Martelli stroked his chin. "So, you're saying this is a homicide."
"I'm saying his death is suspicious. I'm certainly not ready to rule out the possibility it was accidental and most likely the result of a drug overdose. But we need to know considerably more about the events leading up to his death and the discovery of his body before I'll be ready to sign his death certificate."
Antonetti proceeded to cut Morrison's kidneys from his chest cavity. He handed them to Williams for weighing and the preparation of tissue samples for the pathologist. Next he removed the man's stomach and intestines, which he spent little time examining, given his knowledge about the cause and time of death. Williams also took these organs for weighing and subsequent dissection.
With work on the body cavity completed, Antonetti and Williams turned their attention to the victim's head. Donning a face shield, and after asking Martelli to step back, the coroner deftly used a Stryker saw to open the man's skull, facilitating the extraction of the brain. Antonetti then severed the brain's connection to the cranial nerves and spinal cord before lifting the organ from the skull and handing it to Williams. She, in turn, placed it in a large container of formalin for preservation.
Martelli watched intently. He was continually fascinated by how Antonetti and his colleagues were able to determine what they did from the remains of the deceased and other evidence found on the body, even after days or weeks if not years had passed between the time of death and the performance of the autopsy.
"I think we're just about finished here for the time being," announced Antonetti. "We still have a ton of work to do on the dissection table, but we'll get to that in short order."
"Latonya, would you please close the body while I talk with Louis?"
The two men walked to Antonetti's cluttered desk and sat. Antonetti was about to speak when Williams called out. "I think you better see this, Dr. Antonetti." She held up a round, tarnished object in her gloved right hand. It was a coin.