“Follow me,” I suggest.“It’s not a large space, but if it’s all right with Tom Richter—he’s the medical examiner who’ll be doing the autopsy—it’s certainly fine with me.”
A young woman dressed in gray scrubs points us to the autopsy room.I stop at the door, pull out my little jar and brush some VapoRub under my nose.Next I hand the jar to Haynes, who does the same.Then I brace myself and push open the door.
“I’ll domy best to get the official report to you before the end of day.”
“I appreciate it.”
I shake Dr.Richter’s hand to thank him before rushing to leave the oppressive space.
Once outside, I stop to suck in a few deep breaths of fresh air, hoping it will alleviate the persistent nausea that overwhelmed me when I saw that boy’s body lying on the steel slab, looking so vulnerable and exposed.
I catch sight of Steve Haynes, who left the moment Tom Richter compared the dental records that were sent straight to the morgue to our victim, and confirmed his identity as Ryan Wells.He’s leaning against the driver’s side door of a dark gray truck, his phone to his ear as he watches me approach.
I just hear him tell someone he should be back this afternoon and will stop by.Then he ends the call, tucking his phone in his pocket.
“Ryan’s mother?”
“Yeah.I didn’t want her to have to wait.Not knowing is almost worse, isn’t it?At least now she can start grieving.”
I have a hard time holding on to my emotions as I think about what that woman must be going through.Being a single mom to a couple of boys myself, it’s disturbingly easy to imagine myself in her shoes.
Taking a moment to pull myself together, I share some of the verbal conclusions the medical examiner came to after he was done with the autopsy.
“He was able to count seventeen separate knife wounds, some of which were defensive wounds on his hands and forearms.He also had bruising around his wrists and along his jaw.It looks like he put up a fight, but the ME believes there was more than one killer.Based on the state of decomposition and the body’s exposure, Richter estimates Ryan was likely killed not long after he went missing, a little over three weeks ago.”
“I figured he’d been down there a while,” Haynes observes, his eyes on a spot in the distance somewhere over my shoulder.“Looked like some animal might have gotten to him as well.”
I shiver at the reminder.I’m not sure I’ll be able to sleep tonight with the sight of that boy’s damaged body under the harsh lights of the autopsy room burned onto my retinas.
Haynes rubs his hands over his face and blows out an audible breath before turning to me.
“When do you figure his body can be released?”
“Any lab results should be back by late this afternoon,” I reply.“And, hopefully, I’ll have the autopsy report in my inbox shortly after.So, unless something new comes out of the lab results that requires closer scrutiny, I imagine as soon as the official report is in.”
He shrugs.“That would be good.At least Pam can have her son’s body back.”
He presses the fob on his keychain that unlocks the doors to the truck.
“Look,” I stop him before he gets in.“I know this closes your missing person case, and Edwards County technically has jurisdiction over his murder case since he was found here, but I think we can both be useful.In fact, since the vehicle he was murdered in was stolen in Spokane, and the Spokane PD would have jurisdiction there, I think it might be useful for all three departments to collaborate on this investigation.”
He seems interested as he nods slowly.
“I wouldn’t mind seeing this through,” he admits.“I’d have to get approval from my department.”
“For sure, I’ll have to bring it up to my boss as well, but I can’t imagine it’ll be a problem.I’m heading back to the station now, and as soon as I have the okay, I’ll send over copies of my case files for you to look at.Then we’ll figure out who’s in charge of the Mustang theft and reach out to see if we can loop them in.”
“Yeah.Let me know.In the meantime, I’ll be talking to his friends again, one of them must have an idea who or what Ryan might’ve gotten himself involved with.I wanna see whoever did this burn.”
With that, he gets behind the wheel, and I take a step back as he drives off.
It’s clear he’s taking this hard.I’ve also noticed the familiar way he seems to talk about the victim’s mother, and I wonder if perhaps he’s developed an interest in her.
Hell, I’m affected more than usual myself.This is a kid with his entire life in front of him.I’m as determined as Haynes is to bring his killer or killers to justice.
Clem
Standingin the open bay with my phone to my ear, I watch Tessa pull her Jeep in to the parking lot next door.Part of me is hoping she sends a glance in my direction, but she doesn’t.She aims straight for the door of the sheriff’s station at a determined pace.
