i often regretted not just putting larson down and running over there. >> reporter: stunned, she called her son, cory's brother pedar, at his dental practice. >> and i get a phone call from my mom. it was just kind of out of the blue. i didn't think anything -- >> cory's dead. that can't be. >> yeah. exactly. >> 38 years old, right? >> she's 38 years old. there's no way. just saw her a couple weeks ago. >> reporter: jeff baird, then a detective with the quincy police department, was assigned to head the death investigation. when he arrived at the scene, he went straight upstairs. he was in the bedroom when the coroner examined cory's body. >> he tested her body temperature by placing his hand against her abdomen, i followed suit. >> was the body warm or cold to the touch? >> the abdomen was warm to the touch. >> it was warm. what did that tell the coroner? >> he knew that the time of death was narrowed then for the body to still be warm. >> reporter: it seemed clear that cory's death had been recent, within the past hour or so. not at all certain why or how the woman died. the detective couldn't rule out any possibility, including foul play. >> around the room itself, any overturned glasses or any signs of a struggle? >> no. >> so as i hear you, you're