Chapter Thirteen #2
“I was hoping for something, but we’re shit out of luck. He’s covering his tracks, and we’re not getting any more here,” she admitted, slightly frustrated.
Yeah, it was day one, but a girl had to have hope.
When her phone rang, she pulled it from her pocket to see that it was a video call from her ME.
“Hey, Sweetness. I have some DNA answers for you. Not a lot, but two names are in our possession. The testing on two sets of eyes is back. They were the ones that were mismatched in the one skull.”
Thank.
Freaking.
God.
That was the best news ever, and she couldn’t help but be excited. She hadn’t been expecting DNA done until tomorrow. The team was really working hard.
“Christopher, I’d kiss you if you were here,” she said. “Multiple times.”
When the dog barked, he was curious.
“Uh, was that a dog?” he asked.
That’s when EVERYONE began laughing because she was going to have to explain herself. It looked like someone was up the creek without a spare husband to bail her out.
“Remember Babylon?” she asked, knowing Chris would be the easy sell.
“Uh, how can I not? We loved that dog. He was our first child together.”
She stared down at the dog.
“I found another dog.”
He actually laughed.
“Oh, Elizabeth. Ethan is going to shit himself, grab it, and throw it at you.”
She snorted.
“I mean, I’d pay good money to see that happen. I do love getting him riled up.”
Chris was to the point.
“He’s going to tell you that you have plenty of dogs.”
She didn’t miss a bet.
“And then, I’m going to tell him that I have plenty of men in my life, but I let Gene in.”
Oh, well, played.
The man gasped.
“HEY! I’m a person. I think that’s a different thing, but I do hump Ethan a lot, and am not fixed, so maybe it’s not. I’m also on Team Dog!”
She snorted.
“And I love you, but it’s better to ask forgiveness than permission,” she admitted.
Well, she was right there.
That was a decent motto to have in certain situations. Getting another dog past Ethan was that situation because there was no way he was going to say yes.
She could bet on that.
“Well, I don’t even know if he’ll get into the car.
If he won’t, I’ll call animal control, and get them here to catch him.
Thanks for the information. Who do we have?
” she asked, focusing on work because she needed to keep this investigation moving forward before this individual caught onto them, or got spicy.
Chris shared.
“The blue eye belonged to a woman by the name of Joan Gehert. She was hit by a car while out running. I pulled the ME’s report, and she had massive BFT to the skull. Tony has confirmed one skull is hers. We have the X-rays of her postmortem after the accident, and now.”
Well, hell, yeah!
That was some good work.
She glanced over at Gene, who pulled up the list of names of people who had been the last set of burials at the cemetery. It was the one she’d passed on to the detectives to manage.
It looked as if they were pulling it together.
Piece.
By.
Piece.
That was always a good first day in her book.
What she needed now was to make sure that she was on the list, and then proceed from there.
When Gene held out his phone, he showed her.
Lo-and-behold, Joan was on the list, along with the name from the grave they’d seen today.
‘Penny Rich Joan Gehert
Alina Musen Ilana Levens
Sue Aherm Jackie Sweet
Diamond Finks Diane Halbert
Helen Nome Steph Lewis
Lory Vanbruggen’
Okay, now, they were cooking with gas.
“Who was the ME who did the autopsy on her body?” she asked.
Chris went there.
“It was Alexi. He did the autopsy about three months ago. He tagged it vehicular homicide, but when I cross-referenced the case number in the police system, no one was caught. It went unsolved, and is a cold case today.”
She thought about it.
“Okay, so we have made the first connection. Who else did you get the DNA on? You said two.”
He shared because he had said that.
“The blue-green eye matches the DNA for a schoolteacher by the name of Penny Rich. The police report says it was a hit-and-run, also. She didn’t live far from the school on a less-traveled road. She was hit while biking back home. Her body was found in a ditch.”
Already, that was sending up alarm bells.
They were up in the air as to if this person was doing the killing or just poaching dead bodies. They might actually have a person doing both.
That was what her gut was screaming, anyway.
“Gene, text that all to Ethan for his profile, but I already know what he’s going to say. The killer is using a method that is very hands-off. He’s hiding ‘accidents’ in the middle of intentional homicides to pick his victims, and to enjoy the thrill of the hunt.”
Chris didn’t like this.
Not.
At.
All.
“So he picks them out, stalks them to learn their routines, kills them, then he digs them up, steals their eyes, and…?”
