Chapter 29
It took time for Sean and Roger to fully remove Karla from the snow, but once she was out, leaving her in the lobby wasn’t an option.
Sean decided the best place to keep her was in the basement beneath the kitchen. There was only one entrance and exit, and Sean could lock the door to make sure no one else went below.
Sean made sure there were plenty of candles and lamps so he could examine the body properly. Sean wasn’t a coroner, but thankfully, he knew one.
Burt Kinsington was the medical examiner from his county, and Sean had worked with him several times.
Burt contradicted the stereotype of the pallid, thin, morbid-looking coroner that was so often portrayed.
Burt was a California surfer growing up, with beach-blond hair and a tan to match.
He might have switched coasts, but he was still an outdoors kind of guy.
Sean put on a video call and was thankful it had gone through so Burt could look at the body himself. “I know it’s not the same as being in person,” Sean said. “But anything you notice that could be helpful would be appreciated.”
“Sure, um, so why don’t we start with a scan from the top of the head down, just so I can get an idea of what I’m looking at,” Burt said.
Sean obliged, moving the phone down Karla’s body slowly. Her skin was pale and slightly blue from the snow. From what Sean could tell, the blood was from several stab wounds along her torso, but there was so much blood frozen to her clothes and skin that it was hard to count the exact number.
“The woman went missing about eight hours ago, give or take an hour or two,” Sean said. “She was killed somewhere between midnight last night and seven o’clock this morning, so I’m not too keen on the specific time of death. But I am curious to know what you think of the wounds.”
“Right,” Burt said. “Well, TOD would have been hard to do over the phone anyway. Are you wearing gloves?”
“Yeah,” Sean answered.
“Good,” Burt said. “Get me a little closer to the torso. I want to see those wounds again.”
Sean adjusted the camera angle so Burt could get a better look at the body.
“Okay, so we’re dealing with multiple stab wounds,” Burt said. “We’re going to have to remove her shirt so we have a better look.”
Burt carefully walked Sean through the process, telling him to be mindful that with the frozen fabric it might stick to the skin. It took a few tries, but Sean eventually managed to open the shirt.
“Not a lot of layers for being found outside,” Burt said.
Sean nodded. “I was thinking that, too.” Given last night's snowstorm, Sean didn’t think Karla would have gone outside without a jacket unless she was moving quickly and trying to get away from someone.
“We’ll need to take a look at her back, too, see if there are any wounds there,” Burt said. “Can you shift her to her side?”
Sean worked Karla onto her left side and examined her back. There were no knife wounds that were visible.
From what Burt could tell, Karla had over a dozen knife wounds across her chest, stomach, and pelvic region. “That’s a lot of times to knife someone,” Burt said.
“They were angry,” Sean replied.
“Can you measure those puncture wounds for me?” Burt asked.
Sean took his time, trying to do his best work so he could relay the most accurate information to Burt as he could, but this wasn’t his forte.
“Okay, so there are multiple depths of stabbing, as you can tell by the different widths, but the thickness of each is within the margin of error,” Burt said. “I would have to say that you’d be looking for something like a kitchen knife as the murder weapon.”
Sean had the bloody blade with him, which he held up for Burt to see.
“Maybe something like this?” Sean asked.
“Yahtzee,” Burt answered.
Sean set the blade down next to Karla. He thought of the bloody high-heel found in the kitchen, the dent in the kitchen countertop, and Julie’s bloody earring. The sister was still hiding something, but whether she had killed her sister remained to be seen.
Sean glanced to the kitchen above them and couldn’t help but think of Chef Luke and his heroin addiction. It wouldn’t be the first time a junkie had lost his mind and stabbed someone like this after having a bad trip.
“Let’s take a look at her hands and arms,” Burt said.
Sean noticed the defensive wounds before he even showed Burt the bruises and cuts along her arm.
But Burt noticed the skin and blood under her fingernails. “Looks like your victim scratched their attacker,” Burt said. “So, if you find someone with scratch marks on them, I think you found your killer.”
“Noted,” Sean said. “Any other signs of defensive trauma?”
“There’s some bruising around her throat, which means she was choked, possibly before she was stabbed or maybe after,” Burt answered. “I’m unable to check for that kind of thing over the phone, and you don’t have the equipment needed to do a proper test.”
Burt noted that Karla also had some broken ribs and a broken shin, but that could have been from the fall over the roof.
“Best bet I can tell is that whoever killed this woman had a vendetta against her,” Burt said. “Between the number of stab wounds and the fall from the rooftop, she didn’t die peacefully. That’s for sure.”
Sean thanked Burt for the help, then ended the call, telling him he would pass the information on to the other county’s coroner once they arrived.
Sean gently checked the body for something that he was hoping to find but wasn’t there: her phone.
It was possible that Karla’s phone was still in the snow somewhere, but Sean hadn’t been able to find it. Or it was also possible that the killer had taken the phone because there was something on it that they didn’t want anyone else to see.
Sean had already confirmed with Julie that the phone wasn’t in their hotel room, so with that still missing, Sean wouldn’t know who Karla had spoken with recently, at least until Rivers could pull phone records.
Sean called Rivers with a quick update and asked her to try to ping Karla’s phone.
“Will do,” Rivers said. “But I’m glad you called because I actually had an update for you as well. You remember that receipt from the gas station?”
“Yeah,” Sean answered.
“I know who it belongs to,” Rivers answered.