He motioned to Pete, and his partner handed out a couple of cards to the girls, saving Ike from the dreaded skin-on-skin contact. Then they walked back over to the body.
“What do you think?” Pete nodded back toward the girls.
“I think it would definitely take the both of them to string a guy his size up like this. But with the amount of blood here, they’d both be covered in it after it was done.”
“Agreed. Not to mention that whoever did this had to be very pissed at this man. You do not cut off a guy’s junk for the fun of it.”
Isaac shook his head in agreement.
“No, you don’t. But without a positive ID on him, we’ve got nowhere to start. Let’s leave CSU to do their thing and see what Hiroshi has to say. Meantime, you and I will go through Case Western’s student roster. Maybe we’ll get an ID that way.”
He dug his cellphone from his pocket and took a picture of the victim’s face.
“Or… you could give him a touch,” Pete said. “See what you see.”
Isaac glared at him. “Or not.”
Pete held up his hands in surrender.
Isaac looked back at the body and briefly entertained the idea. Since his ordeal with the Lullaby Murders a few weeks ago, and what he’d been through after touching each of those poor little girls, he was less than eager to touch another murder victim. At least so soon. He knew it would be the fastest way to glean useful information, but he simply couldn’t bring himself to do it.
“I’ll meet you back at the station, Pete.”
“Yep.”
Pete’s response was distracted, and Isaac understood perfectly. The scene was grisly. Isaac would even call it macabre.
“Come on,” he said in an effort to get his partner moving.
They headed to their respective cars and, once behind the wheel of his, Isaac’s thoughts drifted from the horrific crime scene to his Sidney.
He thought about how peacefully she was sleeping when he’d left, and for some reason the thought warmed him.
A ghost of a smile crossed his lips when he remembered the joy he’d felt at learning she was pregnant. That he was going to be a father. The idea of it blew his mind even now.
He pulled into the back lot of the police station and parked behind a row of marked black and white cruisers. Then he yawned as he headed inside the building. He was tired, but the nearly 4 am call-out was only part of the reason.
There wasn’t really much he and Pete could do at this hour besides begin the preliminary paperwork and make notes for when the university offices opened later in the morning and they could speak to someone. After seeing to those things, and beginning a case board with the victim’s picture and a big question mark for the name, Isaac turned to Pete.
“Go home, partner. Get a couple more hours sleep or eat some food. Meet me back here at eight o’clock sharp and we’ll head to the university.”
“Sounds good.”
They both dragged themselves up from their desks and headed out of the detective’s pit.
2
“Tell me the truth, Ike. How is she really doing?”
Simon’s voice was full of concern, and Isaac was grateful that he had such a good relationship with his future brother-in-law. He took a deep breath and thought about the question, and about how quiet Sidney had been at breakfast just a few minutes ago.
“I don’t know, Simon. She’s not good. I mean… physically she’s fine. Emotionally she’s just not her usual bubbly self. But it’s only been a couple of days though.”
“Do you think I need to come?”
“No, no.” Isaac shook his head as though Simon were in the room with him and could see the gesture. “I don’t think you need to take leave and miss work and all that. She’ll be okay. It’s just gonna take some time to get over, that’s all.”
He hoped he sounded more confident than he felt about the situation. Simon sighed, and Isaac could feel the weight of it even over the phone.
“Okay, I’m going to trust your judgment on this, Ike. But please call me if things change. I can be there in less than 4 hours.”
“You know I’ll keep you posted, Simon.”
“Yeah. Hey, maybe she’ll feel better once you two set a date, huh?”
His tone was lighter, and Isaac appreciated the attempt at levity.
“Yeah, maybe so. I’ll catch you later, man.”
“Yep. See you.”
Isaac ended the call and glanced around the sunroom. Then he tucked his phone into his pocket and went in search of the woman in question. When he’d taken the call from her brother, Sidney had been in the kitchen cleaning up their breakfast dishes. Now the kitchen was empty.
He walked through the living room and wandered down the hall. He found her in their bedroom.
“Hey.”
The sound of his voice made her jump, and Isaac watched her drop something into an open drawer and quickly close it.
“Hey,” she replied quietly, running a hand over the back of her neck. Then her whole body sagged on a sigh. “I’m sorry.”
Isaac moved closer and pulled her into his arms from behind, and looked at her face in the mirror.
“Darlin’, you don’t have to apologize. And you don’t have to hide that little t-shirt from me either.”
She leaned back against him. “It was silly of me to buy it in the first place.”
“No, it wasn’t. Sidney, you were happy. You were excited about being pregnant. About becoming a mom. About the new life we made together. There is nothing wrong with any of that.”
Keeping one arm snugly around her, he reached out and opened the drawer. Then he pulled out the tiny t-shirt that was covered in teddy bears.
“And there’s nothing wrong with hanging onto this as a way to remember that life. Even though it was fleeting. And someday real soon, there will be another baby. One that will actually get the chance
