WEIGHTS AND MEASURES William Henderson Caucasian male. Five feet, 11 inches. 155 pounds. Driver’s license indicates that he is 30 years old. Found in his home. No evidence of foul play. Current indication is that he committed suicide. I hate when they commit suicide. Strike that last comment. But I do. The coroner, in his lab, a lower level in a hospital. Male. Maybe female. Seems that medical examiners and coroners on television procedurals are mostly female. And black. Adds diversity to a television show without needing to hire a star. Except the medical examiner on Castle. I enjoy her more than I enjoy the other medical examiners the television show used during its first couple of seasons. Tried the show because of the premise: A writer and detective, solving crimes, and falling in love. Of course they are in love, even though the rules of the television dictate that theirs will remain a mostly unconsummated love. At least until ratings dictate the pair needs to come together. Or come separately. Simultaneous is a myth that television characters have propagated. Another myth? That a coroner or medical examiner actually conducts the autopsy. A forensic pathologist will be hired for the job. A coroner may be present during the procedure. To observe, and maybe to take notes. Up to the coroner. I don’t like thinking that several people saw you naked and dead on the table, so no coroner present for your autopsy. Just a forensic pathologist. Male, let’s say male, not that I know. Or will know. But for the purposes of this postmortem, the forensic pathologist hired to perform the autopsy is male. He is in scrubs, blue. His office, a morgue, or morgue-adjacent. Someone comes in every night and polishes the metal surfaces. The autopsy room is tiled, for cleaning and disinfection. These tiles must be cleaned at night, too. A stainless steel operating table in the center of the room. Above the table, a scale for weighing body parts. Next to the table, another table on which the forensic pathologist has the instruments he’ll use. Striker saws for ripping bone, suturing materials, saws, knives, and scalpels. No need to sterilize the instruments; infection and contamination no longer matter. Somewhere in the room, a source of water to wash your body. Drains in the floor. An X-ray machine. Jars filled with various organs, and empty jars to fill. Your body, to be cut apart and then put back together. Your online profile had much of the same information that the forensic pathologist will record before beginning the autopsy. Caucasian male. Five feet, 11 inches. 155 pounds. Except you were 28 when our online worlds collided, and when we began orbiting each other. Your screen name: Icarusdescending.
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