Chapter 10
Bill passed along to his boss the description of Beth from her driver’s license. He was still waiting for that all-important call from Dave Mann, though.
Finally, a half hour later, he received the call he’d been waiting for.
The medical examiner would have been told by the forensic lab that either there was a match with the DNA samples or there wasn’t.
If there wasn’t, then the leg that washed ashore belonged to a Jane Doe, and the chances of learning her identity were slim.
“Bill Gavin here.”
“Bill, it’s Dave Mann. I have the results of the DNA comparison.”
“Okay, rip the Band-Aid off. Let’s hear it.”
“The DNA samples match.”
“No shit?”
“No shit. The leg belonged to Beth Morrow, but what happened to the rest of her body is anyone’s guess. At some point, she’ll float to the surface from the body gases, but that doesn’t mean she’ll ever be found. Lake Michigan covers a lot of area. I think I’ve done everything you needed, Bill.”
“Wait. What about the part where you said there wasn’t any blood left in that limb?”
“Right. I can’t explain that, only that I noticed it.”
“And you’ve never examined individual body parts before?”
“Of course I have, but they all had blood in the tissue. This one is a mystery to me.”
“Okay, thanks, doc. If I have any more questions, I’ll call you back.”
“Bill?”
“Yep?”
“Do you want me to keep the leg refrigerated here?”
“Oh. For now, I think it’s the right thing to do. It is an ongoing investigation, plus we’ll have to track down Beth’s family and give them the news. Also, you said the leg didn’t appear to be severed with a tool, right?”
“If I had to guess, I’d say it was separated at the hip joint then the fish bit at the raw end.
Could have been something large like a lake trout, Chinook salmon, or a muskie.
They all have big teeth and are aggressive eaters, although the hip end wasn’t eaten.
Nibbled and bit at, I’d say, leaving teeth marks and cuts in the bone, but the flesh remained mostly intact.
Why she was dismembered is a mystery, but I’m sure the killer didn’t expect her or any part of her to be found. ”
“Okay, appreciate it. We’ll keep in touch.” Bill ended the call and sat quietly at his desk. He rubbed his forehead as if that would make the answers come to him—it didn’t.
“So now what? Where do we go from here?” Tina asked.
“First, we have to tell Greenburg that the DNA was a match. There wasn’t any unusual activity at the marina, according to the rest of the crew, but Agent Monroe brought up a good point when she called earlier.”
“Yeah? What did she say?”
“You know the saying that you can’t see the forest for the trees?”
“Yep.”
“Like we’re too focused on an individual we have in our mind. A scary man lurking around at night with a dead body in tow. She said it could have been a couple boarding a boat during the day. Nobody was looking for that.”
“You’re right. You go talk to Greenburg while I tell the others that they’ll need to review the marina footage again.”
Bill headed down the hallway to Greenburg’s office and gave the door two knuckle raps. A loud “come in” sounded from the other side.
Opening the door enough to fit his head through, Bill asked whether his boss had a few minutes to spare.
“Sure. Take a load off.”
The leather seat cushion squeaked under Bill’s weight. “Dave Mann called with the DNA results.”
“And?”
“And they match.”
Greenburg raked what little hair he had left. “Where are the guys with the marina footage?”
“Nowhere, but I don’t know how deep they are into it.”
Greenburg nodded.
“I had my eyes opened up to another possibility earlier. I’ll admit we’re closed-minded at times.”
“Yeah, what was it, and who said it?”
Bill huffed. “I got my ass handed to me in a nice way by Agent Jade Monroe.”
A grin spread across Greenburg’s face. “What did she say?”
“More or less that we’re only looking at night footage of a man to fit the bill for our killer. She pointed out that Beth might have boarded the boat willingly, thinking she was going out for the day with a decent client who wanted to spend time with her.”
Greenburg rattled his fingers on his desk.
“That could have happened if she spent the night with him then went out on his boat Sunday. Maybe we were looking at the wrong day. Either he killed her Saturday night like you originally thought, or she stayed the night, they went boating on Sunday, and he took her far enough out on the lake that nobody saw him kill and dump her there.”
“I don’t get the why, though.”
“If he kills out of enjoyment, then there isn’t a why.
Don’t try to rationalize what any killer does.
They’re all touched in the head.” Greenburg pointed his chin at the door.
“Go back to the bullpen, gather the team, and start brainstorming again. You know how Beth was dressed Saturday night. Look at the marina videos again for a woman dressed that same way on Sunday.”
Bill groaned. “If he’s done this before, he might have an array of women’s boating clothes right at his house.”
“Maybe so, but you know she was tall and slim with long blond hair. Start there but look for the clothes she wore in the gas station video too.”
“On it, boss.”
Back in the bullpen, Bill called Jade before joining the team that looked to be knee-deep in strategizing. Bill listened to the phone ring in his ear before Jade picked up. “Jade, it’s Bill Gavin again.”
“You heard from Dave?”
“Yep. The DNA matched. The leg belongs to Beth Morrow.”
“Damn. So if you figure out who owns that white sedan you told Lorenzo about, you’ll probably have your guy. You can also call the marina back and ask if any of their members have white sedans. Make them give you a list. If you’re lucky, you might get the plate numbers too.”
Bill shook his head. Jade had one-upped him again. “I asked Lorenzo if your tech department could give that car a look—better equipment and such.”
“Okay. Send the video over, and I’ll pass it on to Lorenzo. Talk soon.”
Bill tapped the end call button and joined his team of detectives, but before he passed along the suggestions from Agent Monroe, he needed Tina to forward that video to Jade.