The unease drained away from Jenna as the need to know what happened to Laurie Turner took precedence and she moved closer. “Oh, I see it. There’s a crease on her back.”
“I took swabs as decomposing skin collects trace elements like a magnet. There were dust particles, nothing special but I found traces of polyethylene. In my opinion she was wrapped in plastic or was at least lying on plastic. The plastic sheet was creased and caused the mark on her back. This would account for the clean crime scene and the light coating of sandy soil on the body at the scene.”
Jenna nodded, seeing the scene unfold in her head. “The killer wrapped her in plastic and took her to the mines, where he stabbed her post-mortem as you’ve established. That would account for the bodily fluids spatter and then after tossing the screwdriver down the mineshaft, he rolled her out of the plastic, covered his tracks, and headed for the hills.”
“Hey, wind it back some.” Kane was examining the back of Laurie’s neck. He’d lifted the hair and was peering at the crossed over mark on the neck. “She was sitting for some time on plastic, but who just sits on a plastic sheet and waits to be strangled.” He glanced at Wolfe. “I’ve seen this before, it’s a classic attack from behind.” He followed the mark to under the jawbone. “It’s under the chin. I figure we’ve two people involved, one driver and the killer in the back seat, perhaps hiding. Laurie climbs in and the driver pulls away. The second drops a cord around her neck and crosses it over, pulling her up and over the seat. Maybe she had her seatbelt on and was pinned.” He lifted his attention back to Wolfe. “Did you find any trace under her nails?”
“No, and she’d have blacked out in about ten seconds.” Wolfe motioned for Kane to assist him rolling her onto her back. “The stab wounds are all inflicted by the same instrument. They differ in depth, which would indicate the attack continued until they tired. The main concentration is to the face and breast areas.”
“I’ve seen something similar.” Rio was standing arms folded over his chest and leaning against a counter. “It was a case where a guy’s wife murdered his girlfriend but she used a kitchen knife. The same attack pattern, face and chest.”
Jenna nodded. “That’s good to know, so we could be looking at a spurned lover perhaps?” She stared at Kane. “Although, she seems too young to be involved in a love triangle.”
“We could be looking at a female killer.” Kane narrowed his gaze. “A very jealous woman.”
Milling over the situation Jenna nodded. “Maybe two female suspects.” She stared at Kane. “She’d more likely take the offer of a ride from a woman or even two.”
“More like she knew the driver.” Kane shrugged. “That’s the impression of the witness and from her clear descriptions of everything else, I’d say she doesn’t miss much.”
“Getting back to the autopsy…” Wolfe pulled down the mic to record his findings. “We have the body of Laurie Turner, age sixteen years and two months. Caucasian, brown eyes and hair. She is average height and weight for her age. The injuries to the upper torso and face number twenty-two and are consistent in size and shape of a screwdriver found at the scene. Trace evidence on the screwdriver is a match for Laurie Turner and foreign DNA was located in an overlay suggesting it arrived after the cessation of the attack.” He turned off the mic and looked at Jenna and her team. “I’ll pause for questions but I need to keep the audio record undisturbed as I’ll need to make an exact copy of my findings for the report.”
Jenna took a step back as the examination of the body followed. This was the part that usually caused even the most experienced law enforcement officers to buckle. Organs removed, examined, weighed, and samples of stomach contents taken made her glance away a few times
to catch her breath. She didn’t have to worry about Kane, he seemed to take everything in his stride and was assisting Wolfe, but her interest wandered to Rio. He had surprised her so far. On the job, his input was intelligent and he knew his stuff. It was no different in the morgue. His gaze hadn’t shifted from the autopsy, as if he was mentally filing every detail, and perhaps he was. He showed a keen interest in his eyes and was listening intently to Wolfe’s every word. For a young man, he had knowledge beyond his years and as a person she liked him. He’d fit into the team just fine and for her to make that judgment on his first day was remarkable. Her attention snapped back to Wolfe the moment he started talking again.
