Chapter Six #4
“Two,” she stated. “Lottie Tipton got away, and a lawyer from a case a few months ago. Lottie is dead. She was handled. I don’t leave many open cases so that they can come back to bite me in the ass.”
That was probably good in her case. With the kind of people she chased, there were clearly grudges being held.
“Other than that, I’m clear,” she stated.
She began moving around, and toward the altar where the remains were left for her.
There were roses around them, in a circle, and the skulls held two sets of eyes.
“They will likely be the two hookers’ eyes,” she admitted. “That leaves the nun’s still unaccounted for,” she stated. “If you find any appendixes lying around, let me know. All three of the last victims were missing them. Hopefully, he’s not eating them.”
Both men stared at her.
“Eating them?” they said at the exact same time.
She shrugged.
“Guys, nothing is off the table for this nut. He killed his attorney and secretary to tie up loose ends. He’s not one to do something without a purpose. I wouldn’t put it past the corpse fucker to go cannibal. At this point, it would be to shock me.”
But clearly, that didn’t.
She’d said it without flinching.
Now, Dex was curious.
“With his other kills, were they religious? Because this is as religious as you can get. It’s in a church.”
She shook her head.
“No, but he has researched me. He knows I’m religious. He’s trying to play with my head, and I’m sure this is part of that. This will be about me. Somehow, he’ll make it that.”
She got closer to the skulls.
One was noticeably bigger than the other. Because she’d done this a long time, she went there.
“That one is a male, and she’s a female. That makes sense to me. I said that the next ones would likely be a couple. One of the sacraments is marriage, and I wasn’t married in a church. He’ll keep up with the clues. I think.”
As for her sacraments, she was married in a church, but what happened in Colombia stayed in Colombia to the outside world.
While she trusted both men, they weren’t telling everyone their business. Mostly, that was to protect Ethan. One of the few things he had, and were sacred to him, was their marriage.
He’d bagged the babe in four days.
“That’s the woman. See how the skull is smaller, and looks more delicate?”
They could see that.
She focused on the eyes.
“I can’t tell if they are light blue, or that’s the haze from death.”
Oh, but she knew how to find out.
Elizabeth glanced over.
“MATE, I need state IDs for Debbie Lewston and Tammy Bisset. Photo preferably.”
In front of her, two IDs appeared, and the men were curious.
“She’s over there scanning,” Quinn stated. “How is she doing both if she’s only a hologram?”
Elizabeth was to the point.
“She’s like God—Omnipresent. MATE is here with me, with Ethan, Chris, etc. She can be in multiple places at once. She’s mine, but we like to share. As for how a hologram is scanning, I have cameras in the front and back of my vest. She’s using them.”
Quinn was impressed.
“We could use some of that. Imagine how much easier our jobs would be?” he admitted.
Well, yeah.
That’s why she shared with The Hunters and with The Crofts.
They all had MATE, thanks to Chris.
Elizabeth began looking around by grabbing a Bible that was sitting there. She began flipping through books on the pulpit.
When she did, she saw something sticking out of it.
Carefully, she opened it, and inside the cover, there was a one-hundred-dollar bill.
Ben was staring up at her.
“Well, what does that mean?” Dex asked.
Honestly, she wasn’t sure.
It could mean a lot of things. With Devon, it likely pertained to the next scene, or the last one.
“Maybe it’s how much the hookers were asking,” she admitted. “One never knows until we know.”
Well, that was not something a cop wanted to hear. They liked to know from the get-go.
“Tithes?” Quinn asked. “Money to God?”
Again, she wasn’t sure.
“MATE, record this too,” she said, as her vest took pictures and sent them back to Ethan.
Then, she knew what they needed to do.
“I don’t see any IDs on the skeletons. We’re going to have to get them back to Tony, so he can give them names. That will be part of this. He doesn’t leave anything that isn’t a clue.”
The man whistled.
“That takes time,” Dex stated.
Oh, she was aware.
That was why catching this scene right behind him was so damn important.
It took time for him to paint the picture, and for her to unravel it.
“I’m going to bag and tag them. They are going back to DC with me. He’s trying to bog me down with a lot of information. From the songs, the scripture, the money, and the remains. He wants me here spinning my wheels, so that tells me that he’s already heading back.”
Dex was curious.
They’d almost forgotten one thing.
“There was music playing.”
She glanced over.
“There was?”
He nodded.
“It suddenly shut off before you came in here,” Quinn admitted. “We didn’t touch it.”
Now, that was interesting.
Not the shut-off part, but the fact that he’d had music playing. That would definitely be a clue, too.
