Fireproof (Maggie O'Dell #10)

“The instrument used to do this had a larger surface area, it had a wider impact area. It had to be something larger and heavier. And because it also scratched the bone, I think we might rule out any shaftlike weapon, like a tire iron or a golf club. Those usually leave a long, narrow groove.

“Whatever he used—and I’m simply guessing that he didn’t stop and use more than one instrument—it had a considerable head or end on it to inflict tremendous trauma. It also had some sort of claw or a sharp hooked end to cause the scratches and nicks I’m seeing in some of the bones.”

“Stan said the tissue looked like it had been ripped out.”

“If you had the crime scene to process, I bet we’d see a lot of flyers. Without the crime scene, we’re doing a whole lot of speculating.”

Flyers were the blood and tissue trails flung on walls and ceiling as the weapon is raised for the next blow and then the next. In this case, Maggie realized both experts were saying that the weapon not only broke and shattered bone and splattered blood and tissue, but also dug into and ripped out pieces.

“What about a crowbar?” she asked Ling.

“It would need a long enough handle to create this kind of force. And I’m thinking wider. Maybe like a pry bar.”

They sat quietly for a minute. Dr. Ling’s hands were still.

“What about the other victim, the burned skull recovered from inside the building?”

“I spent almost five hours at the site sifting through the ashes. There were no other bones.”

“Is it possible the rest of the body was destroyed in the fire?”

“It’s pretty difficult to burn up a body entirely, even when accelerants are used. Cremation will even leave portions of bone that require mechanical pulverizing. This was an intensely hot fire, but not hot enough to destroy everything but the skull. I would have expected to find some long bones, or at least pieces of them. Also the teeth were smashed, but I didn’t recover any and teeth don’t burn.”

“Sounds like you’re saying this person was murdered somewhere else as well?”

“That would be my guess. The trauma sustained, as well as the decapitation, most likely did not happen in that building.”

“Same weapon?”

“I can’t make that determination at this time.”

“Male? Female?”

“Male. Caucasian. That’s really all I can tell you right now.”

Silence. Maggie could hear the boiling water gurgle. Somewhere a machine clicked on and hummed.

“This was a brutal murder,” Ling finally said, her face expressionless, her eyes trailing to the tray of bone and teeth, fragments of Gloria Dobson. “Some of the bones were congealed with blood and shoved into the brain.”

Ling didn’t need to explain that meant Gloria Dobson was still alive—hopefully unconscious—but her heart still pumping blood when she sustained some of the most vicious blows.

Racine chose that moment to stroll into the lab and call out, “Hey, Doc, whatcha got cookin’?”





CHAPTER 54




Sam’s one day off and she spent the entire morning at the news station. Abe Nadira showed her to an empty editing booth. He helped her access the files she was looking for, then hesitated like he didn’t want to leave her alone with them. Thankfully he was too busy to stay. She immediately locked the door behind him.

Last night Wes Harper’s description of what fire can do to a body had freaked her out more than she liked to admit. What bothered her the most was how much pleasure Harper seemed to take in telling all the gruesome details. She also didn’t like the fact that he and Jeffery seemed awfully chummy for having just met.

Just how did Jeffery know so much about these fires and about this fire starter? Yes, he did a ton of research, a habit he claimed was left over from his high school teaching days. So Sam was never surprised by the things he knew or remembered. He was one of the brightest guys she knew. And he could have learned things from Otis P. Dodd’s personal letters, but they wouldn’t have told Jeffery any details about these fires.

She couldn’t remember any one of their interviewees or sources mentioning that the fires were started by a chemical reaction. Yet Jeffery appeared certain. She wanted to check some of their film footage. And she needed to check the films’ date and time stamps. How did Jeffery know about the fires so early?

She wondered if someone was tipping him off. He often joked that he had more contacts and informants than the CIA, and Sam had always been amazed at the network of people he knew, not just across the country, but across the world.

Why Big Mac hadn’t given Jeffery his own show always baffled Sam. Except that he didn’t have the “look.” Jeffery Cole was a bit too ordinary looking.