Caching Out Read Free

thinks, based on the blood pooling,
that some of the cuts were definitely made while she was alive, but he really
couldn’t tell without further review. Same thing with the rape. We need that
damn report. Either way, the cutting took time and skill. The bastard wasn’t in
any hurry, which means either he knew her or at the least he was familiar with
her routine and not worried about being interrupted. Even if the mutilation cuts
were made after he slashed her throat, it wouldn’t have been quick.”
    Pointing
to the last of the photos on Tate’s desk, Martin asked, “What do you suppose
this cut means?  Looks like the Olympic rings, only there’s three instead of
five. Only someone who’s really good with a knife could do that. It
almost looks like a tattoo.”
    “I
really don’t know if there’s any symbolic meaning. I have been doing some
research online, but can’t find anything that resembles that cut other than the
Olympic rings, and as you pointed out, that’s not an exact match. Daniel
Westhaven from the ME’s office covered the scene and he wasn’t familiar with
any Native American symbols that bear any resemblance to the tattoo cut either.”
    “Well
if it is a Lakota symbol, then Daniel would know. He’s pretty much an expert. Maybe
she did have ties to the Reservation and this was some kind of drug deal gone
bad.”  Martin pushed the prints back into the folder.
    “Once
we get the ME’s report with a tox screen, we may have something more to go on
with that line of thought.”
    Martin
nodded. “Who found the body, Tate?  God, I hope it wasn’t her Mama or her
Daddy.”
    “No
one found the body, and that’s the strangest piece in this whole grizzly puzzle.
Julie Barton over at central dispatch got an anonymous 911 call from Parker’s
home phone. A male caller said he wanted to report a murder. The bastard
actually laughed, then hung up before Julie could ask any questions.”
    Martin
met Tate’s eyes, stunned. “You’ve got to be shittin’me. The perp called in his
own crime?”
    Tate
nodded. “Sounds crazy I know, but that’s what happened. When the assistant ME
showed up he put the time of death at approximately 7:30 pm. Hell, the body was
still warm. Julie logged the call at 8:07 and immediately dispatched a patrol
car to the house. When they got there, the door was standing open. The bastard
must have called it in right after he killed her.” 
    Whistling
through his teeth, Martin shook his head, “Now, that’s a ballsy move. In all my
years of service, I have never heard of the perp calling in his own crime.”
    “Why
call it in at all? And even if the perp wanted to, why so fast?  Why not buy himself
some time by letting someone find the body after he was gone?”
    Martin
leaned back in his chair and pulled his glasses off tucking them into his shirt
pocket. “You ever get any calls out to her house before?”
     “None,”
Tate shook his head. “No history of calls to the house, no husband at present
or ex-husband, no known boyfriend and no clear ties to the Res. All I know for
sure is that Saralyn Parker was a 24-year-old schoolteacher that some sick
bastard raped, mutilated and killed.”
    Martin
pushed his official sheriff’s tan hat back on his head and stood to leave. “Any
idea where you’re going next with this investigation?  Once this gets out,
you’re going to have your hands full with the locals. There hasn’t been a
murder in Pine Ridge for so long that once they move past the shock of it,
they’ll be out for blood. Yours if you don’t come up with a suspect pretty
quick.” 
    Standing
to shake Martin’s hand, Tate said, “I know the locals expect a fast arrest, but
we can’t afford to be sloppy and lose a conviction on a technicality. I’m
waiting on the report along with the tox screen, and hopefully it will give me some
DNA evidence to work with. I’ve already had a call from the mayor reminding me
that it’s an election year, and letting