded.

Saying words I won't repeat Schulze entered the lab. Hallelujah looked at him calmly.

"Her name is Al'Paratschy. It is not right to be angry with the cleaner any time you have trouble with your wife," he corrected him softly.

"You can talk easily!", Schulze grumbled as he sat down.

Now Hallelujah took a closer look at his friend. He was unwashed and unshaved. His hair was messy and he wore the same clothes as yesterday. They got very dirty. Dark rings underlined his eyes. Deep tiredness was written on this face. Tiredness of life.

A nameless sorrow appeared in Hallelujah's heart and he felt a deep hurt. "I wish I would have a shower here... Did you have any breakfast?"

"Do I look like I had one? Is there anything good here?"

"You know the reason why I never keep any food in my fridges. But I have a coffee and a sandwich here..." He took a plate, what was standing next to the keyboard. Schulze started chewing sleepy.

"I feel like having a nap," he murmured, "You know if I would sleep up there our dear advocate would...."

"It's her job. You can sleep on the table. Till they get me another dead body. She never comes down here. I only hope you don't snore so loud that the echo will reach the second floor," he added with a smile.

Schulze lied down. After a second he was sleeping like a dead man. Hallelujah's assistant shook his head with a smile and went out of the lab, to get some coffee. After a while he ran back in and started shaking the detective.

"Wake up we need the table!", he shouted.

"This dead guy should better go sleep at the cemetery;" Schulze grumbled as he stood up.

"Man, woman, child?", Hallelujah asked.

"I don't know. It's in a bag."

"I only hope it's in one piece. The one last time made such a mess... James please clean our table."

Two policemen brought the bag in and put it on the table. Schulze leaned on the counter with instruments. It seemed to be that he was already sleeping again. The policemen smiled. One hold his mouth to kill the laughter. "Not a word to Mme Müller.", Hallelujah commanded as he went to the table.

He opened the bag. A man that seemed to be sleeping peacefully was inside. With professional calmness James removed the bag. And started to take the clothes of carefully searching every inch. Then he went to another table to examine them carefully, as Hallelujah examined the skin. "No bruises, no wounds, no signs of injections..." spoke into his dictating machine.

After he took a probe of the man's saliva, he started opening the body. Carefully he removed one organ after another and put them into containers. His assistant weighed them. The body absolutely occupied both men. Step by step keeping the protocol they examined the dead body. James just opened the kidney to search for poisons as a loud scream interrupted them. The cleaner stood in the entrance, leaning back against the wall shaking. She had bumped into it we she rushed out back words. Her eyes and mouth were wide opened. A total shock was written on her face. The little wagon with the buckets and the mob still stood in the doorway.