They were well practiced by now. Novice to experts in one day.
A crime scene photographer took shots of the body in situ. He’d done so at every gravesite. From all angles. Later, in the comfort of the overly warm incident room they’d analyse them. Compare them. Look for patterns.
It wasn’t strictly necessary for Rob to be here. But he couldn’t keep away.
Dr Liz Kramer stood beside the catering truck, her hands wrapped around a Styrofoam cup. She stared into the distance, the vacant eyes of a woman who’d seen too much. She was done for the day. And done in, by the looks of things. He gave her a wave, but she didn’t notice. Her mind still in a dirt pit.
Tony stared long and hard at the emerging body.
“They were all buried with their hands over their chests and clips in their hair,” Rob pointed out. “According to Liz, the pathologist, there’s no evidence of sexual assault or any kind of physical trauma. The killer placed a shroud over them before he covered them up. The graves are fairly deep too. It would have been back-breaking work.”
Tony nodded. “Probably too much for anyone over sixty. Unless they had help.”
Rob hadn’t considered an accomplice before.
“But… I don’t think that’s the case,” Tony continued. “These murders look personal. Private. I’ll bet he took care of them, brushed their hair before clipping it back, making sure their hands and faces were clean before preparing them for burial.”
“Why would he do that?” asked Rob.
“He cares,” Tony replied. “These girls meant something to him.”
“Then why kill them?”
None of it made any sense.
They watched as the final swabs were taken. The technicians meticulously documented every sample, before storing it in a big evidence box. A crime scene officer checked every move they made. No mistakes. No mix-ups.
The female forensic technician beckoned to two men waiting at the catering van who came over and began lifting the body onto a stretcher. They’d transport it to the local mortuary where it would join the others in cold storage overnight, ready for Dr Kramer to study with fresh eyes in the morning.
“Do you know for certain that he did?” Tony said.
Rob frowned. “What are you saying? That he found them and buried them?”
Tony shrugged. “It’s a possibility. Or he felt he was justified in killing them.”
“What could possibly justify killing a teenage girl?” Rob’s voice soared across the clearing. Several heads turned in their direction.
“Nothing, obviously,” Tony replied, giving him a look. “But to the killer, something.”
Liz came over, jolted out of her reverie. “Hello, gentlemen.”
Rob introduced them. “I don’t think you’ve met. Liz, this is Tony Sanderson. Tony, meet forensic pathologist and the woman I couldn’t do without, Liz.”
“I know you by reputation.” Liz held out her hand. “It’s wonderful to finally meet you.”
“Likewise.” Tony shook it, smiling.
Rob could have sworn he saw the stalwart Dr Kramer flush, but she recovered quickly. She had no time for sentiment. “This last one’s the most recent. Under a year, ten months even. We’re hoping to get some DNA off her. There appears to be decomposed flesh underneath her fingernails.”
Rob’s eyebrows shot up. “You mean she clawed her attacker?”
“Possibly.”
Yes!
Rob took a triumphant lungful of damp air. This could be the break they’d been waiting for. It could identify the killer.
“Find any marks on the victims?” Tony asked. “Any injuries of any sort?”
“Most of the bodies were too degraded to tell,” she replied. “But the bones appeared to be intact, even the hyoid, so they weren’t strangled. If you ask me, the killer took good care of them before he buried them.”
“That seems to be the general theory,” Rob murmured.
“It’s a strange one, Rob.” Liz stifled a yawn. “Excuse me, gentleman, I have to go. Believe it or not, I’ve got to go out tonight. After a day like today.” She flashed a wry smile. “I’ll be in touch tomorrow, once we’ve had another look.”
“Okay, thanks Liz.”
She bid them goodbye and trudged wearily back to her car.
“I don’t get it,” said Rob. “What am I missing here? This guy abducts five girls – that we know of – over the course of the last few years, takes good care of them, then kills them and buries their bodies ritualistically in the woods.”
“Is this sacred ground?” Tony looked around them. The clearing wasn’t very large, but it was private. Hemmed in by trees. The police and forensic vehicles had parked as close to the clearing as they could get, yet they were still over two hundred metres away.
At Rob's blank look, he expanded, “Is there any religious or other significance that would make this a good burial spot? Usually when a serial offender buries all of his victims in the same place, it’s because it holds some special meaning for him, or for them.”
That was a new angle.
“I’ll look into it. I know the parish church borders on the south side, but I have no idea if that’s relevant.”
“The vicar would know,” Tony pointed out.
Rob made a mental note to talk to him in the morning, or maybe he’d swing by the vicarage on his way home, if it wasn’t too late.
“Also, your killer might not like violence. He prefers to drug his victims or smother them.”
“Why wouldn’t he like violence?” Rob could hazard a guess, but he let the expert explain.
Tony shrugged. “He might have been abused as a child, perhaps he witnessed a violent act or was subject to violence over a period of many years. There are any number of reasons why a person wouldn’t want to use violence, particularly on children.”
“He opted for a more humane method of killing them,” Rob summed up.
Tony nodded. “It looks like it. Hopefully Dr Kramer will be able to shed some light once she’s done the post-mortems, although after all these years…” He left the sentence hanging.
Rob knew
