Jason leach

Remains

Winslow pulled up to the police barracks around three forty in the morning. He sat for a moment, the events of the evening replaying in his head for the hundredth time. As he shut down the engine he caught a look a himself in the rear view. He was unrecognizable compared to the squared away rookie he’d seen in the bathroom mirror this morning. He was a combination of dirt and scratches, a couple of the latter still oozing blood. His uniform was torn and spotted with pine sap. Usually he wouldn’t be caught dead looking like this in uniform, but at the moment he couldn’t bring himself to care. He had experienced the most horrific night of his life and he felt lucky he was even breathing. Damn lucky. With some effort he hauled himself out of the cruiser, putting on his hat, also smudged with dirt and sap. He shambled toward the front doors where he was surprised to find Carswell, the medical examiner, sitting on the front steps. She had always reminded him of Julia Roberts, but tonight she more resembled Mrs Roberts grandmother. She was sitting on the top step lost in thought, shoulders slumped, leaning against the wall, the ash on her cigarette comically long, or would have been on any other night.there was a large envelope laying on the step next to her. He was within poking distance before she realized with a start that he was there. She placed a hand on the envelope as if he were going to take it from her.