Part 1 of The Osiris Enigma

Part 2 of The Osiris Enigma

Los Angeles seemed dingy and dirty when Quinn and Berkman departed the airport terminal at LAX. They rented a car, got onto the freeway, and headed for the NSA labs. Barrios and suburbs streaked by as they sped along the freeway. Just as the scenery began to change to a more rural setting they came upon exit 51 and got off the freeway. After clearing the security checkpoint at the NSA garage, they located the visitors parking on the lower level. After passing multiple security checkpoints Quinn and Berk found their way through the various elevators and corridors, finally arriving at the forensic laboratory. Donning lab coats and latex gloves they stepped over to the cold storage lockers and got the attendant to pull Moore for them. Moore’s body was placed on a stainless steel gurney and wheeled into the exam room.

Looking down at the cold corpse, Quinn thought Moore was a distinguished looking man, probably very handsome before the crash. A thick head of gray hair and a full gray beard gave the impression of a mature, take charge type of man. Quinn noted the autopsy incisions were neatly sewn shut and the body had been prepared for transport to the Moore family in Chicago.

“Well where should we start Berk?” asked Quinn.

“Let’s review the results of the NSA forensic team to see if they’ve missed anything.” Berkman sighed.

Quinn and Berk reviewed all the recorded autopsy data and discovered nothing unusual – toxicity screen results, stomach contents, organ condition, signs of aging, and apparent trauma. Everything seemed normal considering that his remains had survived an air crash. The two investigators were stymied. No probable cause of the crash could be pinned on Moore. At least, not with anything that had already been checked.

Quinn asked Berk, “Has anyone checked his family history for brain disorders or psychological problems?”

“No...,” replied Berk “Not yet!”

“We had better get permission to pry into some medical histories ASAP then.” Quinn barked.

Quinn and Berk immediately phoned the NSA coordinator and got permission to research all available medical and psychological data on Moore’s family. The NSA clerks pulled in all the computer archives they could find and turned the data over to the investigators. Berk and Quinn noticed that most of the medical records were normal, run of the mill logs for childbirth, high blood pressure, minor injuries, and flu. One particular record, however, was disturbing enough to warrant concern. Apparently Moore’s Uncle Dennis was institutionalized and diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia in 1984. He was prosecuted for manslaughter but found criminally insane and not guilty by reason of insanity. He was immediately committed to the Joliet Prison Abberdeen psycho ward where he died in 1986.

“Holy shit!” shrieked Berk, “We got a winner!”

Quinn asked, “What the hell are you talking about Berk?”

“Looks like Moore had a psychotic Uncle...paranoid and schizophrenic, maybe Moore went psychotic like his uncle!” Berk said excitedly.

They read further into Uncle Dennis’ file and discovered that after his death an autopsy revealed a large tumor in his brain. The tumor was determined to be the probable cause of the psychosis.

Berk peered up at Quinn over his horned rim glasses and said, “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

Quinn and Berk grabbed up the files, threw them on the gurney, covered Moore with the blanket and started pushing the gurney through the door. Moore’s clammy corpse was wheeled briskly over to the NSA diagnostic lab with Berk and Quinn in tow. A voluptuous young resident technician clad in green scrubs was sitting quietly at her desk when Moore’s gurney burst through the swinging door.

“Hey guys, the Morgue is on the other side of the building” she said.

“We know, we have a huge favor to ask...” blurted Berk as he read the named tag pinned over her curvaceous chest. “Laura, we need an MRI on this guy’s brain pretty damn quick...can you help us out?”

She squinted and asked, “Why do you need an MRI on a dead body? Whatever was wrong with him is obviously a moot point.”

Berk and Quinn laid out the history of Moore’s Uncle Dennis and the significance to the crash investigation of finding any abnormalities. Laura checked the schedule and the MRI was free for the next several hours.

“Sure, we can squeeze him in, but you two will have to move him for me, I’m not that strong… usually the patients can move when they come in here!” she giggled as she batted her eyes.

The MRI machine was humming gently as Moore’s body lay lifeless on the imaging table. Berk, Laura, and Quinn were intently staring at the images of Moore’s brain on the video monitor. The images contained no readily apparent abnormalities except for an eerie, hair thin silver shadow following the convolutions and branching structures of his brain.

“What the hell is that? Some type of interference?” Quinn said pointing to the monitor.

“I’m not sure...it looks like metal impregnation of some sort. But I’ve never seen any contaminant distributed throughout the brain quite like this.” She said.

Quinn and Berk looked at each other quizzically, then Quinn said “Laura, we need a hard copy of all this data and imaging...can you do that for us?”

Laura smiled and said, “Sure, just give me a few minutes!” and got up to begin printing out the data.

Quinn stared at Berk for a second and said “This might be significant, I don’t know why but my gut tells me we’re on to something here.”

Berk suggested getting a brain tissue sample and trying to separate the contamination for analysis. They both agreed just as Laura was returning with their data. “Here you go guys, hot off the presses” she giggled and handed Berk a stack of read-outs and photo images of Moore’s brain scan.

“Thanks Laura, “ Quinn said.

Berk began to grin and cut his eyes at Quinn. With a devilish smirk Berk asked “ Say Laura, hows about you and me hitting the town later…what time do you get off?”

Laura sighed and coolly replied “Oh. I usually get off about eleven o’clock but my shift ends at nine.” as she winked and strolled out of the room.

Berk moved to chase her, but Quinn grabbed him by the scruff of the neck saying “O.K., easy big fella! We have work to do, you can chase pussy later.”

“Well shit! She wants me man…” complained Berk.

“That’s what you always say…usually right before you get your face slapped!” Quinn remarked. “Come on, we’ve gotta get Moore back to the morgue and get that brain tissue sample.” said Quinn. They both put Moore’s body back on the gurney and trekked back to the morgue.

End Part 3

Move on to read part 4