She was to the point.
“Yes. I think he’s doing everything. At first, we thought this might be out of our jurisdiction, but I don’t believe that now.
He’s enjoying killing them. A killer likes the hunt.
Only, he’s careful. I need to head back to the cemetery.
I need to see where those two victims were buried in proximity to the three original grave ‘robberies’.
I’m willing to bet it’s in the same general location. ”
Chris was going to keep working.
The only reason they had this was Chrissy was fast, and she could process like no one’s business. Oh, and that the morgue was silent.
“Is the ME there?” she asked.
“No, he went off shift right after you left earlier. I didn’t need his help, since the techs were doing the heavy lifting. They are super motivated to get the job done,” he said, not laughing, but he wanted to.
At that moment, Tony was in a corner examining X-rays, Ben was dealing with DNA, and the rest of the techs were processing trace.
In.
Blessed.
Silence.
“Well, that’s new. Let’s hope they finally get it. Anything on the scene?” she asked. “Trace-wise?”
He wished he had something.
“It was pretty clean trace-wise related to the case. The room was sterile except for the semen EVERYWHERE.”
She was curious.
“Do we have a DNA test on that?”
“We’re running it now. We found viable samples, but that will take a little while.”
Well, then, she’d wait for that call.
“I’m going to head to the cemetery now that Jeffrey isn’t there. I want to get the lay of the land. Then, back to the hotel. Will you be meeting us there?”
Oh, that was the plan.
Chrissy could handle trace.
“We don’t have an active autopsy, so, yes. I’m clear when you are. Text me when you’re on your way back. Remember, you owe me alone time.”
Know who was disappointed?
The big Native man.
In fact, Callen pouted.
He’d planned on the alone time.
She saw it, and laughed.
“Callen wishes you were working late. He had plans,” she admitted.
Chris didn’t miss a beat.
“He could always join us. Gene too. I’m an equal opportunity man,” he admitted.
Thank God for that.
They didn’t want Gene alone in his room when he could sleep with them. Truthfully, no one minded—well, Ethan might, since he tended to be the one they all worried about freaking out with crossing clear boundaries.
“I appreciate that,” Gene said. “Sleeping alone is not my cup of tea anymore. I’m accustomed to bodies everywhere.”
Yeah, they all were.
Only, now, Elizabeth wanted to get to the cemetery because she was excited to have more information.
“We’ll text, Orion. Love you,” she said.
He shared that sentiment back.
“Love you, too, Bethe. Be safe, my loves.”
Then, he hung up.
When she put her phone away, Ivan went there.
“You want to go wander around in a cemetery when there’s an eyeball-stealing humper lying in wait? At night, and in the dark? Have you lost your goddamn mind?”
She shrugged.
“Tomorrow, I want to hit the ground running, and we can’t wait to put this off. We’re going to have a mess on our hands because now that we have confirmation on identity of two people, we’re going to need warrants. I need the bodies dug up,” she said, glancing over.
Only, Gene was already filling out the federal warrant on his phone. He’d been to this rodeo before.
“For Joan Gehert and Penny Rich?” he asked.
She shook her head.
“No, for all ten burials on the list and for Lory Vanbruggen. Get them ready, because I have a feeling we’re going to have more.”
Callen shook his head.
“We’re going to have every single family member gunning for us, the media all over us, and a pissed off killer. We’re boned because no one likes their loved ones disturbed,” he admitted.
Oh, she was well aware.
Gene was to the point.
“We likely won’t get the warrants for the others until positive genetic ID. No judge is going to that dance to get their asses handed to them by the media. We’ll only get them as the DNA filters in.”
She was aware.
“I know, but at least the paperwork will be in. We’ll start with the first two in the morning, so I want teams there to do the deed.
Once warrants are in, notify the cemetery and church.
Hopefully, we can stay two steps ahead of the person behind this.
If he’s defiling graves, that will take the heat off of us. ”
They knew she was right.
No one wanted to put their loved one to rest to find out that their head was missing, and they were used as a masturbatory aid to some sicko.
That was a worse pill to swallow than an exhumation.
Together, they began walking out of the building. Not far from the vehicle, Uriel was standing, and reporters were right in front of him.
All he kept saying was ‘no comment’, like they’d told him when asked questions.
Yeah, they were going to need more security now that the media was involved.
“Ivan, tomorrow, bulk up,” she said.
And he knew what she meant.
“We will.”