“He really wants your help on this.”
That was clear enough. Griffin had recently been helpful when a friend of hers was in deep trouble. He’d given her manpower and lab time when he had no official obligation to do so. She had known his help would not be without strings.
Now he was cashing in.
“Okay,” she finally said. “I’ll visit this one crime scene with you and take a look around. That’s it.”
Metcalf nodded. “That’s all I’m asking.”
But one thing could lead to another, and she would have to be the one to call the halt. Her last case had been both physically and emotionally draining, and she needed to step back and heal for a time. She didn’t need this.
But evidently she was going to get it.
Just one quick look around. That was going to be her limit.
“Let’s get this over with,” Kendra said. She turned to Gina. “And when we’re finished, you can use that Papa John’s app to order me a medium Meat Lovers pizza. I’m starving.”
*
METCALF OFFERED HER A lift to the crime scene, but Kendra turned him down flat. She preferred to follow in her own car. She didn’t want to be stuck there any longer than she needed to be.
Within minutes she turned onto Holt Street and immediately found herself at a police road block. She saw Metcalf waving his badge at the officer, then pointing back to her. The cop waved them through.
It was a block taken up by Kimbrough Elementary School on one side and a two-story apartment building on the other. In the middle of the street was a large white tent, approximately ten by ten feet. Kendra counted no less than a dozen uniformed police officers on the scene plus several detectives and forensics personnel.
She parked behind Metcalf and walked toward the school with him and Gina. “I’m guessing the tent isn’t a PTA bake sale,” she said grimly.
“San Diego PD put it up to spare the kiddies from what promises to be a horrific sight.”
“Great. Thanks again for the wonderful afternoon.”
“Aw, come on. What would you rather be doing today?”
“Root canal. Colonoscopy. Having my fingernails removed with a pair of pliers.” She stopped outside the tent. “I smell gasoline. Something’s been cooking.” The realization hit her. “Something … or someone.”
“Exactly,” Gina said. She grabbed the tent’s door flap. “Ready for this?”
No, Kendra wanted to tell her. She wasn’t like them. She could never get used to the sad, horrible stories that greeted her at these crime scenes.
She nodded. “I’m ready.”
Kendra ducked through the flap and stopped cold. There in the center of the tent was a charred woman’s body bound to a desk chair.
Her breath left her.
It was the work of a monster.
A police detective had entered behind them. “It happened around 11:30. The principal saw her burning out here. He ran out with an extinguisher and put it out.”
Kendra still hadn’t adjusted to the shock. There were wisps of strawberry blond hair and a face that was half gone.
Kendra looked away.
Detach.
Concentrate.
“Burned alive?” Gina asked.
Kendra shook her head. “No. She’s been dead for a few days.”
“How can you tell?” Metcalf asked.
“The odor. It’s not just charred flesh, there’s been decomposition.”
The detective nodded. “The M.E. was just here. He backs that up. He says she’s been dead a few days at least.”
Kendra made herself turn back toward the corpse. Corpse. That’s right, think of her as an object, a puzzle. Not as a woman who’d had a life, friends, lovers. “Do we have an ID?”
“Not yet,” the detective replied. “We’ve just started running her against missing persons.”
Kendra studied the corpse, trying to pull anything from it she could. “If that doesn’t pan out, you might canvas some of the high-end hair salons. She used a Japanese hair conditioner that isn’t common around here. Tsubaki.”
Gina jotted this down into her notebook. “I’m not sure I’m spelling it right. I’m a Pantene girl myself.”
“I know.” Kendra knelt beside the corpse, which was still dripping with extinguisher foam. “Did anyone see her deposited here?”
“Not so far,” the detective replied. “We’ve done a preliminary canvas, but no one reports seeing her before the fire.”
“Probably a truck with a ramp. The chair could have been rolled out quickly, set on fire, and the truck took off before anyone noticed.” Kendra looked up. “It’s my guess her body was taped to the chair at a fairly active construction site. You should start there.”
“What makes you say that?” Metcalf asked.
She pointed to the casters, which were covered by a chalky powder. “That looks like silica dust, which you’ll find at many building sites. The body was already in this chair when it rolled across the dust and kicked some up.” She gently lifted the corpse’s left pant leg. “See? It’s not underneath the body.”
“Very good,” Metcalf said.
There was nothing good about anything connected to what had happened to this woman, Kendra thought. Certainly not the fact that Kendra was able to see what had happened to her. Why hadn’t someone been able to see it before it happened?
Three more investigators entered the tent as Kendra examined the corpse’s high-heeled shoes. “It’s obvious she’s been dragged. There’s more construction dust here, too, but it’s different.”
“Different how?” Jennings asked.
“It’s darker. Looks like residue from cut granite.”
One of the investigators shone his high-powered flashlight over the shoes. “Wait!” Kendra said. “Keep that light where it is.”
She squinted at the pool of extinguisher fluid beneath the chair. The mirror-like surface reflected the seat’s underside. There was something there …
“Someone give me evidence gloves.”
Four pairs were suddenly thrust in her direction. She took a pair of plastic gloves from Metcalf and slid them on. She peered underneath the chair, which was relatively unscathed from the fire.
Affixed to the chair’s underside was a shiny silver pouch.
Kendra peeled it off and stood up.
“What is it?” Gina asked.
“Maybe nothing,” Kendra said as she loosened the pouch’s drawstrings. “But this seems like it might be made from a fire-retardant material.” She pulled two items from the pouch. “A set of keys and a pair of eyeglasses.”
“Hers?” the detective asked.
“Maybe, but I doubt it.” She opened the glasses. “These are men’s spectacles, probably for a face larger than hers was. And the keys have a tag for a supermarket loyalty program. Meijer’s.”
“It’s a Midwestern chain,” Metcalf said. “If these things aren’t hers, what are they doing here?”
“Your guess is as good as mine.” Kendra put the items in Metcalf’s hand. “The smell is getting to me. I have to get out of here.”
Kendra lifted the tent flap and slid outside.
“Wait.” Metcalf was following her. “That’s it?”
“Yes. That’s all I got.” Her nostrils still burned from that horrible stench. She didn’t break stride. “Catch the beast who did this, will you?”
“It would be easier if you helped us.”