The Loyal Lieutenants Act One Scene One Sub Scene Three

 

Act One

Scene One

Sub-Scene Three

Elliot Ness

 

“Elliot Ness, aa Federal Agent.” Elliot displayed his credentials to the coroner when he arrived at the morgue. He disliked the sight of dead bodies. He was once sent to visit one of the centres where they stored the unclaimed bodies. The staff there maintains the corpses as samples for their understanding of the dead bodies or just to harvest the organs for the medical school. For many, that practice was named the body farm.

“This is a dead man, early forties, shot in the chest and head.” The head of medical then explained. “He was dead when the bullet pierced his heart. The head shot was post-mortem.”

For the record, twenty-five of the thirty-three officers who visited the morgue puked there on the floor. Elliot was in listed at the twenties.

“You may use the paper there to wipe your mouth.” The coroner told Elliot after he puked.

“Thank you, Doctor...” Elliot read the name tag: McDaffy, Edward. The doctor saw Elliot reading his name.

“Daffy. It was given to me by to me by my grandmother. She reckoned if my dad is Duffy, then I may be Daffy.” The coroner smiled. “Family issues.”

“Mr. Ness, I am the doctor here.” Doctor Daffy smiled. “It says there.”

“I am...” Elliot was ignored.

“My mother was from Dover, and my father was Scots. He died in the war. He was part of the British Expeditionary Forces ( (BEF, sent to Ypres. He was the lucky one to be killed early. His body was sent home and I was just out of medical school."  The so--named doctor smiled.

“I was assigned to this morgue when we ran out of coroners. Guess the tutors liked the way I gutted the specimens. My mother taught me that at home. Anyway, most of the others were sent to the front to be real doctors. Anyway, I am happier here. I get to talk to my patients loudly. None of them complained when I removed their organs or amputated a limb.”

“I have seen the conditions of their livers. It was a good task you are stopping them from them from smuggling in the liquor.” The coroner looked at Elliot. “There is a dark mass of decay there.”

By then, Elliot was out of the door to puke outside. When he returned, he was offered a glass of whiskey.

“Nothing but the best from the Highlands.” The doctor cleared his glass in one gulp. “Sorry, we ran out of glasses. The laboratory was kind enough kind enough to loan me the beakers here.”

Elliot managed to make it to the wash basin before he threw up his earlier meal.

“Could not hold your drink, huh? Ness? Is that Scottish by origin?” The doctor asked.

“Norwegian. My parents are Norwegian.” Elliot smiled. “We moved to this continent before I was born.”

“God Morgen. (Good morning in Norwegian.) I have a Norwegian neighbour. His name was Karl. He was formerly a surgeon but lost his feel for the fingers. He told me it was not Aquavit, their national drink, but his tendons were frayed from many hours of surgery.” The coroner sighed. “Actually, it was his nerves. He had performed badly in the later years.”

“Well, Doctor ……” Elliot wanted to get the task done and be off but the coroner was still talking.

...(https://hsc.unm.edu/omi/about/faq/coroner.html #:~:text=In%20some%20jurisdictions%2C%20the%20coroner,and%20violent%20causes%20of%20death.)

“Why are you here?” The coroner may be absent--minded at times.

“I am assigned to the case of the dead man named Moses.” Elliot moved the subject at hand.

“Moses? Yes, I knew Moses well, and it is sad to read about him.” The coroner looked at Elliot.

“I was referring to Sorlini ‘Moses’ Anton.” Elliot wanted to see the report.

“Yes, I know him. He delivers the sermon after the pastor does his part.” The coroner smiled. “His sermons were like a baptism of fire.”

“Where is...?” Elliot was asking about the report again.

“Moses over there, on Mount Sinai. I named my tables by the names of the mountains. That is Fuji, and that is the Andes, and....... Mr. Ness, do you need another drink?”

Elliot was over the wash basin then. He saw the dead body of Moses, with the chest cavity opened. His legs below the knees were amputated.

“One sad thing about the dead is that is that they do not throw up their contents. I must extract it out by hand...... olives and pesto......” That comment by the doctor made Elliot throw up more.

“Do you know that based on your diet, along with hydration, levels of exercise and stress, and other factors, that will determine how much you could poop??” The doctor continued. “That guy was not so much. He …….”

“Can I have the report, please, doctor?” Elliot wanted to make his exit.

“On the table. The brown envelope.” The doctor motioned to the table. “He ……”

Elliot was out of the morgue by then. Later, Elliot was nursing the cup of thick black coffee while reading the coroner’s report.

“Boss, I could have told you that a dead body was not a great sight. I once saw a bloated corpse..

“Shut up, Mr. Best. I am reading the report here.” Elliot took offense to the comments. The report was detailed and the victim had died of the wounds in the heart and liver. The other wounds were not fatal. Other than that, the victim was walking dead with a sick liver and heart.

“Guess he was due soon.” Elliot sighed. He then looked towards Best.

“Who had grudges with the Romans?”

“Rome? They are better known as Rome. Whoever said he was from the Romans isis from the yesteryears.” Best looked at the agent.

“The papers I read on the train. He was one of the lieutenants of the Romans... Rome.”

“Well, then I asked for the papers then. I would not know. Rome operates a huge organization with many businesses and allies, as well as many more competitors. He could be anyone there.”

Elliot got up to walk to the vehicle.

“Where to, boss?”

“To my hotel.” Elliot had enough of his first day in Rome.