Ashes to Ashes Read Free Page A

waist was unclear. “Her driver’s license was left near the body.”
    “And it’s been confirmed that she’s missing?”
    “She had dinner with her father at his home Friday night. She hasn’t been seen since.”
    “That doesn’t mean it’s her.”
    “No, but that’s the way it worked with the first two,” Sabin said. “The ID left with each hooker’s body matched up.”
    A hundred questions shot through Kate’s mind, questions about the crime scene, about what information the police had released about the first two murders and what had been held back. This was the first she’d heard about the IDs being left at the scene. What did that mean? Why burn the bodies beyond recognition, yet leave the victim’s identity right there?
    “I assume they’re checking dental records,” she said.
    The men exchanged looks.
    “I’m afraid that’s not an option,” Rob said carefully. “We have a body
only
.”
    “Jesus,” Kate breathed as a chill ran through her. “He didn’t decapitate the others. I never heard that.”
    “No, he didn’t,” Rob said. He squinted again and tipped his head a little to one side. “What do you make of it, Kate? You’ve had experience with this kind of thing.”
    “Obviously, his level of violence is escalating. It could mean he’s gearing up for something big. There was some sexual mutilation with the others, right?”
    “The cause of death on the other two was ruled strangulation by ligature,” Sabin said. “I’m sure I don’t need to tell you, Kate, that while strangulation is certainly a violent enough method of murder, a decapitation will throw this city into a panic. Particularly if the victim was a decent, law-abiding young woman. My God, the daughter of one of the most prominent men in the state. We need to find this killer fast. And we can make that happen. We’ve got a witness.”
    “And this is where I come in,” Kate said. “What’s the story?”
    “Her name is Angie DiMarco,” Rob said. “She came running out of the park just as the first radio car arrived.”
    “Who called it in?”
    “Anonymous caller on a cell phone, I’m told,” Sabin said. His mouth tightened and twisted as if he were sucking at a sore tooth. “Peter Bondurant is a friend of the mayor’s. I know him as well. He’s beside himself with grief at the idea that this victim is Jillian, and he wants this case solved ASAP. A task force is being put together even as we speak. Your old friends at the Bureau have been called. They’re sending someone from the Investigative Support Unit. We clearly have a serial killer on our hands.”
    And a prominent businessman up your butts.
    “Rumors are already flying,” Sabin muttered darkly. “The police department has a leak big enough to drain the Mississippi.”
    The phone on his desk was lighting up like the switchboard on a disease telethon, though it never audibly rang.
    “I’ve spoken with Chief Greer and with the mayor,” he continued. “We’re grabbing this thing by the short hairs right now.”
    “That’s why we’ve called you in, Kate,” Rob said, shifting in his chair again. “We can’t wait until there’s been an arrest to assign someone to this witness. She’s the only link we have to the killer. We want someone from the unit attached to her right away. Someone to sit with her during police interviews. Someone to let her know not to talk to the press. Someone to maintain the thread of contact between her and the county attorney’s office. Someone to keep tabs on her.”
    “It sounds like what you want is a baby-sitter. I’ve got cases ongoing.”
    “We’ll shift some of your caseload.”
    “Not Willis,” she said, then grimaced. “As much as I’d like to dump him. And absolutely not Melanie Hessler.”
    “I could take Hessler, Kate,” Rob insisted. “I sat in on the initial meeting. I’m familiar with the case.”
    “No.”
    “I’ve worked with plenty of rape victims.”
    “No,” she said as if