Sleepy Hollow: Isabelle Van Tassel

Chapter One

In the mortuary of the Bellevue Hospital, Nurse Isabelle Van Tassel is assisting Doctor Benjamin Hale in the autopsy of a middle-aged man who had recently passed.

"I must thank you again, Nurse Van Tassel. There are not many with a strong enough stomach to do this," Dr. Hale told her.

"It is not much trouble, Dr. Hale. I believe that the Lord gave us the will to learn as much as we can before we join him and our loved ones in his kingdom," Isabelle said as she pulled the heart out once Dr. Hale finished cutting.

She placed the heart on the scale before saying, "11 ounces, Doctor," and placed it aside in a silver bowl, that had been thoroughly cleaned, on the table.

"Now let's look at the lungs," He said. Dr. Hale takes a scalpel and cuts one of the lungs open. When he was finished, he puts the scalpel aside and reaches into the lung. He takes his hand out, but in his hand was foam.

"Foam?" Isabelle questioned.

"Foam indeed, Nurse Van Tassel," Dr. Hale confirmed, "Now, what can cause foam in the lungs?"

"Aconitum," She answered, "It has been known to cause foaming in the lungs, but it is also an extremely fast-acting poison. Meaning that the murderer would have no time to escape due to the wife telling the doctors that her husband dropped to the ground unexpectedly."

"And I believe we have found our murderer. The wife, I suspect, might have a relative or a book on botany, which is how she must have obtained the knowledge of Aconitum. Death by the plant is an extremely painful one, you would have hated this man enough to kill him in such a horrifying way."

"When the wife had come here I noticed that there was severe bruising on her hands and face, though the bruising was fading, it was still noticeable."

"Nurse Van Tassel," Dr. Hale smiled, "I believe we found who the murderer is."

"Indeed we have, Dr. Hale," Isabelle said, "Will we alert the authorities?"

"This man abused his wife. I believe God decided that it was time for this man to be punished. Could you sew him up, Nurse Van Tassel? I am going to speak with the widow."

"Certainly, Doctor."

Dr. Hale left the mortuary to talk to the widow, while Isabelle placed the heart back inside the man's chest before sewing the incision that was made.

When Isabelle was finished, she got a carriage and returned to the home that she shared with her fiance, Ichabod Crane. An hour or two had passed before her fiance had returned home. He walks into the house looking very nervous.

"Is everything well, Ichabod?" Isabelle asked with worry.

Ichabod walks over to her with a smile and kisses her on the cheek, "Everything is fine, but you should pack your bags because I am being sent to a town that has had mysterious murders as of late and I want you to come with me."

"And where is the town?"

"That is one of the reasons I wish for you to come with me, other than I do not wish to leave you alone, is that the town is your childhood home, Sleepy Hollow," Ichabod told her.

Upon hearing the name of where she grew up, Isabelle smiled, "Oh, Ichabod. You'll finally be able to meet my family. I know that my father will love you."

"Your father?" Ichabod gulped nervously.

"Don't worry, my love, no matter what my father will say I will always love you," Isabelle told him," Now, what else do you know about the murders?"

"Not much, other than their heads have been chopped off, but we should get ready the carriage will be here at any moment."

The two began packing what things they needed. While they were packing, Icahod walked towards the sphere birdcage which housed a Cardinal. He opened the cage and gently grabbed the cardinal before walking to the open window and letting it fly away.

A short while later, the carriage arrived and they placed their things in the carriage before they got in and began their journey to solve the mysterious murders of Sleepy hollow.