DON'T CALIFORNICATE WASHINGTON, the spray-painted message read. Washingtonians certainly felt strongly about overdevelopment, but Andie was fairly sure it had nothing to do with the latest string of homicides.
The footpath ended at the rest rooms. Beyond was a steep embankment. A thick stand of tall evergreens darkened the slope, leaving the moss-covered ground in almost perpetual darkness. The embankment was so steep that Andie stood at eye level with the pointed tops of forty-foot fir trees rising from the ravine. Lakewood Park was a long way from Washington Park Arboretum, where the other body had been found. The setting, however, was remarkably similar.
Andie heard voices from below. She couldn't see through the woods, but the forensic team was evidently at work. She headed down the hill toward the recovery site.
At the foot of the hill, police tape marked off an area the size of a baseball diamond. Several deputies stood watch at various points, their hats covered in plastic, like shower caps, to protect the felt from the light rain. A forensic photographer circled the scene, covering every angle. Andie noticed the rope still hanging from a tree limb. A dark plastic bag lay atop the gurney on the ground. The fourth victim.
She approached Kessler, who was jotting down a few notes for himself. A dark blue jacket shielded him from the misty rain. His hair was wet and matted to his head, though he seemed oblivious to the elements.
"Thanks for the call, Dick."
"No problem. Like I said on the phone, outside the city of Seattle is more your jurisdiction than mine. I'm just looking for connections to Jane Doe.".
"What do you think?"
"I think maybe you were right to cool my heels about Gus Wheatley. I think it's a good thing the King County sheriff's department is already part of our task force. And I think it just grew to include the city of Issaquah police."
He continued moving around the site, checking different angles, jotting down notes. Andie followed him, asking questions to fill in the blanks he'd left on the telephone.
"Must have been a strong guy to carry the body all this way from the entrance."
"You're assuming she was dead when they got here." "Wasn't she?"
He shrugged. "Maybe. Tire tracks lead all the way up the footpath. He drove as far as the rest rooms, which suggests he was trying to shorten the carrying distance. Victim was dead or unconscious, I'd say."
"How'd he get his car past the gate? I only took a quick look, but the lock didn't seem busted to me."
"Gate wasn't locked."
"Why not?"
"Hardly ever is. The park director is on call twenty-four hours a day, but she's afraid to come out after dark and lock the gate. Reduced security is probably what lured our killer out of Seattle. Ever since we found Jane Doe, we had every park on alert, extra patrol cars going through at night. Decent chance somebody would have spotted him had he tried to string up another body in our neck of the woods. No pun intended."
"Who found the body?"
"Park director, on her rounds at sunrise."
He turned away and headed toward the tree. He was checking for hooks or nails, anything that would have helped the killer climb a massive trunk as straight up and down as a flagpole.
Andie asked, "How long has she been dead?"
"A day or so, I'd guess."
She surveyed the tree, top to bottom. "Scene sure looks a lot like the place we found Jane Doe."
"Yup."
"Does she?"
"Does she what?"
"Does the victim look like Jane Doe?"
"If you're asking whether it's Beth Wheatley, the answer is no."
"You're sure?"
"Positive. No abdominal scar."
Andie knew exactly what he meant. When she'd asked Gus about distinctive scars or moles that might help identify his wife, he'd mentioned their daughter's cesarean delivery.
Kessler said, "But to give a complete answer to your question, she does look a lot like Jane Doe."
"How so?"
"Brunette, brown eyes. Mid-thirties. Same height, build. Body left hanging in a tree, stark naked."
"Was she dead before he hung her?"
"Can't say till the autopsy comes in."
"You got a look at her neck, didn't you? You heard what the medical examiner said about the bruise marks on Jane Doe. What do you think happened here?"
"I think he strangled her someplace else, brought the body here, strung it up in the tree. This is a dumping site, not a murder scene. It's just like the other one."
Andie nodded. "None of that surprises me."
"I think it does," he said pointedly. "This shoots a huge hole in your bookend theory."
"What do you mean?"
"Jane Doe is victim number three. Now you got number four, and she isn't Beth Wheatley. But Beth Wheatley is still missing."
"And you think that kills my theory?"
"It does if we find Wheatley hanging from a tree. Who the hell ever heard of three bookends?"
He snapped his notepad shut, then turned and headed toward the body, leaving Andie alone by the tree.
Chapter Twenty-One.