Chapter 6 #2
Gabriel answers, “Our theory is that Zach took Nadine. Everything points to him watching Nadine enough to know that she leaves through that gate, which is why his car was parked near her bus stop. That tells me he’d been watching her for multiple nights.
Even if she’d said in passing, ‘I take the bus,’ most people would have assumed she’d use the standard gate leading to the botanical garden and exiting the area from there, not a gate that she’s actually not supposed to use. ”
“So he had to have been observing her for a while to know what time she gets on the bus and the route she takes,” Matthew says.
“What if they were just friends and she told him?” Chris asks.
I shake my head. “There are two reasons I don’t believe that’s the case.
The first one is the location of his parked car.
He could have parked anywhere on the street, especially at that time of night.
It’s not a residential area and all the businesses along that route are small-owner run, meaning that all of them were closed early, leaving ample places to park. ”
I head over to the computer Michaels was using and play the clip we have of them interacting.
“So… they knew each other?” Chris asks.
Of course he doesn’t see it.
“Look at his face,” I say. “Look at his fixation. That right there is a predator seeking his prey. That’s not a man romantically or emotionally interested. That is a man who is hunting.”
Everyone stares at the screen as I play it again, but I’m not quite sure most of them see what I do.
“I… I’m with Liam on this,” Jesse says. “I don’t know for sure, but Nadine’s body language tells me she’s uncomfortable.
Her smile is forced. She tips her body away instead of toward him.
And see the way her eyes flash over to the left?
It’s like she’s looking for someone else…
someone to make sure she’s not alone with this man. ”
Chris leans forward while staring at the paused screen.
“Okay, so if your theory is right… Zach was waiting outside of the zoo for Nadine, waits for her to come out and grabs her. While carrying her to the car or putting her in the vehicle, he proceeds to hurt her, either by accident or on purpose, resulting in a severe head wound. He puts her in the trunk… and then he goes back into the zoo? Why? Why the hell would he go back into the zoo?”
“I don’t know,” I respond. “There was some reason he took a huge risk by going back into the zoo. My guess is that there was something he was trying to hide. I wonder if she had something or did something that would have shown that he was the one who took her.”
Chris asks, “Have we searched the area around the garden for cameras? Does the garden itself have cameras?”
“It does,” Michaels replies. “The funny thing is that the company Zach worked for fixes things around the zoo, which includes the botanical garden. The camera that was supposed to be installed next to the path was removed during the recent decorating. No one noticed or replaced it. It was just now noted that it was missing.”
“Even more reason to believe that he’d been planning this for a while,” Gabriel says. “We’re going to go back to the zoo and look through Nadine’s things, try to find what it was that Zach was after.”
“We still have no idea who killed Zach, though. Do you think someone saw him attack Nadine, and in turn, they attacked him to help her or save her?” Penny asks.
“But then why chop him up and feed him to the hyenas? Why not alert people that Nadine is gone and go search for her?” Gabriel asks. “They wouldn’t have even needed to hide the body. It would have been self-defense at that point.”
“Maybe they didn’t mean to kill Zach, and when they did, they panicked thinking they’d go to jail for it, so they wanted to hide the evidence?” Matthew suggests.
Chris asks, “Does anyone there have a criminal record? Someone who is afraid of getting anything else on their record?”
“I’m uncertain,” Gabriel says.
Chris nods. “I’ll look into it.”
“I’m headed out,” I decide as I stand up.
“We’re not done, Paige,” Michaels says. “Remember how I told you that you can’t just leave when you’re bored?”
“Michaels, I have a limit of how long my body can handle being near others. I have reached it by 8:17 this morning. Come, Gabriel. I must be around only you to recharge.”
“I’ll meet up with you,” Gabriel says, telling me that he’s going to finish talking to the others like the teacher’s pet he is.
He’s so fucking cute.
I head into the elevator and ride it down to the first floor before making my way to the medical examiner’s office. Jesse’s coworker is inside, so the door isn’t locked this time. She’s busy working on the computer as she squints at it like she has no idea what she’s facing on the screen.
“You need something?” she asks.
“I’m just here to take a peek at the head,” I inform her.
“It’s number five. Jesse should be down shortly.”
“Sounds terrifying,” I say, and she gives me a look. Such a strange woman.
I go over to drawer five and pull it open.
