Ronan would never admit it, but he’d definitely overdone it at breakfast. He’d just have something light for lunch like a salad or a double quarter pounder with cheese. “I’m glad the two of you are my friends. I’d hate to see how you’d treat me if I were your enemy.”
“I would have fed you more pancakes, to bind you up even harder.” Fitzgibbon snickered.
“I’m not bound up!” Ronan half-shouted. “I’m angry that the obits aren’t free.”
“Okay, that’s pretty random. Did you take your meds this morning.” Jude asked.
“I’m trying to figure out how we can identify the remains Laura Cooper brought to Ten yesterday. I figured I’d read the obits and see if there’s anyone from her approximate neighborhood who’d passed recently.” With Tennyson not being able to reach the spirit who belonged to the remains, he needed to use good old-fashioned police work to identify the next of kin.
“I don’t mean to rain on your parade, but you realize those remains could have been cremated a week ago or maybe even ten years ago.” Jude said. “You talked about your mom keeping your grandfather’s ashes at your house. If they’d somehow ended up in the recycle bin, we might not have been able to link Gramps back to your house.”
Ronan nodded. He knew exactly what Jude was trying to say. “I get that, but how else do we try to identify this person? I’ve kept my eyes on the local Facebook pages for all of the towns in Essex County. There are no posts about a missing cremation box. I spoke with Essex County Dispatch, who handle the 911 calls and there’s been no reports of missing or stolen remains. I also spoke with Mitch Ryan, who answers the non-emergency line at the Salem Police and he hasn’t gotten any of those calls either.”
“I hate to say this, Ronan, but when we were on our way to Laura’s house yesterday, Ten told us that she’d seen boxes of old black and white photographs out for the trash at the house where the box was found.” Jude paused, while Ronan pondered what he was saying. “It could be that some distant asshole relative just chucked out everything in the house, or maybe the homeowner hired one of those junk companies to come clean the place out.”
“Those junk companies come with their own trucks,” Fitzgibbon replied. “So if the bank, a contractor, or a long lost cousin hired them to clean things out, the company would have hauled the trash away.”
“Good point,” Ronan agreed. “I figured I’d spend a few hours going through the obits and seeing if there are any hits in the vicinity of Laura’s house.”
“It’s a good place to start.” Fitzgibbon turned to Jude. “Pull up a map of Laura’s house, and make a list of street names within a five mile radius. I don’t imagine Laura’s walking that far every day, but let’s start there.”
“You got it,” Jude agreed.
“Before we get to work, I got a text from Max.” Fitzgibbon pulled out his phone, setting it on the table in front of him. “ApparentlyTimmy had his accident. Three kids threw up after catching a whiff of it and Max took the rest of the kids to play outside in case there were any more pukers. He didn’t know if the janitor had enough sawdust to clean up the mess.”
“If you ask me, that little shit got what he had coming to him.” Ronan crossed his arms over his chest as if his opinion decided the matter.
Fitzgibbon shrugged. “I’m not the type to wish harm on any child, but after what Timmy did to Aurora, this feels like karma had her back.” He walked back into his office, shutting the door behind him.
“It sure does,” Jude agreed. He flipped open his laptop and pulled it closer to him.
Ronan couldn’t help but wonder if the deceased was getting a dose of their own karma. Maybe this person was an asshole in life who kicked puppies, pushed old ladies down the stairs, and stole candy from babies. Even if that was the case, Ronan knew the person deserved a proper burial and not to be thrown out with the garbage like an old banana peel.
Getting to work, he pulled up the death notices, sorting by the date of the passing. While Ronan quickly scanned the obits, he was moved by the lives led by the deceased and wondered what Tennyson would put in the paper when he met St. Peter at the pearly gates. He burst out laughing.
Jude went to the printer and grabbed a piece of paper. “Here’s the list of the streets close to Laura. “What the hell is so funny?”
“I was reading the obits-” Ronan began.
“Absolutely hilarious,” Jude deadpanned.
Ronan rolled his eyes dramatically. “I was thinking about what Tennyson would put in my obituary when the time comes.”
“Probably the link to his newly created Grindr page.” Jude doubled over laughing at his own joke.
“Loveable asshole, Ronan O’Mara died today. He will be best remembered for being the king of cold cases, his kickass chili recipe, and his post-chili farts capable of peeling paint off the walls.” Ronan knew damn well Ten wouldn’t write about his gas in his obit. Right?
“King of knocking himself out cold, you mean.” Jude shook his head. He tried to add to his insult, but was laughing too hard to speak.
“What the hell is going on out here?” Fitzgibbon asked, coming out of his office.
“Just writing my obituary. Jude obviously thinks my decades of public service are a joke.”
“Jude cut the shit. Ronan, get back to work. I swear, the two of you act like the kids in Aurora’s first grade class.” Fitzgibbon shook his head. “Jace wants to have a little celebration tonight. We’re getting food from Lobster Charlie’s since it’s Aurora’s favorite place. Let me know if the kids want something other than lobster.”
“You got it.” Ronan knew Everly was crazy for the hot-buttered lobster roll and the extra crispy fries. Ezra ate anything Ten and Ronan set in front of him. Turning back to the obituaries, Ronan said a silent prayer in hopes that he would somehow be able to reunite the remains with a family member who would see that they were properly laid to rest.
8
