Besides having a good eye for detail, a coroner should be able to work under extremely stressful conditions. They could be asked to visit crime scenes, identify human remains or supervise the transportation of corpses. Working often behind the scenes, a coroner is an integral part to this unit. It is sad to say that we are low in numbers and are extremely interested in people joining our team! If you have taken subjects like biology, chemistry and forensics, in addition to law and humanities, we encourage you to apply to our graduate program! We would love to see you working beside us!

           Mark’s eyes scan the announcement that has been placed on the door of the coroner’s office. He is scheduled for a meeting with the elder man on what may have been found and as a man of time, he is early for it.

           “Tuan! You’re here,” the coroner steps out of his office. He has patches of grey hair and a scruff of facial hair that he now scratches with his fingers. Dressed in his usual white lab coat, his black shoes peek out from beneath his pants and they lead the way towards the morgue.

           “How’s it going, Fernando?” Mark greets back, “I see your wife has been feeding you well.” He eyes a popped button on the stomach of his coworker.

           Fernando laughs. It is loud and bounces off the white walls of the building. It is a laugh that is jolly and hearty; a strange sound to hear in the location they currently are.

           “Maria always has a full meal whenever I return home. I swear, she’s trying to fatten me up like the witch from Hansel and Gretel,” he chuckles. He and Maria, a linguistic analysist also working in the police force, had been married for three months. They had invited nearly the whole station to their wedding and wanted to celebrate for another week before a case had dragged everyone back to work.

           The two turn a corner and the black door of the morgue greets their face. Fernando hands Mark a pair of gloves and a mask before they enter the room. The body has already been laid on the table and labelled after Fernando’s inspection.

           “I’ve already submitted the full report. You’ll find it on your desk by tomorrow morning,” Fernando speaks with a muffled voice due to the mask.

           The material itches Mark’s nose and he wrinkles it. His fingers carefully pick up the sheet that covers the body and he scans the female body.

           “You know I like to see the victims personally for each case. Do you mind giving me an overview?” he asks.

           The other man shrugs. This is not the first case he’s worked with Mark. While he was not a hard man to work with, he was extremely meticulous – borderline obsessive – in details to the point that it was tiring and burdensome.

           “No signs of struggles. She evidently took care of her body and skin; probably worked out in the times between work. Besides the large opening on her abdomen, the rest of her is intact.”

           “What is missing from her?”

           “Mainly her digestive system and portions of her excretory system. Everything within her ribcage has been preserved and unmoved.”

           “So nothing out of the ordinary then.”

           “Aside from the gaping hole? No. My best guess is that she knew her attacker. Or if she didn’t, then she at least didn’t sense any danger from him.”

           “What makes you say that?”

           “I found seminal fluid in her body.”

           This new information made Mark turn his attention away from the body and back to Fernando. He had finished circling the table while mentally confirming everything Fernando had been saying.

           “You’re suggesting our killer may have had with our victim then?”

           “Jane Doe, technically,” Fernando inserted, “We haven’t made an ID on her quite yet.”

           Mark waved the comment away.

           “Maybe,” Fernando recognized Mark’s piercing look, “I sent a sample of it to the lab geeks. It could be from the killer or it might be from when she last had .”

           Mark knew how long these types of analyses could tak