“Rather him than me.” Rowley ran a hand through his unruly hair. “The smell of that place makes me sick to my stomach.” He swiped at the end of his nose. “I’ll get at it.” He headed for the door.
“I’ll need you to sign off on the media release please, Sheriff.” Rio placed a sheet of paper on her desk.
Jenna read through it and was impressed by the presentation, which gave the barest details, and none of the evidence found at the scene. “I can see you’ve written a few of these in your time. Great job. Ask Maggie for our media contact details and call it in.” She signed the bottom of the page and handed it back to him.
Taking a few seconds to put her thoughts in order, Jenna waited for Blackhawk to finish his coffee and then smiled at him. “I really appreciate your help. The backpack might give up valuable evidence.”
“Any time.
” Blackhawk looked at Jenna and stood. “I’m only a call away if you need me.” He yawned. “I’m heading home to get some rest. I don’t envy your next job, Jenna. I hope Shane can give you a clue to finding this killer.” He pushed his hat on his head and followed Rio out the door.
Jenna stared after them. “That’s one drawback about being sheriff.” She grimaced. “I don’t have an excuse to avoid an autopsy.” She met Kane’s combat face. He was already zoning out his emotions. “Although, this case is intriguing.” She sighed. “In its own horrific way.”
Sixteen
Steeling herself for the gruesome task ahead, Jenna tried to ignore the smell of the morgue and the cold that seeped through her clothes. She heard Kane clear his throat and Rio’s boots click on the tile as they walked in a procession, her in the lead, to the examination room with the glowing red light outside. Her deputies’ faces were grim as they shed their jackets and suited up for the autopsy. The air filled with mentholated salve and gloves snapped into place. Once everyone was ready, she scanned her card at the door and they all stepped inside. As usual, Wolfe had completed the preliminary examination before they arrived. Screens held X-ray images and an assortment of results from various tests he’d already conducted in their absence.
They walked to stand a little to the side of Wolfe, Emily, and Colt Webber, to peer at the victim’s body on a gurney under the bright light. As they turned to look at them, she held up the evidence bag. “Atohi found Laurie’s backpack, where do you want it?”
“Emily and Colt will go through it in another room.” Wolfe waved them away. “I want this room as clean as possible.”
Jenna handed Webber the plastic bag and smiled at Emily behind her mask. “Last semester, you must be excited. What’s next?”
“Tons. I’m planning on completing an accelerated medical degree, then I’ll have at least two years of residency before I can apply to be certified. There’s a ton more studying to do if I want to specialize in forensic pathology. Right now, I’m more concerned about the postgrad finals.” Emily shrugged. “I’m usually confident going into examinations but this means so much to me, I’m a little nervous.”
“Sometimes that’s a good thing.” Kane wiggled his eyebrows. “Overconfidence can be a curse.”
“You always say something to make me feel better.” Emily squeezed his arm and then hurried after Webber.
“Before we start…” Wolfe moved his attention to Jenna. “The last text Laurie made was at five on Saturday evening. I went through everything going back a month, it is all general chat. The only interesting text between her and Wyatt Cooper, the boyfriend, was about him being annoyed about the attention Cory Hughes, the maintenance man, was giving her. It was then they broke up. Laurie told him she didn’t like jealousy and blocked his calls.”
“That’s motive.” Jenna considered the information. “Cooper was at the practice and could’ve followed her. If she needed a ride, she’d likely get in his vehicle.” She looked at Kane. “We’ll need to see what he drives.” She turned back to Wolfe. “What else do you have for me?”
“We have some trace evidence.” Wolfe indicated to the screen. “The men’s briefs are a generic brand and untraceable but they held significant amounts of DNA. We also found a trace of foreign saliva on the screwdriver and extracted a good DNA sample.” He moved to the screen. “The samples are unrelated to the victim and each other.” He puffed out a long sigh. “Both of course are useless unless we find a match. As Cooper and Hughes had some involvement with Laurie, I’d start there but it will be a huge task. I’d suggest you call in Jo Wells and ask if Bobby Kalo can run the samples through the FBI databases.”
“It’s a bit early to call in the FBI.” Kane frowned. “We’ll get those samples and hunt down a few suspects before we contact them so we don’t look like complete jerks.”
“It’s your call.” Wolfe went back to staring at the results. “This case is complicated and I’d have thought you’d appreciate some input from Jo. She’s a friend, she won’t pull the FBI card if you don’t specifically ask her to intervene in the case.”
“Fine.” Kane didn’t look amused. “I’ll call her if I can’t figure out this guy.”
Excited by the evidence, Jenna stared at the screen. “So, we may have two suspects?”
“Yeah, there’s a chance.” Wolfe’s gray eyes flicked to her.
“I figure the saliva was an error and the briefs a message.” Rio examined the results. “He looked at Kane. “What do you think?”
“I’ll be listening to what Wolfe has to say before making any decisions or running to the FBI for help.” Kane shrugged. “Seems to me the killers went to extreme measures not to leave any trace evidence.”
Jenna lifted her gaze to the images on the screen. Wolfe had photographed both sides of the body. She looked at him. “We’re interrupting you, please go on.”
“Okay.” Wolfe used a remote to bring up another set of X-rays. “There’s no sign of blunt force trauma outside the perimeter of the stab wounds. As you can see of the twenty-two stab wounds on the face, eyes, and torso, in ten, we have evidence of damage to the underlying bone. The hyoid bone is fractured but the larynx isn’t crushed.” He turned to look at them. “I took samples of blood and I’m running a tox screen as routine but I tested specifically for a variety of sedatives to rule out the date rape scenario. I found no trace of any sedative in her system and I found no latent prints on her body.”
Jenna examined the body. Apart from the stab wounds and neck bruising, the body only had a few superficial bruises. There were no defensive wounds. “Any sign of sexual activity?”
“No.” Wolfe walked to the body. “I have already mentioned the livor mortis but as you can see from the extent in the lower regions of the body, she was in a sitting position for some time, perhaps eight hours or more before being relocated. I found something notable as well.” He looked at Kane. “If you could help me turn her over?”
“Sure.” Kane moved the body with great care and gentleness.