Someone crashed into her with such force that the air rushed from her lungs. Amanda staggered over the uneven ground, trying to remain upright. The next moment a large smelly cloth clamped over her face, covering her mouth and nose, then an arm like steel closed around her, crushing her ribs. She couldn’t breathe. Panic gripped her, she thrashed around, kicking, but the cloth against her face held tight and she sucked in a strange taste. Her stomach rolled and her limbs became weak and useless. A strange sleepiness engulfed her and she opened her eyes wide, fighting to stay awake, but the forest seemed to melt around her. A voice, low and husky, came close to her ear. Warm breath brushed her cheek.
“No, honey, it’s the Big Bad Wolf.”
Twenty-Three
Heavy-hearted, Jenna slid out of Kane’s truck and made her way into the medical examiner’s office. There could be nothing worse than witnessing an autopsy of a young girl and Wolfe had saved her from the more gruesome aspects by offering her a run-down of his findings. Having both Wolfe and Webber as part-time deputies, she covered the legal aspect of having an officer to witness the post. She used her card to access the morgue and glanced over one shoulder, to see Kane’s rigid expression. “I figure this is the worst part of our job.”
“Yeah, it’s not something I generally look forward to.” Kane moved through the door. “I’ve been wondering all night what Wolfe has found. He seemed confused and that’s n
ot like him at all.”
Jenna inhaled the familiar smell only a morgue carried and wrinkled her nose in disgust. As she pushed through the double doors leading to the examination room, a near freezing chill hit her face. She smiled at Wolfe, sitting beside Webber and his daughter Emily, chatting about his findings as if they were discussing last night’s movie. “Morning. What have you got for me?”
“More than I bargained for, I’m afraid.” Wolfe rose to his feet and indicated to Webber to bring out Lindy Rosen’s body. “As I mentioned, the body temperature I took at the scene didn’t add up to the series of events we figured happened to Lindy. Since doing her autopsy, I’ve a completely different timeline.”
Intrigued, Jenna turned to look down at Lindy’s body. Her skin was deathly white and Wolfe had made a number of incisions around her throat plus the usual Y-shaped one down her chest. She had prepared for this visit and pushed away the part of her that grieved this girl, allowing her professional side to take over. She needed to see Lindy through Wolfe’s eyes and use the information to catch her killer. “Okay. So what was so unusual about this case?”
“The one very pertinent fact is that Lindy died no more than one hour after her parents found her missing.” Wolfe took the iPad Emily handed him and held it out to Jenna. “When I took her temperature at the scene, it was too low for her time of death to have been in the last hour or two before we located her and when I loaded her into the van, I noticed the rigor wasn’t consistent with the assumed time of death.”
“So you’re saying he kidnapped her, filmed her and murdered her before he sent Jenna the video?” Kane’s brow furrowed. “So what time do you believe she died?”
“At least six hours before you found her. Likely, he killed her within three hours of her abduction.” Wolfe pulled on latex gloves and rolled Lindy’s body onto its side. “See the apparent bruising on her buttocks, shoulder blades and forearms? That isn’t bruising. The cause is when a body lies in the same position for some hours and blood engorges the tissues. It starts quite slowly after about two hours but from the dark color of the hypostasis, Lindy was lying on her back for approximately six hours after death occurred.”
“She was last seen around midnight Sunday and we found her at five thirty on Monday afternoon.” Jenna pulled out her cellphone and scanned the files. “What a sick SOB, playing a game with me when he’d already murdered her.” She glanced up at Wolfe. “Cause of death?”
“Asphyxiation caused by strangulation. All the signs are there.” Wolfe met her gaze. “He strangled her from behind using the cord we found with the body. I found no indication of sexual assault.”
“Didn’t you find any trace evidence at all?” Kane stared at Wolfe’s iPad. “That’s unusual in itself.”
“No DNA but Lindy has a story to tell. The events leading to her death are reasonably clear.” Wolfe covered the body and indicated to small red patches on Lindy’s cheek. “There’s a handprint on her face and the insides of her nostrils are inflamed, as if she inhaled a substance. I’m waiting on the results of blood tests to confirm but I figure he used diethyl ether or chloroform to subdue her, maybe mixed with another substance, perhaps cocaine.” He placed his hand over the marks to demonstrate the position of the handprint. “I believe he was straddling her at the time and if you see here, where her teeth have pierced her bottom lip, I would say he used a considerable amount of force.”
“Any other scratches or defense wounds?” Kane walked to the end of the gurney and examined Lindy’s feet. “Her feet are dirty. Why did she walk out the house without wearing slippers?”
“This worries me as well. She has no scrapes or head injuries to indicate she ran away and was hunted down then subdued. No defense wounds, DNA under her nails, nothing. The dirt on her feet could have come from beneath the bench outside the old schoolhouse. I sent a swab for testing but I would imagine it will only give a local result.”
The scene filled Jenna’s mind. She lifted her chin and stared at Wolfe. “If the killer was in her room, we’re looking at this all wrong. Somehow he gained access to the house, made it to her bedroom, pinned her on the bed and knocked her out with chloroform or similar then carried her out the house.”
“How did he get inside?” Kane covered Lindy’s feet with the sheet. “Mr. Rosen set the alarm around six and if he snuck into the house and hid beforehand, he would have had to know the code to turn off the alarm when he left.”
Jenna shook her head. “This happened to me, remember? Someone followed me inside once, hid in a cupboard and watched me use my code. I was alone, but the Rosens have their daughters running all over – it wouldn’t have been easy for him to slip into their house unnoticed.”
“I figure they would need to know the layout of the house.” Webber moved to Jenna’s side. “They’d have to find a safe place to hide and wait until the family went to bed.”
Jenna glanced up at Kane. “That would cut down the suspects to men who’ve had access to the house over the last few weeks.”
“Maybe not.” Emily’s fingers moved swiftly over her computer’s keyboard. “The ranches on the new building project are all constructed by the same company. I noticed the blueprints displayed in the window of the real estate broker and they’re all available online too.” She pointed to the screen. “Look, they’re using homes already built in the area as examples and each has a floorplan.”
Deflated, Jenna sighed. “Dammit, I thought we’d halved our list of possible suspects.” She moved her attention back to Wolfe. “Anything of use on her laptop or cellphone?”
“No, just the usual.” Wolfe sighed. “Her diary held nothing of real interest. She had a crush on a boy at school and hoped he’d ask her to the Spring Festival dance, is all.”
“Okay, send me your final report when possible.” Jenna removed her gloves and dropped them into the garbage. “We’ll head back to the office. Rowley is hunting down people to corroborate alibis. I’ll be interested to see what he’s discovered.” She cleared her throat. “The Rosens will want to know when you’re through with Lindy’s examination.”
“I won’t be releasing the body today. I’ll call them and explain.” Wolfe nodded at Webber, who wheeled the gurney away, then turned back to Jenna. “This is an unusual case. Why did he kill her? I can’t figure out a motive. In most kidnap cases the motive is money, rape and murder or to keep a sex slave. Lindy died by strangulation but her killer follows no pattern I’ve seen before. It’s too clean for a first kill and a novice would leave trace evidence behind. In my opinion this man has killed before and often.”
“Oh, yeah.” Kane’s gaze followed the gurney. “This killer is well organized, he’s planning every move and for some crazy reason is involving Jenna in his madness. It’s as if he’s playing a game with her, as if he wants to be caught.”
Jenna pushed both hands through her hair. Why did killers focus on her? This hadn’t been the first time a killer had targeted her. “Why me? If he wants to be caught why not give himself up and confess?”