Excerpt "Heather Darling and The Case of The Clockwork Cannibal"

The detective and I each accept a pair of gloves from someone from the Medical Examiner’s office before squatting on either side of the body. Detective Farina pulls back the tarp and points to the hole in Earl’s back. I look at it and nod. He turns the body over enough for me to take a good look at the gunshot wound on the front.
  “What do you see?” He asks.
  “A hole.”
  “Where is it?”
  “His stomach.”
  The detective lays Earl back the way we found him. “One hole in the stomach. One in the back. It’s likely there were two separate shooters.”
  I think for a moment.  “No.”
 “Why not?”
 “The wounds are the same size. We only found one gun. Earl’s.” Something also felt familiar.  What...I don’t know. What I do know is that it’s too soon to share the information with Detective Farina.
 “The wounds are in two very different places.” Farina counters. “The wound in the front indicates a shot that was made quickly. A crime of passion. The killer didn’t even take time to aim. The shot to the back was the fatal one.”
 “That’s your theory?” I ask.
Detective Farina nods. “There were two shooters. The first shooter was angry with Earl and wanted to kill him.  The second shooter came for moral support when the first shooter failed, the second shooter knew that the only way to keep from getting caught was to finish the job. The second shooter is more experienced with firearms. He or she fired the fatal shot.”
 “Earl’s body is going to St. Louis with you so Amy can verify that you’re right.” I say.
 “And to take any additional evidence. Teddy Baskins...” Detective Farina looks at the person who gave us the gloves and smiles briefly, “...is the recently elected County Coroner and the son of the local mortician. This is his first death by homicide.”
 I look at Mr. Baskins. He’s a bright eyed young man with cheeks that I haven’t seen since the last time I watched “Leave It To Beaver.” He’s a little pale but sticking it out. Doing okay with the Lamaze breathing. “This your first dead guy outside of work?” I ask.
He nods.
 “It’s my second. Creepy as fuck isn’t it?”
Farina glares at me and then looks at The Beav.
The Beav begins checking his pockets. “I don’t have my...I need to go get it from the truck.” Baskins says as he walks away quickly, whispering to himself.