Chapter 6
SIX
Katie waited for additional personnel to arrive at the crime scene.
She took judicious measures to search the area, marking anything that seemed suspicious or relating to the body part.
She put protective coverings on her boots, grabbed some flag markers, and began a circular search instead of a typical grid examination.
She carefully inspected the area around the dismembered arm and then spanned out her search. She still couldn’t find anything that looked like footprints or a path. It struck her as odd because the person who disposed of the body part had to have had stepped on foliage at some point.
She stood back from the fence, staring at the arm. As she widened the preliminary search from each direction, she thought about the vast open area behind the vine-covered boundary. Then she walked farther along the road about thirty feet, and stopped.
“Detective?” said Anderson.
“Yes.”
“Do you need any assistance?” he asked, watching her with curiosity.
Katie hesitated, then said, “I’m going to take a look inside the property.” She climbed over the fence and jumped down. She wanted a different perspective of the area, to be looking at the road from within the field.
“Yes, ma’am.” Anderson hurried to his police cruiser.
Katie saw that the arson investigator was still there, leaning against his vehicle, immersed in something on his cell phone. She didn’t care, as long as he stayed away from the crime scene.
As she walked straight out into the field, she saw an area approximately fifty feet from the decrepit fence where the weeds were bent over—a trail.
It was faint, but still noticeable if you knew what to look for.
She walked along the area just parallel to it and then it stopped.
There was no indication of any direction in which the killer might have traveled.
It seemed strange. Maybe it had been caused by some type of animal, but she saw no footprints or even hoof impressions.
The sun had come out, bringing warmth. Katie stood in the field and slowly moved in a three-hundred-sixty-degree turn. No houses or buildings were visible.
Anderson was taking measurements, while Investigator Ames seemed to be watching Katie. It was difficult to ascertain if he was intrigued or annoyed.
The crime scene van approached, trailed by another vehicle Katie assumed to be from the medical examiner’s office. She yelled to Anderson, “Have everyone wait.”
The deputy gave a thumbs-up sign and then went to greet them.
Something about the entire scene bothered Katie. Questions plagued her. Why here? How did they get here without leaving a trace? It was likely to be someone who knew the area, knew the limb wouldn’t be discovered right away—that it might take a few days or even a week.
She diligently searched through the weeds, but there wasn’t anything to see.
No piece of garbage that could have blown there or anything left by the perpetrator.
She continued her overall search, but nothing of interest presented itself.
She walked to the exact spot where she had climbed the fence and hoisted herself back over.
Katie met Eva. “Document everything you can. I marked some dragging impression out there with a flag.”
“Got it,” the forensic tech said.
“Once you’re done, I want to run Cisco to see if he can catch the scent of the person who left the arm.”
“Sounds like a plan. If anyone can find it, it’s Cisco,” she said with a smile.
“If you need any help, Deputy Anderson is familiar with crime scenes.”
Eva looked at the deputy, still with a smile. “Copy that.”
The medical examiner approached Katie. “Detective?”
“Detective Scott,” she explained.
He nodded, seeming nervous. “Randy Martinez.” The man appeared to be in his early thirties, pale, and trying not to show that his hands trembled.
Katie nodded back. “Everything okay?” she said.
“Yes, of course.”
“First crime scene?”
“Is it that obvious?”
“Don’t worry about it. Eva is going to document everything and then she’ll let you know when you can take the dismembered arm back to the office.”
He nodded, averting his gaze.
The second deputy was securing yellow crime scene tape to create the larger search area Katie had asked for.
Deputy Anderson gave Katie a piece of paper. “Here are the dimensions.”
“Thanks, Deputy.”
The barking of the German shepherd, Blitz, caught Katie’s attention. Ames was still leaning against the driver’s door as Katie approached him.
He stood up straight as she neared. “Detective,” he said. “It seems you’re a bit understaffed.”
“A bit, but nothing I can’t handle,” she said.
“I don’t doubt that.”
“Why are you still here?” she asked.
He chuckled. “To see if there’s anything I can do to help.”
“There’s no fire or explosives present,” she said, keeping his intense eye contact. She thought she might as well get his exact account of how he found the arm. “So, Investigator Ames—”
“Luke,” he interrupted. “Call me Luke. Can I call you Katie?”
“Detective is fine.”
“Okay then… Katie.”
“Explain to me how you found the arm… from the beginning.”
“You want me to walk you through it step… by… step…?”
“Please,” she said. Something didn’t add up, but she was willing to listen to him. She’d been a police officer long enough to know that strange things happened all the time.
“Well… my alarm went off at 6 a.m.”
“You can skip past that,” she said, her patience being tested. “I don’t think I need to tell you that this is a serious situation.” Katie glanced at Eva, diligently documenting the area; John had trained her well.
“Of course… I usually run three times a week and on Saturdays. I woke up at 6 a.m. and drove to work, six hours before my shift. I took a run of five miles… I came down Heritage Road from the firehouse and decided to change it up and come here.” Pointing up the road, he said, “There’s a trail that goes up the ridge and I thought it would be a great morning to take that route, but…
as I came by here, something caught my eye, and as I moved closer…
well… you know the rest.” He smiled and crossed his arms, becoming closed off, as if to indicate that was all he was going to say.
“Did you see anyone else, a car, or someone walking?” she said.
“No. It was a nice quiet morning.”
“I see. Thank you.” Katie turned to leave.
“Is that it? You don’t need to interrogate me to find out what I had for breakfast or anything?”
Katie swung back to face him and shook her head. She wasn’t going to play his game. She had an investigation that needed solving.
Back with Deputy Anderson, she said, “I’m going to run Cisco to see if I can find where the perp entered the area. Would you be available to be my cover officer? McGaven is still on vacation and—”
“Yes,” the deputy said with enthusiasm. His eyes danced around the scene. When he smiled he looked like a boy.
“Let your sergeant know and I’ll meet you back here in two hours.”
He nodded and looked at his watch.
Katie then spoke with Eva and the other deputy. She wanted to make sure the scene would be secured until she returned with Cisco. They said it would and she thanked them.
Katie climbed into the police sedan. She’d head to the department to exchange the vehicle for her Jeep. They should be done with examining it by now. Then she’d pick up Cisco.
Her brow furrowed as she drove. The crime scene disturbed her, not only because it was a human appendage, but because she was certain there were more to come. Her gut told her the direction in which the arm and hand was pointed had meaning—as if telling her where to look.