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“Yeah, I told her I’d close the window for her but she wanted to air the place. Duffy found a dead critter in there.” Bueller leaned casually against a tree. “I was there until about five-thirty, maybe six, I guess.”
“Okay.” Rowley made notes and then looked up at him. “You’ve also worked for Jolene Darvish out of Rocky Road, Bear Peak, I believe?”
“Not often.” Bueller stared into the distance and then moved his gaze slowly back to him. “Why?”
Rowley strolled over to Bueller’s truck and cast his eye over the bull bar noticing many scratches. He smiled at him. “I was thinking about getting a new one of these for my truck. The rockfalls on Rocky Road are becoming a problem.”
“Not only there, the melt has pulled trees clean out by the roots.” Bueller scratched his head and frowned. “You never know what you might need to push out of the way.”
Nodding, Rowley turned back to face him. “When was the last time you saw Mrs. Darvish?”
“I don’t rightly recall.” Bueller paused a beat as if thinking. “She did call me asking if I could cut back the rose bush around her porch. Said it was getting out of control. I told her to wait until after the melt.”
“Were you anywhere near Rocky Road yesterday afternoon?” Rowley lifted his pen and waited.
“I was all over yesterday. Maybe.” Bueller looked at his feet and waved a hand toward the house. “I gotta go. These folks pay me by the hour and won’t appreciate me jawing with you on their time.”
Thinking better than to push him anymore as he’d been cooperative, Rowley closed his notebook and slipped his pen back inside his pocket. “Okay, thanks.” He turned and headed back to his truck.
After calling in, Maggie transferred him to Jenna. She was still in the morgue. He gave his report. “They both could be involved.”
“Yeah, it wouldn’t be the first time a killer has admitted to being close to the murder scene. Head back to the office and update the files. Wolfe wants to give us a preliminary report on Mrs. Darvish. It’s been a long day. We’ll follow up on Trey Duffy in the morning, unless I catch him at home later.”
“Okay.” Rowley drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. “Any news on Rio?”
“Yeah, we found him on Rocky Road, waiting for his brother to show. He’s been there all night. I sent him home to get some rest.” Jenna mumbled something to someone and cleared her throat. “Wolfe’s ready for us. I’ll speak to you back at the office.” She disconnected.
Rowley started his engine, shaking his head. So, Rio was close to the crime scene all night and didn’t see anything—yeah right.
TWENTY-TWO
Wolfe waited for Jenna and the rest of the team to join him in the examination room. He looked at the concerned or blank expressions on all of them. Jenna always started with a concerned expression and seemed to gather herself and turn to stone once he’d completed the preliminary examination. Jo showed interest but her eyes showed great sorrow. Kane and Carter never gave a flicker of anything—no compassion, remorse, or anything else. Both had the training to turn off emotions and did so the minute they entered the room. He understood the reason. Allowing their innermost feelings to cloud their judgment could have meant certain death if captured behind enemy lines during a tour of duty. The marine training he’d received had been tough but he’d not come close to their standard. It took a special person with exceptional capabilities to push past or ignore the triggers that turn ordinary men into heroes. Only one or two percent of soldiers had the mental and physical capabilities to be good enough to join the elite forces. Wolfe welcomed his compassion. Having that empathy for the people who came to his table by peaceful or violent means meant he left no stone unturned to find their cause of death. Everyone he examined in the morgue needed him to tell their story.
He turned on the screen to display the X-rays of Jolene Darvish and caught Jo’s sharp intake of breath. All eyes had moved to the screens and it didn’t take a doctor’s eye to see the damage the fall had inflicted on the frail old woman. “Okay, as you can see, we have multiple fractures. I will categorize the damage sustained and add it to my report but from my preliminary examination of the body. Jolene Darvish died before she hit the water. I’ve yet to establish cause of death but due to the lack of hematomas around the skull fracture, it’s likely she had a coronary before the pickup hit the water.”
“She died from her truck being pushed over a ravine. We know that wasn’t an accident, but that doesn’t establish a cause of death, does it?” Jenna peered at him over her face mask.
Wolfe shook his head. “I have to be more specific. We say someone died due to blunt force injury or a gunshot wound, but we must establish what actually caused the death of the victim. Did the bullet explode the heart? Enter the brain or sever a major artery, for instance.”
“I understand, but with all the injuries, will you be able to give a cause of death?” Jenna cleared her throat. “There is so much damage.”
Wolfe nodded. “Yeah, but it will take a long time to list every injury. I’ll check her heart and I’ve taken blood to check for a protein called troponin. This indicates if a person has suffered a coronary. If I find evidence of heart damage, the test will confirm my diagnosis.”
Before anyone could ask another question, Kane’s phone chimed. He glanced at the screen and headed for the door without saying a word. Wolfe raised one eyebrow. “Questions?”
“Anything under her nails? Rowley noticed Archie Bueller had scratches on his arms.” Jenna peered at him over her mask.
Wolfe turned to her. “No, nothing under her nails and no evidence she was in a physical altercation with anyone.”
“Could she have drowned?” Carter’s green eyes matched his scrubs but gave no indication of his inner thoughts. “Wouldn’t water in the lungs indicate
she was alive when she hit the river?”
Moving his attention to Carter, Wolfe shook his head. “I couldn’t imagine with head trauma to this degree—” He pulled back the sheet to display the battered remains. “—that she could have possibly been conscious when she entered the water. Taking into account the fact the windshield hadn’t smashed, there would have been a few seconds before water engulfed the vehicle. It would be impossible to prove death by drowning in this instance as the laryngospasm—the gag reflex as you’d call it—relaxes during unconsciousness, allowing water to enter the lungs. If we consider this a possibility in still water, then as a raging torrent had submerged the body, mouth open, the possibilities increased tenfold.” He sighed. “In fact, drowning is really a generic term because I could give you a list of possibilities for cause of death due to lack of oxygen. However, allow me to use my judgement in this case until I can prove otherwise. I suggest that Jolene Darvish died from a coronary induced by a traumatic event and, from the evidence found at the scene, was caused by person or persons unknown pushing her pickup into a ravine.”
“We’ll stay until you examine the heart and lungs.” Jenna leaned against the counter and folded her arms across her chest. “I want to know.”
Surprised by Jenna’s insistence to remain during a harrowing autopsy, Wolfe picked up his scalpel and went about making the Y incision and cracking open the chest. After dissecting the heart and collecting fluid from the lungs, he turned to Jenna. “I’m going to wait for the results of the blood and fluid samples before I make a finding, but from what I see here, she died from a trauma-induced coronary.”
