Hidden Fire, Kobo Read Free

"I've
already got finger and shoe prints for elimination and they said they didn't
get close to the body once they smelled it." He smiled. "They won't
be getting their beer back. Think I should give them the magazines?"
    Randy chuckled. "They might need
them. I have a feeling they'll be confined to their rooms for a good chunk of
the foreseeable future."
    "On the down side, no telling how
many other kids have used this place as a bedroom substitute. Once the body is
out of here, I'll be able to focus on what's in the immediate vicinity. I'd
hate to have to analyze twenty-five acres' worth of trace. Hell, the condoms
per square foot would keep the state lab working round the clock for a month,
easy."
    "Where's Kovak?" Randy asked,
getting back to business.
    "He and a couple of uniforms are
knocking on doors. This place is remote, but the M.E. says this is the crime
scene. Someone might have heard or seen something."
    "ID?" Randy asked. "Cause
of death? Time? Anything?"
    A woman's voice interrupted. "Based
on rigor and lividity, preliminary time of death is probably between eight and
midnight yesterday. Most likely killed here, judging from the blood. You'll
have the rest as soon as I know, Detweiler."
    "Hi, Doc. Thanks for getting here so
quickly." Randy inhaled, exhaled, braced himself, then turned toward the
body.
    Charlotte Russell rose. Her lips were
narrowed, her brow creased. "Sick bastards." In her late forties, she
was almost six feet tall and as strong as most of the men on the force. Fitter
than many. She covered the entire county and nobody messed with her—or her
bodies. "At least it's a decent hour. It's nice not to get dragged out of
bed for a change."
    The stench of death—blood, decomp, and
assorted body fluids—was stronger here. He forced his gaze to the naked body
lying curled on his side in the dirt. Only the blood-matted hair at the back of
its skull gave evidence of violence. That and the fact that it was blood and
body fluids, not rain water, that turned the otherwise dry earth to mud around
the victim.
    Although the soil soaked up some of the
mess, Randy agreed with Charlotte's assessment that the victim had been killed
here, not brought in. Not having to find a second crime scene made things
easier.
    "Any idea who it is?" Randy
asked.
    "You tell me, Detective. You ever
seen him before?" She stepped back, giving Randy his first close look at
the corpse. She shone her flashlight, better illuminating the man's face. Or
what used to be his face.
    His dessert did a quick flip. Randy
swallowed at the sight of the bloody pulp. He let his eyes drift to paper bags
neatly securing the victim's hands. "No, can't say that I have."
    "Give me a hand turning him,"
Charlotte said.
    Randy held his breath as he helped
position the body on its back. Charlotte moved the light down over his torso. "These
cuts are post-mortem. And deep. Like the killer was angry."
    Randy leaned closer at three Xs sliced
into the victim's abdomen, above a horizontal line. Curiosity replaced his
queasiness. "Ever seen a pattern like that?"
    "No."
    He withdrew his notebook and copied the
pattern. "Did Connor get pictures?"
    "Yes, he did. I'll get prints and
dental records started. I think there's enough of his lower jaw left, but if
you can find any bone fragments, pick them up for me." She waved her
flashlight around the area. "If the critters haven't already scattered
them, we might get enough to create a sketch. There's also a lot of dirt under
his fingernails that doesn't seem to match the terrain. I'll let you know when
I'm ready to do the autopsy—or will this be Kovak's case?"
    "I got back in town a few hours ago,"
he said. "Call either of us—we'll coordinate." Penny Scholnik's
serial killer question swam to the front of his brain. "Wait. Did any
reporters get back here?"
    Charlotte shook her head and stepped away
from the body. "Not while I was here. But no telling what happened before
then." She raised her arm and motioned with