The last killer they had investigated targeted teenage girls, not young couples. The MO here was different to the killer in Black Rock Falls last summer, and it made her wonder if a jealous lover was responsible; or could it have been an opportunistic kill? It would be interesting to hear what Jill Bates, the forensic anthropologist from Helena, discovered after she examined the remains.
In the meantime, she would discuss her thoughts with Kane over dinner, although he preferred no shoptalk when they spent their downtime together. This case was so intriguing, she could not wait. His insights would help her decide which way to take the investigation.
“Where do you want the bags, ma’am?” Bradford moved to her side.
Dragged out of deep thought, Jenna smiled at her. “Over there with the other gear.” She followed and dropped her bag then removed her backpack.
The wind had picked up and she glanced skyward. The last thing they needed was rain but above only a few white clouds blocked the sun. After pushing her way through the bushes and avoiding a patch of poison ivy, she moved to Rowley’s side in a small clearing. “What do we have?”
“The majority of Paige Allen’s bones, apart from the hands.” Rowley’s forehead creased. “Wolfe believes she wasn’t murdered here. We searched around and discovered some clothes about ten yards down the trail. I asked Wolfe before collecting them, and he said to go ahead.”
“Okay.”
Interested, her attention moved over the bones spread over the ground and sticking out like mushrooms from the forest floor. When Blackhawk walked to her side wearing a sorrowful expression, she noticed a pair of jeans in his hands. “What is it? What have you found?”
“These clothes are almost intact. They haven’t been torn apart.” Blackhawk slid the jeans inside an evidence bag and passed them to her. “The underwear is inside as if they were pulled from her feet first. An animal would shred them to get to the flesh.” He gave her a concerned frown. “We found her boots as well and they are still laced up.” He motioned toward Rowley. “He has them.”
“Ma’am.” Rowley held out an evidence bag containing a pair of hiking boots. “We were very careful not to disturb the area but these were thrown under a bush.” He pointed into the woods. “I think Wolfe needs to take a look over in that area. One of the trees has a few holes in it on one side; too many for a random shooter.”
The breeze had turned into a howling wind and cold seeped through her clothes, chilling skin damp from walking. “Okay, thanks. Leave the evidence with Bradford and go tell him.” She went to her backpack and bent to pull out her jacket. The sun lost its heat around two in the afternoon, and this high up the ranges, the temperature could drop below zero at this time of the year.
“Do you think he raped her?” Bradford was staring at the clothes inside the evidence bags. “From the damage he did to her face, he was a mean son of a bitch.”
Jenna pulled up the zipper on her jacket and turned to Bradford. “Unless he left his DNA on those jeans, we’ll never know. Unfortunately, the remains will tell us little in this state. We can only hope the killer made a mistake and left a fragment of evidence behind. If he has, Wolfe will find it, and by now Kane will have an outline of a profile for the killer.” She sighed. “This case is different from any I’ve handled before.”
“Deputy Kane suggested I familiarize myself with some of the old cases, and none of the killers seemed to kill for fun.” Bradford picked at her fingernails as if the topic disturbed her. “The bullet wounds and the arrow through the head look like the killer was enjoying himself.”
“Yeah, you’re right.” Kane walked up to them with an unreadable expression. “This murderer kills for fun. In all the other homicides we’ve investigated, we discovered the killer had suffered trauma in their past that triggered their behavior. This one is dangerous because we don’t have a pattern of behavior yet. Unpredictable is the hardest to catch. I’ll need to look for similar crimes and see if this killer has struck elsewhere before I profile him.” He turned to Jenna. “We have a probable crime scene. Wolfe is still collecting evidence.”
Jenna nodded. “Show me.”
“Roger that.” He glanced back at Bradford with an expression etched in stone. “Stay here with the evidence. I’ll send Rowley and Webber back then you can start hauling everything back to the horses.”
Jenna followed him into the bushes and touched his arm to get his attention. “It’s getting late and cold. I can’t believe you want to come up here for a hiking weekend… We’ll freeze to death.”
“Nah.” He turned and grinned at her. “We’ll walk the trails during the day and spend the night in a cabin. There are at least six plateaus in the area I planned to visit. There are views up here you can only see by foot. Or we can cheat a bit and bring the horses.” He held the bushes back for her to pass. “I promise you’ll be as warm as toast. We have to do it soon though, before winter. There is no way I’m coming up here once the snow comes, cabin or no cabin.”
“Okay, we’ll talk about it some more over dinner.” She surveyed the scene and glanced at Wolfe. “How long do you figure these bones have been here?”
“A year or so.” Wolfe meticulously collected soil samples after removing the bones scattered at the base of the tree. He dropped onto all fours and peered closely at the ground then taking a brush from his bag feathered away the dirt. “Well, look what we have here. A diamond engagement ring and there’s an inscription inside.”
“What does it say?” Jenna moved closer and peered over his shoulder.
“Paige and Dawson forever.” Wolfe dropped the ring into a small plastic bag and sealed it.
“They are the same names on the driver’s licenses we found in the backpacks.” Kane’s eyes narrowed. “If that ring is real, it would have cost a fortune.”
“So we can rule out robbery as a motive.” Jenna let out a long sigh. “At least we have something to go on. With the identities of the victims we’ll be able to locate relatives and find out when they went missing.”
“Just a minute. For now, we are assuming the remains belong to Allen and Sanders, and they probably do.” Wolfe brushed the leaves from his pants and his cool gaze lifted to their faces. “All we have are bones and I do not intend to sign off on the identity of either victim until I have positive proof. This means dental records or a DNA test.” His attention settled on Jenna. “The female victim’s bones have been scattered over some distance. In truth, we’re only surmising this is one person; it’s easy to jump to conclusions.”
“That’s fine by me.” She nodded then turned her attention to Kane. “If the remains are Paige Allen’s, how do you figure the murder went down?”
“It would have been brutal.”
Jenna stood to one side and watched as Kane recreated the murder.
“Going on Wolfe’s deductions, the woman was likely shot in the back same as the other victim.” Kane’s brow wrinkled into a frown. “We have to assume from the distance between the two crime scenes she was running from her killer. She falls to the ground and the killer ties her hands with his belt and props her up against a tree.” He moved to a tree with a distinctive bullet hole. “We have no idea what she endured before he killed her.”