Herb dug through his desk and pulled out a fistful of little pink packets.
'Well, I'm glad your mother's okay, and it's good that you're back. Index got a match on the prints.'
As Herb added carcinogens to his brew, I leafed through the reports on his desk.
The arms belonged to Davi McCormick of 3800 North Lake Shore Drive. Arrested once for solicitation, but clean for the last five years. Mug shots were known to be unflattering, but hers looked good enough to print. Davi was an attractive woman, much more so than the average prostitute.
I read her case details and it made sense. At the time of her arrest, she'd been working for Madame Pardieu, a high-class escort service that charged up to a grand a night. That would account for the nice neighborhood.
'Does she look familiar?' Herb asked. His jowls were stuffed with fat-free cookies, giving him a chipmunkish appearance.
'Yeah, she does.'
'You've probably seen her a few dozen times. When we got her name I cross-reffed with Missing Persons, and found a report from yesterday, called in by her agent. She's Sure-a-Tex Girl.'
Sure-a-Tex was a brand of tampon marketed to the younger crowd. Sure-a-Tex Girl, wearing a not very subtle red cape, flew to the rescue of women who started their period in extreme situations, such as mountain climbing or white-water rafting. The product came in a variety of designer colors, including neon green and hot pink.
'Did you contact the agent?'
'He'll be here any minute.' Herb took a sip of coffee and searched his desk for more saccharine.
Phil Blasky's postmortem report was the shortest I'd ever read, due to the amount of material he had to work with. An elevated histamine level and platelet count indicated the victim had been bleeding prior to her arms being severed. Tests for several dozen drugs came back negative. Lipid levels normal. No evidence of heart disease, STDs, or pregnancy. Everything else about the arms was unspectacular.
Phil noted that the handcuffs were put on after death; axe marks indicated the swings came from the front, with the arms splayed out crucifixion-style.
Officer Dan Rogers knocked on my open door. I invited him in.
'Got the GC results from the burned skin samples.' He handed me a file. 'My tongue was correct. The arms were diluted with bleach.'
'No trace of anything else?'
'Nope. Bleach will clean up just about anything. That's why it's used by HazMat teams. Hey, Lieut, you got any aspirin? I've got a headache that's making my eyes water.'
I found a bottle in my desk and tossed it to him. He shook out five, and swallowed them dry.
'Thanks, Lieutenant. Call me if I can be any more help. I like CSU, but Detective Rogers has a nice ring to it too.'
Rogers left. Herb made a grunting, satisfied sound, and tossed his empty cookie box into the garbage, on top of three other such cookie boxes.
'Herb, not that I want to question your dieting efforts, but how many boxes of those cookies have you eaten today?'
'Why?'
'Let's just say you could hibernate with all I've seen you eat in the last ten minutes.'
'So what? They're fat-free.'
'Chocolate syrup is fat-free too. Look at the calories.'
He fished out the box he'd tossed and squinted at the nutrition panel. 'Ah, hell. No wonder I've gained four pounds on this diet.'
'You need to watch the carbohydrates, not the fat.'
'Oh. These only have fifteen grams of carbs.'
'Per serving. How many servings per box?'
'Ah, hell.'
A knock. I turned to see Officer Fuller in the doorway. Fuller was an ex-pro football player, tall and wide, and he towered over his companion, a short, balding man wearing Armani and too much Obsession for Men.
'This is Marvin Pulitzer.'
Marvin smiled, his caps unnaturally white, and offered his hand to me. I took it, and discovered he was palming something.
'Pulitzer Prizes Talent Agency. Very pleased to meet you, Miss . . . ?'
'Lieutenant. Jacqueline Daniels.'
He held on to me a moment longer than necessary. When I got my hand back I saw he'd given me his card.
'You've got great bone structure, Lieutenant. Do you model?'
'I did Vogue a few issues back.'
Pulitzer narrowed his eyes, then smiled again.
