My DNA?! Under the victim’s fingernails?! How can that be?

I looked in the mirror. Three scratches on my face. Three fingernail marks. The same fingernails from which I gathered the skin cells that I just tested. But how can that be? I just met the victim yesterday. I…

I need to get out of here and figure this out.

***

“Let’s get on it, people! We need an APB out on Benny. Now!” the chief bellowed.

“But Chief,” Corrine protested. “There’s no way Benny did it. He doesn’t even jaywalk. There must be some other reason he bailed. I mean, he even left a report here. A report that incriminates him with a selfie he took of the scratches on his face that you pointed out yesterday. He even matched them up. A perfect fit.”

There was a hint of annoyance or something in her voice that the Chief could not place, but he could not ponder it. Instead, he shouted, “Exactly! Which is why we need to find him. He’s either our guy or he knows who is or he’s trying to figure it out.”

The Chief knew that Benny could not have done it. And yet, here was evidence that he should be their main suspect. The scratches. The DNA. But there was something missing. He just needed to figure it out. But he also knew that he had to find Benny. And he had to keep him safe. After all, somebody was setting him up. The Chief just knew it. But he had to find evidence to prove it.

The Chief heard one of his agents checking his sidearm to make sure it was locked and loaded. He warned, “Benny is the coroner. He will not be armed. I don’t even know if he can shoot.”

Ralph frowned. “No telling what he might do. After all, if he killed that girl, he could kill us. I mean who suffocates a beautiful girl like that? And before he assaults her? He’s gotta be crazy.”

“Just bring him in. Alive.”

Ralph snarled, “Whatever you say, Chief.”

***

The Chief was no coroner, but he got an assistant coroner out of bed to do what he figured Benny would have done. Of course, he had no way of knowing if Benny had already done his job since there was no recording. Not like there should be. Somebody had taken the memory from the video camera. But there were no prints on the camera. Which was strange because Benny’s should have been there. All over it. And everybody knew it. So why would he wipe the camera down? This case was getting stranger and stranger. And it was just starting.

***

It took Phil twenty minutes to get there. Pretty quick since he lived nearly that far away.

“You sounded groggy on the phone. You haven’t been drinking or anything, right?”

Phil shook his head. “No Chief. I would have told you on the phone if I had been. Benny would kill me if I ever did an autopsy or any field work with even a hint of alcohol on my breath. You know. Above reproach.”

The Chief sighed. “Yeah. That’s our Benny alright. Above reproach.”

Phil looked around. “So where is Benny anyway? He’s usually the one calling me to help him out on these late night rush investigations.”

The Chief frowned. “He’s gone. Left that report there on my desk and disappeared.”

Phil followed the Chief’s gaze and went to his desk to pick up the report. He read what had to have been just the first few lines before he looked back up at the Chief. “Holy… You think he did it?”

The Chief nodded. “Above reproach, remember. Benny couldn’t have done this any more than my grandma could have.”

“Yeah…” Phil looked at the Chief. “But the evidence…”

“…doesn’t lie. I know. It’s one of Benny’s favorite lines. Which means that there must be other evidence. We just need to find it.”

Phil nodded. “I’ll get on it.”

The Chief watched as Phil got on his lab coat and protective gear. Then, he went to his office to mull things over.

***

The Chief had been mulling things over for nearly an hour. And he could still not figure it out. Nothing made sense.

The forensic team had had a party for Corrine’s birthday. The victim was the guest of one of the guys on second shift. His sister. She just wanted to meet her brother’s coworkers. She had said, “My brother talks about you all like you’re family. I just wanted to meet you. You know… his other family.”

The Chief was still remembering the evening when the door burst open. It was Ralph. He had a look on his face that the Chief had never seen before. Cocksure Ralph looked dazed and confused.

“Well, what is it? Spit it out, man!”

Before Ralph could say a word, Phil came in. “You’ve gotta see this Chief.”

The Chief looked back and forth between the two. He wanted to know what each of these two knew.

Ralph nodded toward Phil. “Let’s see what the doc has to say.”

Phil turned and the three proceeded to the morgue.

When they got there, the Chief could see a lighted magnifying lens over the back of the victim’s right hand. Phil motioned for his two colleagues to look through the large magnifier.

“See those bruises? On the back of her hand?”

The Chief and Ralph both nodded.

“Those appeared after the victim was killed.”

Ralph asked, “What does that mean?”

Phil smiled. “It means that Benny didn’t do it.”

Ralph was gruff. “Tell us something we don’t know, Einstein.”

“Okay.” Phil frowned. “Those bruises became darker as I was investigating the body. I was curious. Then, I remembered the report that Benny left. I looked at the picture of his face. The scratches that matched exactly. Benny’s DNA under the victim’s fingernails. And I thought, somebody else scratched Benny with the victim’s fingernails.”

The Chief’s jaw dropped. “And…”

“And I found some touch DNA on the bruises. I ran it through a couple databases and found…”

“Corrine.”

The Chief and Phil looked at Ralph.

“You found Corrine’s DNA on the victim’s body. She scratched Benny with the victim’s fingernails.”

“How’d you know?”

Ralph looked from Phil to the Chief. “Because when we found Benny, Corrine shot him.”

“Is he…?”

Ralph shook his head. “He’s okay. Benny saw her draw her sidearm and he ducked. She grazed his head though. Probably gave him a concussion. And a huge gash on his head.”

“And Corrine?” asked the Chief.

Ralph shrugged. “I disarmed her, cuffed her, and put her in a holding cell. Well, I put her in the cell after we took a detour to the hospital.”

The Chief turned to go.

“Wait!” Phil yelled. “Don’t you want to know the rest of the story?”

***

The Chief and Ralph found Benny in good spirits when they got to the hospital. Or at least he was smiling. The Chief looked at the bandages around his head. He looked at the nurse who had shown them to the room and nodded toward Benny. “He gonna live?”

The nurse grinned. “He should.”

Benny smiled at his two coworkers when the nurse had left the room. He looked at the Chief. “So somebody found my blood samples?”

“Yeah.” The Chief nodded. “Phil said you were drugged.”

“Which is why I don’t remember a thing. Which is why I had to run when I found my DNA under the victim’s fingernails. I knew I would not be able to investigate further if I did not run. But I had time to draw some blood and take the memory card from the camera.”

The Chief nodded. “I just don’t get it. Why? And why you?”

Ralph spoke. “Corrine just had it in for Benny. She didn’t even say why. She just said that she was sick of his holier than thou attitude. Which didn’t make any sense to me. I mean Benny is just Benny. He’s a goody-two-shoes, but that’s okay by me. He gets the job done and that’s what really matters. I thought maybe she hit on Benny but he didn’t bite. But she just said she couldn’t stand that he was always doing the right thing. Always so perfect. Always so righteous. She just had to destroy him.”

“She said all that?” the Chief asked.

Ralph nodded. “In a nutshell.” Then he smiled at Benny. “I guess sometimes it doesn’t pay to be a goody-two-shoes.”

Benny smiled back. “I guess not.” Then he laughed. “Goody-two-shoes.”

The Chief corrected, “Above reproach.”