Look Again - Lisa Scottoline [37]
Ellen wasn’t about to ask.
“We wash the body again and apply lotion, to protect against dehydration. After death, the eyes begin to sink into the skull, and we pack cotton into the eye socket, place a plastic eyecap under the eyelid, then pull back the eyelid to apply adhesive and keep the eye closed.”
Ellen’s stomach turned over.
“Death also causes the facial muscles to relax, and the jaw drops open. We make the eyes and mouth as lifelike as possible. As we say, we set the features.”
Ellen tried to remain professional. “Now, how was the procedure in Lateef’s case?”
“With Lateef, there were so many gunshot wounds on one side of his face that we had to use his school photo as a guide and build from that foundation.”
Ellen tried to visualize it. That little face, smiling from his memorial T-shirt. “Couldn’t you use the other side of his face?”
“No. With as many gunshots as he had, there was significant facial swelling, which distorted even the good side of his face. The trauma, you understand. We use chemicals to reduce the swelling.”
“How did you cover the bullet wounds?”
“On his face?” Ralston frowned. “You misunderstand me. There was no covering. There was nothing there. So in his case, we reconstructed. We snipped away the excess tissue around the wounds and glued the skin that was left to his cheekbone and eye socket.”
Ellen didn’t want to know more. Nobody should know this stuff. It was unthinkable. She couldn’t help but think of losing Will this way. Of him being the child on the table. Of his beautiful face being the one glued together.
“We poured wax into the bullet holes to fill the gap and used cosmetics to match the shade of the wax to his skin, which was lighter than his mother. Some mortuaries have airbrushes, but we don’t need that. I’m forty-two years in this business, and my father had it before me. We don’t airbrush.”
Ellen rallied at the businesslike note in his tone.
“The result wasn’t perfect, but it was acceptable to Laticia and the family, and it gave them comfort, to see him as they knew him in life. Even my niece gave us a good grade.”
“That’s wonderful,” Ellen said, with an admiration she didn’t try to hide, but Ralston shrugged it off.
“Even for a single gunshot wound, we wouldn’t cover it, that would never work. The putty would simply sink into the wound.” He held up an index finger. “That’s one thing I’ve had to order more of, wax and putty. We’ve already used four times the amount that we did last year, and the manufacturer can’t keep it in stock. I have a friend in Newark, he’s in the same bind.”
Ellen scribbled away. These would be the effects of murder that would flesh out the story, from a tragic perspective.
“And all the eyecaps I have are too big for children. For Lateef and the others, we have to resize the eyecaps. Cut them down with scissors.”
Ellen wrote that down, too. “I hope the day never comes when they make eyecaps for kids.”
“I hear that.” Ralston nodded. “In addition, with Lateef, we didn’t use a wire in his mouth. We sutured the muscle and used adhesive, and it worked very well. He had so much bruising, but luckily, the displacement during the injection cleared a lot of that. That’s what we’d hoped for.”
“You use the word ‘we’ a lot. Did you have help with Lateef?”
“My son John. We worked together.” Ralston’s tone softened. “We started at eight o’clock and we finished at dawn. My grandson, he’s Lateef’s age, and well, it wasn’t easy for either John or me.” He coughed slightly, and Ellen was about to ask a question, but held her tongue when she saw his head bow slightly and a stillness sweep over his slight frame. “Lateef, he’s the one I’ll never forget. I knew that boy. When he came in, looking the way he did, at first I didn’t know what to do.” Ralston shook his head, still downcast. “I didn’t know what to do. I had to go outside. I stood in the back, by receiving. I asked the Lord to help me, to give me strength.”
Ellen nodded. She didn’t take a note. It would be off the record. It was too personal. Suddenly her cell phone rang, destroying