“ Let's not get paranoid, huh, Jess?”
“ It's paranoia that's got me as far as I am.”
“ Not this time, Jess. You must've heard about Senator Keillor's death?”
“ Heart attack, right?”
“ They're not so sure anymore. Seems he had some track marks.”
“ Drugs? Christ, wasn't he on the President's Drug-free USA Committee?”
“ He was.”
“ And so Glenn Hale was yanked to study his tracks instead of my teeth marks?”
“ That's right.”
“ Well, Hale's not the only guy at Quantico who knows flesh marks. Get Kinnon or-”
“ Kinnon's in Africa.”
“- or Springer. Springer's had some experience in-”
“ Jess, I'm doing it myself-”
“ You?”
“ And I'll get your results to you this afternoon.”
“ All right, J.T.”
“ Got the specimens in the SEM right now.”
“ No second chances here.” She knew that the SEM destroyed the evidence as it photographed, bombarding the tissue with a shower of electrons. If the photos were marred, there'd be no evidence and no way to tell if the teeth marks sent J.T. were identical or not.
“ Not to worry, Jess. Now, how're you doing in New York?”
“ Not so good. Two more victims last night.”
“ Jesus… two…”
“ Yeah, our boy-or boys-is or are getting bolder.”
“ This guy's shaping up to be another Matisak.”
She was silent a moment, thinking of Matisak's involvement in her case, wondering again how he had arrived at the same theory as she. Maybe it took a madman to understand a madman, and if that was the case, did it mean that she, too, was mad?
She hoped the syllogism held no water.
“ You still there, Jess?”
“ Yeah, J.T., and thanks. I'll be hearing from you soon, then?”
The moment she hung up the phone, she decided that as much as she loved J.T., she'd better start doing what she could on her own. She returned to the two corpses brought in from Scarsdale. Dr. Darius was overseeing the autopsy of the younger woman, with Jessica assisting.
The autopsy took less than the usual four to five hours because the body had already been eviscerated, usually the job of the coroner. The autopsy was, however, complicated by the fact that a number of the organs did not belong to the subject. It made for a most uneven examination of the victim.
Where appropriate, they had returned the correct organs to the second body, the process making Jessica feel like a reanimator, a Dr. Frankenstein attempting to force order onto death and chaos.
Dr. Darius, by comparison, seemed composed, at ease, in his element. All of her professional life Jessica had been looked upon by those outside of medicine-reporters, lawyers, even rugged cops-as something of a ghoul for being capable of doing her work amid the most horrific of conditions. But she now had to bow to Darius as far more detached and capable than she.
But suddenly her estimation was qualified. The body jerked in a spasm and Darius jumped in response, laughing nervously. “I… I'll never get used to that,” he said before continuing on with his report. He was fastidious and sharp, she thought, as she watched him work.
“ It appears the slash marks came from a right-handed man, from across this way.” He pointed to the body's right shoulder and drew an imaginary, jagged diagonal line toward her navel. “The killer did this three times. It seems his favorite number, as it corresponds with all earlier victims. As can be seen by the vital reaction around the rents, the bruised blue, the victim was very much alive when she was ripped open.”
The overhead microphone taped the words automatically. It also taped Dr. Darius' cough and the sound of him clearing his throat. The typescript would eliminate all nonessential information, and copies of the autopsy reports on both victims would be on Alan Rychman's desk before 3 P.M., if the second autopsy went as smoothly as this one was going.
She noticed that Dr. Darius worked with a coverlet over the head of the victims. This was not unusual, especially for a man of his generation. For many years it had been standard practice, something about gentility and concern for the dead, respect.
It also cut down on the unnerving problem of having closed pupils popping open, giving the autopsiest the chilling impression that the deceased was watching him or her while at work. In this case, with the eyes removed, it was even more disturbing.
Now that she was older, Jessica didn't think it was such a bad idea. The older she got, the more superstitious, too, she conceded, feeling the thick crystal gem that'd been given to her by a dear friend who promised that it would bring her, if not luck, comfort, and when she did hold it in her palm, feeling the heat from her hand rise and ebb like a tide, it gave her pause, and calmed her nerves.
Still, regardless of Dr. Darius' obvious aversion for the corpse's eyeless face, the head was part of a complete autopsy, and he would not only have to unveil the head, but stare into the cavities with a brilliant light.
But he didn't do this. He asked Jessica if she would see to the stitches, now that most of the woman's organs had been returned to her, and he began to walk away.
“ Doctor…”
“ Yes, my dear?”
“ What about the throat, the head, the eyes?”
“ Hammer blow to the forehead, occipital lobe. It's on the tape, Dr. Coran.”
“ But in a complete autopsy-”
“ No need to disfigure this poor soul any more than she already has been. I am… we are… done here. Close her up and let's get started on the other one.” Darius went out.
She uncovered the face, finding the woman's eye cavities disconcerting. Jessica ran her eyes along the throat and found multiple bite wounds there, all mentioned in the autopsy, but she wanted to take the bite marks for more intensive study, and that meant cutting the sections out of the dead woman's throat with a scalpel.
Maybe New York is unfortunate to have Dr. Darius back in on the case, she thought. Maybe he's too old for this kind of thing. Maybe… maybe…
“ What're you doing there?” It was Darius and his face was near white, his cold stare holding her. “We must get on,” he said, softening his tone.
“ I want to take these bite marks, study them in more detail.”
“ You've got bite marks. More, in fact, than we can deal with. Didn't you say you sent some off to Washington?”
“ Yes, but we have to be sure these match the others, that it's the work of the same man, or men.”
“ I suppose you're right. I just thought we could spare the woman any further… indignity…”
“ I understand and appreciate your concern-”
He was nodding as he interrupted her, “But she won't feel a thing, I know… I know.”
Darius had a cup of juice in his hands, bloodlike in color- cranberry, she guessed from the aroma. He popped a capsule and took a swallow.
She stared a moment too long.
“ Nitro,” he said, “for the ticker.”
Nitroglycerin, she thought, averting her eyes. That meant his attack had been far more serious than he had let on.
“ My body has, as they say, turned against me.”
Jessica took samples from the dead woman's throat as she had from the thighs, the buttocks and arms earlier. Bite marks in the entrails appeared rather useless as impressions, so she stuck with the others.
“ If we have two killers, the teeth marks ought to show it,” she said.