“Stab wounds vary in depth and angle. The depth is from two and a half inches to half an inch on the chest and there are two four-inch incisions on the lower torso.” Wolfe glanced up at Jenna. “I count ten wounds to the chest and lower torso and twelve wounds to the face.” He turned off the mic as Emily and Webber came back into the room. “Ah good. Emily, take over and complete the sutures.” He turned on the mic. “My conclusion is that cause of death is homicide by asphyxiation due to strangulation by an unknown subject. All other injuries were inflicted post-mortem by person or persons unknown at this time.” He turned off the mic and looked at Jenna. “All my findings will be in my full report.”
Jenna turned to Emily. “Was there anything of interest in the backpack?”
“Not inside, no. Just the usual things a girl would need at practice but her pompoms were missing. They usually have their own for practice. We found quite a few different sets of prints on the backpack and some fibers that could be from the interior carpet of a vehicle. They look too fine to be from a rug or similar. We’ve entered all the information on file and the samples are waiting for processing.”
Jenna looked at Kane. “We’d have to print everyone at the practice, all her friends, and her father, to use for elimination.”
“It’s a waste of time.” Kane shook his head. “If they took so much care to cover trace evidence, they wouldn’t handle the backpack without gloves. They dropped it miles away from her body to put us off their trail.”
“I’d be looking more closely at the fibers.” Rio moved closer. “She would drop her backpack on the floor between her legs, when she got into the vehicle. If the backpack has picked up some fibers, we could trace them to the vehicle. We know the make and once we know the model and year, it would be easier to narrow down the owner.”
“Leave it with me.” Wolfe pulled down his facemask and headed for the door. “I’ll get to it immediately.”
Jenna turned to Kane and Rio. “Let’s go.” She followed Wolfe out the door. “There are so many databases we need to search. Bringing in the FBI computer whizz kid Bobby Kalo would make life so much easier. “I’m calling Jo the moment we get back to the office. Are you okay with that?”
“Sure.” Kane dragged off his mask and smiled at her. “This case is going to need all the boots on the ground we can muster.”
Seventeen
Outside the ME’s office, Jenna sucked in gulps of fresh mountain air but the smell of death lingered in her nostrils as if it had taken up permanent residence. She followed Kane to his truck and leaned against the door just breathing. At the end of the road, she could see people milling around Main. The preparations were in full swing for the Fall Festival parade the following day. The theme this year was sport and local teams would present their players on floats. A band followed by cheerleading squads would march down Main and the mayor would officially open the festival. The rest of the week would be filled with excitement and although at times the tourists could be a problem, she looked forward to the bunting, smiling faces, balloons, and cotton candy. All festivals brought a myriad of aromas, from the fried onions, barbecued ribs, and the famous pulled pork to the cake and candy stalls. She almost wanted to roll in it with delight.
“There goes our dance at the Fall Festival.” Kane slid an arm around her shoulder and gave her a squeeze. “I was looking forward to having my toes crushed again this year.” He grinned at her. “For someone who can learn hand-to-hand combat moves so easily, I can’t understand why you can’t dance.” He winced when she dug him in the ribs. “Although, you’re getting better.”
Jenna snorted. “Have you thought it might be you?” She poked him again. “I didn’t step on Ty’s feet when we danced at Antlers.”
“Yeah, but Carter was holding you way out here.” Kane spread his arms. “He has a keen eye, and probably noticed the scuffs on my boots.”
Jenna rolled her eyes. “Thanks, Dave, I feel so much better now.” She ducked away and headed around the hood. “I guess we’d better get back to the office.”
“I figure we should hunt down Cory Hughes first, he should be at the school at this time.” Kane opened his door. “If he’s innocent, he’ll give up a DNA sample but we’ll have to obtain permission from Wyatt Cooper’s parents to test him.”
Jenna nodded. “Sure, and we need the samples yesterday. Let’s go.”