‘I see.’ He pauses. ‘Actually, no, I don’t see. What are they?’
‘One’s his finger.’
Stroud laughs, and then he sees how serious Webley’s expression is.
‘I’m sorry. For a minute there I thought you said it was his finger.’
Webley puts one of the boxes on the desk in front of Stroud.
‘Open the box, Rory.’
Stroud reaches into his paper bag and removes a napkin. He wipes the grease from his fingers and the yolk from his chin. Then he opens the box.
‘Hmm, yes, that’s a finger, all right. Male Caucasian. Well-manicured. Does it definitely belong to your fiancé?’
‘There was a ring on the finger. The engagement ring I gave him.’
‘And why do you believe he sent it to you, rather than this being some kind of extortion attempt by a third party?’
‘It came with a note.’
‘But not a ransom note?’
‘No. He’s trying to get back with me. He’s also sent me flowers and cards and… and hair.’
Stroud looks as though he doubts his hearing again. ‘Hair?’
‘Yes. From his head. And from his body.’
Stroud spends a few seconds taking this in. ‘Unusual. And also rather extreme.’
‘Yes. And then there’s this…’ She puts down the second box.
‘What’s that?’
‘That’s what I’d like you to tell me.’
Stroud points to the box. ‘May I?’
‘Please do.’
Stroud removes the lid and peers in. ‘Ah. Now that is even more extreme.’
‘Do you know what it is?’
He turns his eyes on Webley. ‘What does it resemble to you?’
‘I don’t know. It’s like… like a dead worm.’
Stroud smiles. ‘Precisely. It’s why early medical practitioners referred to it as vermiform, meaning worm-like. This, my dear Megan, is a human appendix.’
Webley’s eyes widen in shock. ‘An appendix? You mean, from inside him?’
‘That is generally where the appendix resides, yes. Lower right quadrant of the abdomen.’
‘Jesus Christ! Are you telling me that he took out his own appendix?’
Stroud is as circumspect in his reply as he would be in a post-mortem report. ‘Not necessarily. Somebody else may have removed it. Was there a note with this, too?’
‘Yes. More of the same about us getting back together.’ She looks at Cody, then back at the pathologist. ‘Could he have removed it himself? Is that even possible?’
Stroud leans back in his chair. ‘It’s certainly possible. It’s rare, but it has been done before. There was a Russian chap on an Antarctic expedition who performed the operation on himself when he developed appendicitis. Then there was a doctor in America – Pennsylvania, I think – who also carried out his own appendectomy. In both cases, though, the men concerned were highly qualified surgeons. They would have known exactly how to proceed and could have done so swiftly and safely. Does your ex-fiancé have any medical training?’
‘No. He can’t even put a plaster on properly.’
Stroud taps his fingers on his desk. ‘I suppose there are online resources that will tell you where the appendix is located and how to get to it, but it’s one hell of a risky procedure for the uninitiated. It would involve a lot of pain if he didn’t have appropriate anaesthesia. And then there are the problems of sewing himself back up again, of preventing infection…’
Rory stops. He leans forward again, his expression now grim. ‘Look, it’s impossible for me to say whether your man had help in mutilating himself, but there’s one thing I do know for sure.’
‘And what’s that?’ Webley asks, clearly fearful of the answer.
‘If he has done so purely with the aim of endearing you to him, then – and I cast no aspersions on your undoubted attractive qualities here – he has gone completely and utterly insane.’
34
Love Her Madly
– The Doors
