Part 12 (2/2)
”Well, it indicates that he knows what he's doing. Another four to eight hundred degrees and we're talking about cremation practices. Crematoriums usually burn bodies at somewhere between fourteen hundred and eighteen hundred degrees.”
”So the fires this guy is setting aren't just random fires by some random firebug in other words.”
Sandy shrugged. ”I don't know for sure. That's above my pay grade. But yeah...to get to temperatures like that, it's more than just using some lighter fluid and striking a match.”
”And do you know how crematoriums deal with teeth since they don't burn down?”
”Yes, they're usually ground up just like bones. I'm not sure what sort of a machine does it, but with human remains that are cremated, it's very rare to find anything other than ash.”
Avery nodded, taking it all in. She had started to think that their man might have had some sort of connection with a crematorium but based on what Sandy was telling her, this man wasn't quite that efficient. So that had to leave other links that they had not discovered yet. Crematoriums might certainly be worth looking into, but Avery wasn't so sure it was the most pertinent place to start looking.
”Can I help with anything else?” Sandy asked.
Avery tried to think if there were any other questions that needed to be asked but was interrupted by the ringing of her cell phone. She grabbed it and saw that it was Connelly. A slow sinking feeling started in her stomach.
”This is Avery,” she said.
”Black, where are you?”
”With Forensics. What's up?”
”I need you out here ASAP. We've got another body.”
CHAPTER TWENTY.
Having seen the state of the two previous victims as little more than ash and bones, Avery was not mentally ready for what she saw at the third crime scene. She could tell right away that something was different about this scene when she parked her car behind O'Malley's. The location was very similar to the first scene where the remains of Keisha Lawrence had been discovered-derelict, on the farthest edges of town, and just inside their jurisdiction. Only, whereas the first location had been in the midst of undeveloped land, the newest scene was located among several buildings that had been shut down and abandoned long ago.
Several other cars were parked along the street, one of which was a news van. So it had hit that point already-the news was all over this, no doubt spurred on by what was starting to seem like an interdepartmental rivalry of sorts. She surveyed the scene and saw that there was a thin line of activity heading into a small alley between an old brick building and a smaller building that looked to have once been a convenience store.
She pa.s.sed by two officers-one was Finley and the other was a younger guy she had never spoken to-keeping the press away from the alleyway. She edged by them and made her way into the alley. She saw O'Malley, Connelly, and Ramirez standing in a semicircle, all looking down.
She also saw Agent Duggan from the FBI. He barely looked up as she approached. He had apparently gotten the hint that she really didn't want his help. Still, she had to admit that the presence of the FBI made her feel a little more at ease. It showed that a case that was so far escaping her was severe enough to have the bureau involved.
When the four men heard her approach, O'Malley turned to her and nodded her over. She approached slowly, not liking the look on O'Malley's face. She cast her eyes to the ground and felt herself stop breathing for a few moments as she saw the body.
She could only wish this one had been reduced to nothing more than ash. As it was, though, this body had been only partially burned and that was somehow worse.
First of all, the shape of the actual body remained. While it was little more than bare bones from the waist down, flesh still clung to the abdomen, ribs, and lower neck. Even the lower half of the face remained and that, as far as Avery was concerned, was the most grisly thing of all, looking to a corner of a singed mouth that was burned into a frown. What remained there was clearly skin and tissue but it had been badly charred.
”The d.a.m.ned thing still feels like there's heat coming off of it,” O'Malley said. He then looked to Avery and Ramirez, giving them a hopeful and slightly angry look. ”If you two could wrap this one up p.r.o.nto, I'd appreciate it. We can't keep having this happen...especially not with the media on our heels and you,” he said, stabbing a finger in Avery's directions, ”setting out to make us look like idiots at every turn.”
Agent Duggan looked at her with an amused little smile. Whatever respect he'd had for her when they first met seemed to be long gone.
”What the h.e.l.l is that supposed to mean?” Avery asked.
”You were very vocal about Denny c.o.x being innocent,” O'Malley said. ”Simmons and the other B3 guys hung on your every word. And now that c.o.x is clean and off the hook, it's making us look like fools.”
Maybe if you'd listened to me from the start, she thought, but bit the comment back. Instead, she slowly stalked around the scene, taking in every detail as she came to it. The first and most obvious thing to note was that this body was not nearly as burned down as the others has been.
He's either getting lazy or he was in a hurry this time, she thought.
With a grimace, she hunkered down next to the body. This one was also a female. She'd been burned with her clothes on; a few stray sc.r.a.ps of burned fabric were in her hair and fused to her chest. She looked at the woman's face. The flesh here had been totally burned away. Avery could see around the teeth, though, that a few traces of the gum line remained. She wondered if this might be enough for Sandy and her crew down in Forensics to mine some more information about when the burning had occurred.
She scoured the area for more fragments like they had found at the first scene but could find none. There were also no clearly visible footprints of any kind.
”What are you thinking?” Connelly asked her.
”I'm wondering why he did a sloppy job this time. I wonder if he intentionally left her in this state just to shock us or if he was hurried or rushed this time. Seeing the body like this makes me think he might not be as methodical as we originally thought.”
”Great insights,” Duggan said. Avery thought he was only speaking because he felt he needed to in order to be noticed. ”If the killer has the capacity to be sloppy, he can screw up enough to basically leave a sign for us, making him easy to catch.”
”A good theory, Black,” O'Malley said. ”Now let's see you prove it.”
Avery continued to scour the area, looking for any sign as to how long the body had been there. She saw no clear drag marks, indicating that the killer had carried the body and then quite literally dumped it here in the alley. Her mind turned to the street corners out along the street. While this was a mostly dead part of the city, she thought the traffic cameras in the nearby stoplights might be worth checking out.
She was dimly aware of a cell phone ringing behind her and O'Malley's voice answering the call. His voice was agitated but she paid it very little mind as she continued to look around the alleyway.
No blood, no footprints...but maybe the lazy nature of the burn this time around will reveal some fingerprints or other d.a.m.ning evidence. Maybe- ”Black!”
She wheeled around at the sound of her shouted name. It had come from O'Malley and when she faced him, she saw absolute rage in his eyes. She also saw that he was still holding his cell phone. She wondered what the call had been about.
He stalked toward hers, leaving the other three men behind. Duggan watched on, clearly quite interested. When O'Malley reached her, they were nearly standing nose-to-nose. He spoke quietly but with unmistakable fury.
”What is it?” she asked.
”I just got a call from Peggy Stiller. You know who that is?”
”I can't say that I do.”
”She's one of the security administrators over at South Bay House of Corrections. She and I go way back to when she was a lowly secretary for the local PD. The last time you got busted going to see that psycho Howard Randall, I called in a favor. I asked her to let me know if you ever showed your face over there again to speak with him. And guess what little bit of news I just received?”
”Sir, I-”
”Please correct me if I'm wrong. But after last time, didn't I specifically ask you to stop a.s.sociating with Randall?”
”You did.”
”So you agree that this would be considered insubordination, yes?”
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