The body really is in such rough shape after the hyenas had their fun.
If the head had gone missing, the killer could have pulled this off.
It would have become extremely difficult to identify the body.
I pull on some gloves and lean in close to get a good look at the head, then at the body.
“How did you die?” I ask the body.
He has no interest in answering.
I roll the head to the side, scrutinizing every part of it.
“Did I say you could come and mess with my stuff?” Jesse asks as he enters the room and hurries over.
“I think so. I clearly remember you going, ‘Liam, you are the greatest man alive. I’m so jealous of Gabriel. Because I wish I was as skilled as you, I must ask you to roll the head around.’”
“Oh yes, that’s very much how that was stated. All of that. I remember,” Jesse says with much sarcasm.
“I’m thrilled by your memory, then,” I comment with a smile while I continue my investigation. “Can I see your report?”
“Sure.”
I take it and read it carefully before looking back at the head. “I see you noted the red spot here as well,” I say, pointing to where the skin is discolored compared to the rest, but there’s only a fraction showing of the rash or whatever it was. “What do you think it’s from?”
“I’m looking at possibilities and waiting on the lab.”
“Your speculation?”
“A reaction of some kind.”
“To?”
He stares at me and then raises an eyebrow. “You think I’m all-knowing? You’ve probably already figured it out.”
“Did he have any known allergies?”
“Yes, a minor bee allergy.”
“Hmm…”
“You think something stung him?”
“Hmm…”
Jesse scowls. “I like how you’re pestering me for answers, but the second I ask a question, you’re all ‘hmm’ this and ‘hmm’ that.”
“Hmm.”
“I’m going to kick your ass,” he growls.
“I’d love to see you try,” I say.
“Don’t test me. I know how to dice up bodies.”
I do too, Jesse. I do too.
Of course I don’t say that, but the grin I give him must unsettle him enough that he gives me a huff.
“I believe he had a reaction to something. During the autopsy, I was able to identify parts of his respiratory structure that showed distress. Kind of hard when I only have a head to work with. I can’t identify what the lungs are doing since there are no lungs left.
Let me see what the lab gets back to me. ”
“The lab likes to take their sweet fucking time. They like to go, ‘Oh, we must send this out in a hurry,’ and then I firmly believe they’re sending it to some remote location up in the North Pole where Santa must ride his little reindeer up to the lab, and then they go, ‘Come back in two weeks and we’ll think about analyzing this. ’”
Jesse smirks. “Yes, that’s definitely where we send it. The North Pole. Santa hand-delivers it. I like that part.”
“Thank you. Well, I’m off. Let me know if you find something useful.”
“I’m filled with useful stuff.”
“Hmm,” I say. The door opens and Michaels looks in.
“Pérez, a moment?” Michaels asks.
Jesse puts the head away, as though he’s telling me that I can’t touch when he’s not around to watch. Like what does he think I’m going to do with the head? Practice shooting hoops? He’s really so picky.
I pull my gloves off while looking him in the eyes and he gives me an encouraging nod. “Good boy.”
“Thank you, sir,” I say, which seems to cause him some confusion and mild discomfort.
“I’ll tell you about another idea I had when I get back,” he tells me as he heads out the door to join Michaels.
I start for the door before pausing and veering over to Jesse’s computer since mine is an elevator ride away.
The older lady, who has worked down here since dinosaurs existed, is keeled over her keyboard.
Her report currently has a whole line of “LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL”s splattered across it and they just keep going.
I slide up to Jesse’s computer and input his password which really shouldn’t be the name of his creepy tarantula and a few symbols and numbers. Like, Jesse, come on.
One could say I shouldn’t have stared at him logging into his computer a while back, but I do feel like I have a right to do as I please. As I wait for it to load up, I draw him a note to let him know that I was here and hang it above his monitor.
He has at least fifty-two tabs up, so I click a random one and see that he was researching insect bites.
The stubborn man was obviously on the same track as me, which annoys me when he shows his smarts.
But the real question is, has he narrowed it down?
The man is obsessed with insects, so he has to know more than I do… which also annoys me.
I read the article he has up, but it seems like it’d be rather hard to kill a man with insects. One could go the Japanese giant hornet route, but I’m not even sure if they have such things at the zoo. And if they do, how would you coerce them to chase down the right man and assassinate him?