hesitation or caution.
Maggie’s fingers dug into her gown, groping to get at her holster and her gun, but Dr. Holmes was already opening the door.
“Evening, Sam.”
“Hey, Doc.” Detective Rosen’s eyes found Maggie without even noticing the corpse. He held up a couple of evidence bags with what looked like dirt in them. “Agent O’Dell, I think we found something kinda interesting.”
After Dr. Holmes’s comment, she wondered if Sam had really discovered something at the scene or if he would try to pass off dirt as evidence in order to justify his stop. She was being ridiculous. Maybe Greg had been right about that, too. She didn’t trust anyone.
He handed her one of the Ziploc bags over the table. This time he glanced down at the body. It didn’t seem to bother him. She guessed that Detective Rosen had seen his share of autopsies, which meant he hadn’t always belonged to the Stafford County Sheriff’s Department.
She took and inspected the bag of dirt and immediately recognized it. She held the bag up to the light. Yes, there were bits of silver and yellow that sparkled under the bright fluorescent.
“Where did you find this?”
“On the side of the trash bin closest to the chain-link fence. There’s actually some metal rails, sorta like steps. We found muddy prints from shoes or boots. That’s probably how he was able to climb up and toss in her body. It faces away from the parking lot. No one would see him there.”
Rosen seemed excited with the discovery, and she wondered why. “Did you show this to Agent Tully?”
“Nope, not yet. But I figure this has gotta be a big break. It should lead us to where this guy has been hiding out.”
Maggie waited for the detective to explain. Now he seemed to be distracted by Dr. Holmes, or rather the bloody glob in the take-out container that Dr. Holmes was examining.
“Detective Rosen,” Maggie waited for his attention. “Why do think this will lead us anywhere?”
“For one thing, it’s mud.” He stated the obvious as though he had uncovered a secret. When he realized she didn’t see the significance, he continued, “Well, it hasn’t rained for quite a while. It’s looked like it several times, but nothing. Not around here anyway. Always offshore.”
She drummed her fingers on the counter, waiting for something more than this weather report. He noticed her impatience, quickly opened one of the bags and pinched some of the dirt between his fingers, bringing it out and showing her.
“It’s a thick, sticky clay. Even smells a bit moldy. Again, nothing like we have around here.”
She could put an end to all of this by simply admitting she had seen the stuff before, that they had actually analyzed and broken it down. Instead, she let him go on.
“A couple of the guys who’ve lived here all their lives said they haven’t seen anything like this stuff before. Take a close look. It’s unusual, with bits of reddish rock, and that yellow and silvery crap is pretty weird…maybe even man-made.”
Finally, she confessed, “We have found similar dirt at two other crime scenes, Detective Rosen, but—”
“Sam.”
“Excuse me?”
“Call me Sam.”
Maggie brushed annoying, damp strands off her forehead. Had Dr. Holmes been right about Detective…Sam? Was he really only here to flirt and try to impress her?
“Sam, we have analyzed this stuff. It may be from a closed-down industrial site. We do have several people trying to find a possible location.”
“Well, I think I can save you some time.”
She stared at him, growing more impatient with his cocky smile. He was wasting their time with this grandstanding.
“I think I know where this came from,” he said, pleased with himself despite Maggie’s look of skepticism. “I went fishing a couple of weekends ago. A little spot about fifty miles from here on the other side of the toll bridge. I was supposed to meet a buddy, but I still don’t know this area very well. I ended up getting lost in this isolated wooded area. When I got home I noticed this sticky mud covering my boots. Took me almost two hours to clean them. The mud looked just like this crap. Couldn’t figure out what the hell that silver dust was.”
Now he had Maggie’s full attention. She could feel her pulse begin to race. The area sounded exactly like someplace Stucky would hole up. Detective Rosen was right. This could be their big break.
“Well, I hope this pans out,” Dr. Holmes interrupted, only now looking up from the contents of the plastic container. “This guy is one sick bastard. I think this woman may have confessed to him, tried appealing to him, hoping he had one ounce of human dignity in him.”
“What are you talking about?” Maggie watched the medical examiner wipe his forehead, suddenly not caring that he smeared blood from his gloves to his face. The calm, experienced professional seemed visibly shaken by his discovery.
“What is it?” she tried again.
“Might not be a coincidence that he chose to extract her uterus.” He stepped back from the table and shook his head. “This woman was pregnant.”
CHAPTER 57
Detective Rosen had called and filled in the Newburgh Heights Police Department when they realized Hannah Messinger may have been taken from the downtown liquor store. O’Dell had anxiously accompanied Dr. Holmes, and Rosen had stayed behind at the truck stop, gathering evidence, so Tully decided to accompany Manx and his men. After talking to Detective Manx earlier in the week and not being impressed with his foot-dragging tactics on the Tess McGowan case, Tully knew he should be here if any evidence showed up.
As he waited for one of Manx’s officers to jimmy the lock on the back door, he found himself wondering if Detective Manx had been called away from some nightclub. He was dressed in chinos and a bright orange jacket with a blue tie. Okay, maybe the jacket could pass for brown. It was difficult to tell under the street lamps. But he was certain the tie had little dolphins on it. He took a sidelong look at Manx. He looked to be about his age. His buzz cut emphasized his square features, but Tully supposed women probably found Manx attractive in a brutish sort of way. Actually, he had no clue what women found attractive anymore.
From this position in the alley, Tully recognized the back of Mama Mia’s Pizza Place on the corner. A shiny new Dumpster replaced the one they had found Jessica Beckwith in. Perhaps it was the owner’s way of getting rid of any and all memories. What would they think when they found out that another woman had been taken and murdered only several stores away?
He pulled up the collar of his jacket against the sudden chill of the night. Or perhaps the chill came simply from the memory of that beautiful young woman tangled unceremoniously in a web of garbage. Thinking of young Jessica Beckwith reminded Tully of Emma. How could he ever make Emma understand he only wanted to protect her? That he wasn’t simply being mean. Not that she wanted any explanation. And of course, now she wasn’t even talking to him since he had prevented her from going to the prom with Josh Reynolds.
“We tried to get hold of the owner,” Manx interrupted Tully’s thoughts. “He’s out of town, won’t be able to get back until late tomorrow. His wife said Messinger was taking care of things.”
Tully reached for his eyeglasses and noticed the officer was making a mess of the door’s lock. Finally something clicked just as the door handle came loose and fell off.
Manx found a light switch and not only did the back storeroom brighten, but the entire shop lit up, aisle by aisle. It didn’t take much time to inspect the small shop and realize nothing seemed to be out of place. The cash register had been shut down and locked up. Even the Closed sign had been turned on. There was no indication of forced entrance.
“He may have grabbed her while she was walking to her car,” Manx said, scratching his head, reminding Tully of one of the Three Stooges.
An officer took off out the door to check the alley, while the other started rummaging through the
