“The reason this took so long is that we removed the dirt in layers and kept them separate.” Norrell leaned against the bench and crossed her arms over her chest. “These came from the bottom layer. Pigs churn the upper soil constantly, so we only find recent deposits there, but those items came from the bottom layer. That’s where things settle and the soil is more compacted. So we could be talking about any time frame. I’ll be doing tests to narrow this down, and since discovering these items, we’ll need to include the entire piggery as we don’t know if Larkin moved the animals around.”
“Have you made any determination if they’re human or not?” Kane lifted his gaze to her. “I’m aware that pigs are similar to humans in many ways.”
“These are human.” Wolfe frowned at them. “It’s the proof we need to get search warrants for the house and the entire piggery.”
“How do you know they’re human?” Kane stared down at the evidence dishes and raised one eyebrow.
“This is a cortical bone fragment.” Norrell waved tweezers holding a piece of bone under the bright overhead lamp. “It’s dense with a thickness only found in humans. Pigs don’t have this structure. And these teeth.” She indicated to the teeth in the small bowl. “I’ve examined these under a microscope. The enamel is unmistakable and one has a filling made from composite, another amalgam. That alone rules out animal remains.”
Uneasiness tightened Jenna’s stomach. She looked from Wolfe to Norrell. “How many victims are we talking about?”
“Undetermined at the moment.” Norrell blew out a sigh. “We have a ton of soil to sieve through yet, but right now we have teeth from at least three different individuals, possibly more. The earrings alone suggest up to four separate females.”
“With these bone fragments”—Kane leaned closer, studying the small pieces—“how can you tell they’re not from the same person?”
“The larger pieces suggest different stages of skeletal maturity. This fragment here”—Norrell pointed with the tweezers—“the growth plate is fully fused, so that suggests an adult but this one”—she lifted a smaller thinner piece of bone—“is unfused. So I would suggest late teens, maybe early twenties. It’s unusual in such a small sample to find two different age profiles.”
“There are other fragments that are being examined at the moment.” Wolfe leaned against the counter and pushed his hands into the pockets of his white coat. “We found fragments in different layers of soil. The deeper ones suggest bodies were deposited in the pen at different times. This is crucial evidence to prove the Larkins have been using the pigpen to dispose of bodies over a long period of time.” He turned his attention to Jenna. “And strangely enough, no one has gone missing in Black Rock Falls that we haven’t investigated. What do y’all make of that?”
“Worst-case scenario”—Kane raised both eyebrows—“funerals are expensive, and maybe Larkin is running some type of funeral scam. You would be surprised how many old folks die in homes and the relatives either can’t afford to bury them or would opt for a quick cremation. These people wouldn’t require a regular funeral. Larkin takes the bodies and feeds them to his pigs. It’s a win-win situation for him, isn’t it? He’d get the money for the body disposal and a free meal for his pigs.”
Trying not to gag, Jenna pressed a hand over her mouth. As her stomach slowly settled, she stared at Kane in disbelief. “I’ll check all the local advertisements for quick cremations or whatever when we get back to the office but that doesn’t cover the young girls, does it? This must go deeper than that. What if Larkin is a serial killer and brings his bodies home?”
“We’ll know the range of ages when we run more tests.” Norrell looked from one to the other. “Maybe it’s a little of both.”
“Can you walk us through the tests?” Kane straightened.
“Sure.” Norrell set the bone fragment down with care. “As you can see, the team cleans and catalogs every piece, then we examine them under a microscope to confirm species, although I’m already confident these are human. Finding teeth is the silver dollar. The pulp inside a tooth is an excellent source of mitochondrial DNA. This will give us the sex of the victim. As you know, Shane’s laboratory has everything available to create profiles from DNA samples.”
“If we find anything viable, we’ll run it through Snapshot.” Wolfe nodded slowly. “This gives a very reliable image of the person. These can easily be matched through facial recognition to any missing persons on file.”