“It likely shut off because he’s watching here. We shut down cameras when we pulled up. I’m not giving him a peep show to get his jollies on.”
Well, eww.
That the dude was watching was problematic. They’d been talking freely in here.
“What was playing?” she asked, not willing to turn the music back on.
They told her.
“Take Me Home, Country Road,” Dex stated. “An oldie but a goodie.”
Oh, she knew the song.
You didn’t have a redneck daddy who moved you to bumfuck South Carolina without hearing it from EVERY deputy who worked under him.
In cars.
In stores.
At home.
There was no doubt why he’d picked that song, and also why he’d had it playing over a speaker.
A Bluetooth speaker he’d left behind.
Clearly, he’d know that they’d shut down the scene as soon as she arrived, and that one clue would go missing.
Yeah, he’d wanted her to miss it. So that told her it was big.
Now, this posed a question.
Did he want her heading home to Salem, to Damascus, or to stay here?
All three were technically home for her.
Jesus.
This was perplexing.
“What just occurred to you?” Dex asked.
She shared.
“Now, I have no clue where he wants me to go. I’m not sure. Washington DC is where I was born, Salem is where I grew up, but then I did time in Damascus. Currently, I call Damascus home. He’s given me three options and wants me to pick one.”
They didn’t envy her.
Not.
At.
All.
Because she couldn’t answer that, she knew what she needed to do.
Elizabeth had to get some information on the bones before she bagged them.
No one was touching them but her.
“MATE, call Tony for me.”
Oh, she knew it was early in Damascus, but she was still going to wake his ass up.
When his face came on the screen, it was clear that he hadn’t been asleep.
“Am I waking you?” she asked.
He laughed.
“It’s funny that you think I’m going to sleep while my sister from another mister is in danger. I’m getting an ulcer, but not a nap.”
Yeah, she loved the nut.
Oh, and she considered him her brother. Tony was her ride or die lunatic from years ago. That’s why she had him locked down as hard as she had Duke locked down.
A brother was a brother was a brother in her book. His ties to her and Chris were a little too close for her to overlook him.
“I’m good, Tony. I have security all over me.”
He went there.
“We heard about Jet. I’m so sorry, Elizabeth. Please know that Jaxon and I are incredibly sorry for your loss, and if you need anything, let us know.”
She appreciated that.
What she needed was a way to find Devon so she could get justice for Jet.
“Thank you, Tony,” she said, unable to go there, or she was going to break down.
That was the last thing she needed.
“I need some help if you want to assist me,” she said. “I have bones.”
He perked up.
Well, of course, he did.
This was Tony, after all.
“Oh, well, then, you called the right anthropologist. Show me,” he said.
Elizabeth reminded him.
“I only have two anthropologists, Anthony, and they are married to each other. Either one is qualified to do this.”
He smiled.
“I know. We’re a set. You can thank me for marrying the other well-qualified doctor. You’re welcome.”
Instead of saying anything more, she moved to face the bones on the church altar so he could get a good view of them.
The look on his face said it all.
Someone was thinking.
“That one,” he said. “Pick it up, and get me a closer look,” he stated, putting on his glasses.
Elizabeth was gloved up, and MATE had recorded the scene, so she did what he asked.
“It’s male,” he stated. “Don’t drop the eyeballs. Chris will get bitchy.”
Oh, she was aware.
Plus, that was a whole gross nightmare of having to touch the eyes. Elizabeth would rather do anything but that.
To be honest, she felt ill even doing this, and it had to be the eyeballs. They were NOT her favorite thing in the world.
Not.
Even.
Close.
They creeped her out, and as they sat in the stark white skulls, she had chills.
Where was her ME when she needed him?
Oh, that’s right. He was back in Damascus under guard from a lunatic.
Tony saw the staining on the one skull.
“I’m going to hazard a guess, here, but he’s used the skulls to get off. That spotting in the under part of the skull area looks fresh.”
Well, that was the least surprising thing. Someone was being consistent if nothing.
“No shock there,” she stated. “Is it a male?” she asked, knowing what she’d assessed previously.
He nodded.
“Yep. That’s a male. The skull has a broader forehead and more prominent brow. I’d put him in his fifties just by looking at the wear and tear on his teeth.”
Elizabeth gently put him down, so not to make the eyeballs fall out of the sockets. Then again, she knew they tended to dry out when they weren’t where they were supposed to be and were likely sticking to the bone.
That was a whole other gross-out for her.
“Let me see the other.”
She did the same thing, and Tony checked it out.
“I see semen staining inside that skull, too. If you have a black light…”