‘And the figurines mean something,’ Ella said.‘They could be personal to him or they could represent something.We need to find out if these victims are surrogates or intended targets.’
‘Come again?’said Fields.
Surrogates are symbols of the source of his rage.If he hates women, then there's a woman out there who caused him to hate women, and he's re-enacting killing her over and over again.If these women are his intended targets, then they've personally done something to wrong him.We need to find out which, and it'll be a lot easier if it's the latter.
Ripley said, ‘What I’m wondering is why he hid the snowman underneath the victim’s hoodie, when he left the ballet dancer out in the open.’
‘Easy,’ Ella said.‘This snowman looks ceramic to me.Is that right, Fields?’
‘Right.’
‘Ceramics can crack under thermal shock.If there’s freezing rain on it one minute then blistering sun the next, the snowman could break and ruin his ritual.Or the string could come loose and make the figurine blow away.That wouldn’t happen with wood.The killer hid it under her hoodie to make sure we found it.’
‘Either that or he’s still experimenting,’ Ripley said.‘If he’s early in his cycle, the method will be more important than the ritual.Rituals get more sledgehammers as killers get more confident.If there's a third victim, don't be surprised to find a figurine stuck to their forehead.'
‘Which means that these are his first foray into murder, so that’s one silver lining.’
Fields looked between them.He seemed like a man watching a tennis match being played at a speed he hadn’t expected.His phone buzzed on the table.He checked it.
‘The coroner’s finished with victim one and says she’ll have victim two done within the hour.She fast-tracked them both.’
Ella drained her coffee and set the mug down.‘We should go see her.’
‘I’ll come with you,’ said Fields.
Ripley said, ‘No need.Three of us in a coroner’s office is one too many.We need both scenes locked down tight.Make sure you’ve got enough officers holding the perimeter at the river and at Natkin Way.If forensics have anything new, we want to hear about it before the end of tonight.And check whether any cameras from that factory caught vehicle traffic in or out between ten last night and when the body was found.’
For a half-second, Ella thought Fields might push back, but he didn’t.He nodded once, scooped up his files and slid out of the booth.
‘I’ll have the updates to you as soon as they come in,’ he said.‘And thank you.Both of you.’
‘Don’t thank us yet,’ Ripley said.‘We haven’t done anything.’
Fields left.The bell above the diner door rang after him.
Ripley looked at Ella sideways.‘Are you happy now?You’ve got a murder investigation to keep you busy.’
‘So have you.’
Ripley rolled her eyes.‘Great.Now excuse me while I go talk to Vernon, unless you want to do the honors?’
‘He’ll be more receptive to you, because he lets you do whatever you want.’
‘That’s the advantage of being a bitch.Meet me outside in five.’
Ella thought everything through.Two figurines left on two dead bodies, both of which were discovered within around twelve hours of each other.Ella didn’t know if that meant they were both killed during the same span, but hopefully the coroner could give her some answers.
She needed to find the answer to this, and not because Fields had asked nicely or because she had nothing better to do while she waited on clearance for the Creed transfer.She needed this because it was the part of the work that made everything else worth enduring.These two dead women deserved someone who’d sit with their photographs in a diner and not stop looking until their killers were brought to justice.
She stood up and grabbed her jacket.
Time to talk to the dead.
CHAPTER EIGHT
The Orleans Parish Coroner’s Office was a squat brown building on Earhart Boulevard that Ella would have driven past without a second look.Inside, it had the sterility of every morgue she’d ever worked in.
They checked in at reception.The woman behind the desk had a crossword puzzle face-down in front of her and didn’t look thrilled about the interruption.Ella showed her badge, gave both their names, and said they were expected.