A shiver went down Jenna’s spine. The thought that Raven might have been one of those bone fragments if they hadn’t arrived in time chilled her to the bone. She moved her attention over the small pieces of evidence. Those earrings belong to someone who never left that pen alive. She lifted her gaze to Wolfe and Norrell. “You’re doing incredible work here but this has to be one of the saddest, most horrific cases I’ve ever seen. I’m not sure if I can sleep at night knowing that people might have been fed alive to the pigs. When we find out who they are, how can I break it to their families?”
“Don’t worry about it now, Jenna.” Norrell squeezed her arm. “We’ll get you answers. No one is going to get away with murder.”
Twenty-Nine
Raven took the bridge at high speed and raced his truck along the fire road that crossed the forest. His sirens blared and the blue and white lights lit up the dark spaces between the trees as he accelerated toward the road leading to Cheryl Staton’s cabin. Being the only medical doctor in the forest, he knew most of the people in his immediate area. Before joining the sheriff’s office as their K-9 unit, with Ben, he’d spent a good deal of his time rescuing dogs and training them for personal protection and as K-9s. As this was an ongoing business, he worked for the sheriff when required, but always made himself available if anyone needed a doctor. The phone call from Tracy Howard had been mysterious and alarming. Her insistence he didn’t call about finding a battered woman being pursued by a man in the forest went against protocol. When Tracy had explained how confused and injured the young woman appeared to be, he’d decided to go and see for himself and assess the immediate threat before calling in what might be a domestic incident.
He pulled up in front of the log cabin and unlocked the rifle from the secure weapons rack mounted between the front seats before stepping out of the truck. He let Ben out of the back door, lifted the rifle to his shoulder, and slowly scanned the area, keeping behind his vehicle for protection. Nothing moved and Ben hadn’t given him a signal that there was anyone creeping around. The dog just sat beside him, mouth open in a doggy smile, waiting for orders. The front door behind him opened, and he looked over his shoulder to see Cheryl aiming a shotgun over his head.
“I have you covered.” She moved the shotgun slowly back and forth.
Raven grabbed his medical bag and headed to the front porch with Ben at his side. Once they reached the front door he ducked inside. “Morning, Cheryl, what seems to be the trouble?”
“This young woman showed about half an hour ago. She’s been beaten pretty bad and claimed a man was chasing her through the forest.” Cheryl placed the shotgun by the door. “Then the fool decided to come by and threaten me.” She raised both eyebrows. “Me and Tracy chased him off, but he peppered my home with bullets. You’ll likely be able to dig one out of the shutters.”
Nodding, Raven followed her into the kitchen, where he found Tracy and a very bruised and battered young woman. Aware that a young woman was missing from Lawson’s Ridge, he stared at her trying to see if she fit the description. She cringed away from him, wrapping her arms around her chest. Men frightened her and she’d taken a brutal beating. He lowered his voice and kept his distance. “I’m Dr. Raven and a sheriff’s deputy. You’re safe now. I won’t let anything happen to you. What’s your name?”
“Zoe Carpenter.”
The young woman was shaking so hard. He placed his medical kit on the kitchen table and leaned his rifle against the wall. He beckoned Ben closer. His dog, a Belgian Malinois, could attack on command but was also protective and gentle. His presence often calmed people in great distress. “This is Ben. Do you like dogs, Zoe?”
“Yes, I do but I thought K-9s attacked people.” Zoe trembled.
Raven took in the black circles under both eyes, an open cut on her head, and bites and bruises all over. He turned to Cheryl. “Do you have a blanket? I would like to get Zoe a little warmer if possible.”
As Cheryl headed from the kitchen, Tracy pushed a cup of coffee in front of him and Zoe. He nodded his thanks and returned his attention to Zoe. “Ben only attacks on command. I take him to the children’s ward at the hospital. Having him around makes them feel better. He really enjoys it as well. Belgian Malinois make excellent K-9s but they were bred to look after herds of sheep. They’re fiercely protective of people and animals they consider their family. He would really like you to pet him because he knows that you need his protection.”
