Mason could tell Dr. Peres was steaming mad about the break-in. Those brown eyes of hers shot daggers in every direction she looked. She didn’t rant and rave, but held it in. Her ramrod-straight posture and tight jaw told him how deeply the mess affected her. Seth’s words about the bone doctor rang in his head, as she described what was missing.
Takes a bit of digging to get to know her.
Mason admired the anthropologist. She knew her shit and didn’t complain about hard work. He’d been to more than one scene where the woman was deep in the dirt for hours to find answers for him and for the families. He studied her face as she explained about the teeth on the skull she was 99 percent certain was Lorenzo Cavallo’s missing sister. The Bone Lady cared. She gave a rip about a woman who’d been dead for decades. That was something he didn’t see every day. Her frustration with the missing bones was plain in her speech.
“I’d like to strangle someone,” Dr. Peres said frankly. “There’s never been a break-in here, but today they steal my bones? What really pisses me off is that I hadn’t done the full exam on some of the missing pieces. I have photos and X-rays, thank God. But I didn’t get to spend the in-depth time with them that I like to.”
“You can tell a lot from the X-rays, right?” Ray Lusco asked.
She nodded. “Age, breaks, ancestry, health. A number of things. But nothing is better than having the actual bones in my hands.”
Mason glanced at the other two men in the room. Seth Rutledge stood silently, arms across his chest, feet planted firmly, his gaze locked on Dr. Peres’s face as she spoke. Next to him stood the ex. Mason had never met Rory Gibbs. But what he’d learned in the last fifteen minutes told him he hadn’t missed out. Other than a brief greeting and introduction, Mason hadn’t spoken to the man, but he’d watched him carefully. Rory Gibbs couldn’t stand still. He shifted his weight constantly, scanned the room, and eyed Seth Rutledge with annoyance. Dr. Rutledge ignored him.
The man had no focus, Mason decided. And he was a college professor? He was as antsy as a student during a lecture on dirt. What had Victoria Peres seen in the guy? Mason was perturbed by his adult ADHD vibe. In Mason’s experience, men who couldn’t stand or sit still were usually guilty about something.
“You didn’t see anyone around?” Mason directed his question to Rory. Victoria had finished her description of the leg and foot she’d seen darting out the door. Good thing Lusco had been taking careful notes. Mason’s mental notes were on Rory Gibbs.
Rory looked at him. “No. Nothing. Anita gestured me toward the back, saying Victoria was back by her lab. Anita was on the phone, speaking to someone about an alarm that’d just gone off. I know my way around. I’ve been here a lot.”
Mason waited.
“Well, not recently. Not since we divorced.” Rory shot a glance at Victoria.
Mason followed his gaze. Dr. Peres’s face was perfectly blank. Her previous frustration about the break-in carefully shielded along with her feelings about her ex-husband.
“Why were you here today?” Mason asked.
“I wanted to talk to Victoria.”
Mason waited again, watching the college professor adjust his balance and clench his fingers together. He judged Rory Gibbs to be the type of man who didn’t like silence and would fill in the holes.
“I wanted to know more about those girls who died. When I saw their names on the news, I realized two of them had been previous students of mine.”
Mason’s gut started to buzz. The prof knew two victims? “These girls were all in high school. You teach at the community college, right?”
Rory nodded. “English. All levels. We get lots of high-school students taking lower-level classes during the summer sessions. Gets it out of the way. Cheaper for the parents and one less class for their load during freshman year.”
“Were the girls in the same class?” Lusco spoke up.
Rory shook his head. “I already looked at my records. I wanted to be certain that I was right when I saw their names. They both took a one-hundred-level English class last summer, but on different days.”
“Did you check for the other girls’ names?”
“I only looked at last summer’s classes, but I didn’t see any other names from the news.”
“Who’d you teach?”
“Brooke Sheardon and Glory McCarthy.”
“Why’d you remember them?” Mason asked. “I’d think that the names and faces would blur together after a while.”
Rory moved his feet. “That’s true. But Glory’s name stuck in my head. It’s an odd one. And I had her in a summer session. We’d joked about her plans for the Fourth of July.”
“And Brooke?”
“I didn’t remember her until I looked at the class roster.”
“Were the girls friends?” Lusco had his pencil speeding along his notepad.
“I have no idea. I don’t remember anything about them except for the Fourth of July conversation.”
“They’re attractive girls,” Mason prodded.
Rory stared at him. “What’s your point?”
“Usually men remember pretty girls.” He held the college professor’s gaze, infusing his comment with a hint of slime.
“What the hell?” Dr. Peres spit the words. “What are you saying, Callahan?”
“I’m just trying to prod his memory a bit. If the girls hung out together through the college, that’d be the first connection we’ve managed to establish. Actually you’re the first connection we’ve found, Professor Gibbs. We haven’t been able to tie them together at all.”
“If they’d been in the same class, I’d say that’s a connection,” Rory argued. “But being in different classes on different days is pretty weak.”
“No, not the class. You. You’re the common denominator.” Mason showed the professor his teeth. “I’m glad we ran into you today.”
Mason swore Gibbs’s face paled two shades.
He knew he shouldn’t poke at people like that, but the professor rubbed him the wrong way.
“Is Brooke improving?” Dr. Peres spoke up.
“She gave everyone a bad scare yesterday,” Lusco answered. “Put her parents and the hospital staff into a panic, but she pulled through. Still not conscious.”
“Any change in her prognosis?” Dr. Rutledge asked.
“No change. Touch and go.”
“The first funeral is later today,” stated Dr. Peres softly. “I’d planned to go until the break-in happened. Lacey is going.”
Mason nodded. “We’ll have police there. In uniform and in plainclothes.”
“Why plainclothes? I’d think the parents would appreciate a blue turnout that’s as big as possible.” The professor’s skin color was back to normal.
“These men will be working. Filming the attendees.”
“Oh. I’ve heard killers will attend their victims’ funerals. Is that what you’re looking for?” Rory tilted his head as he spoke, his gaze intent on Mason.
“The service today is more for the public,” Mason stated, ignoring his question. “It’s not an actual funeral. It’s so the people who didn’t know the girls can give their respects to the family. Actual interment will be private.”
“This case has struck a huge chord with the community. The church will be packed. You’re probably looking at thousands of people,” Dr. Rutledge added. “That’s a lot of faces to look through.”
“I’m kinda hoping the rain keeps some people away,” said Mason.
Victoria gave a half smile. “If Oregonians stayed home when it rained, we’d never get out.”
“Three of the smaller rivers have already spilled over their banks,” Lusco spoke. “I drove through a foot of water not far from my neighborhood. They’ve got roads closed in some of the areas and people are already picking up sandbags.”
“Tired of the rain,” Mason added. He turned back to Dr. Peres. “Will you be able to get an inventory of what’s missing by this evening?”
She nodded. “I think so. Each bone was coded at one point, but a lot of the numbers have faded. Hopefully I can put together something pretty accurate. This was deliberate, you know. The only reason to steal skulls is to try to hide their identity. Nothing tells us more in anthropology. With a skull, I can tell sex, race, and age range, and match dental records. Or even have a forensic sculptor create a likeness from clay or computer images. Full identification from any other bone takes a rare specific incident. Like a broken femur with a matching X-ray. I wish I’d gotten a closer look at the last skeleton.”
“Let me know when you’re done. I want to know exactly what’s missing.” Mason turned to the college professor. “How about we set up a time for you to come talk to us at the office?”
Mason enjoyed watching the color drain from the man’s face again.