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“I just want this guy caught,” Basman said. “Some guy making puppets out of people? That’s out of my league. The way I figure it, the FBI are our best chance.”
Paige was grateful to be wanted, at least by one of the cops in the town. Maybe she and Christopher would have the assistance they needed after all.
“Are you ready to go in?” Basman asked.
Paige nodded. She wanted to learn whatever the coroner could tell them as soon as possible. Maybe it would give her and Christopher a sense of direction in their investigation.
They headed into the coroner’s office. The waiting room there was stark and surgical, with white tiled walls and plastic seating. The coroner was waiting for them. She was a woman in her early fifties, with her dark hair tied back and silver rimmed glasses framing a broad face. She was wearing surgical scrubs and gloves.
“Are you the FBI?” she asked. “I’m Dr. Mikkel.”
Paige saw Christopher hold out his badge. “I’m Agent Marriott. This is Agent King. We’re here to get your take on what happened in the two recent murders.”
Dr. Mikkel nodded. “I have everything set up in the main autopsy room. Please come through. Basman, are you coming?”
Paige saw the detective shake his head. He passed over a card. “I’ve seen all this firsthand once. I’ll head back to my department. If you need anything, just call.”
Dr. Mikkel shrugged at that. She didn’t seem surprised that the detective didn’t want to go in. Paige was, a little, but she could remember her own reactions to particularly horrific crime scenes. She’d felt herself freezing and wanting to leave.
The coroner led the way through into a large, sterile space, cold compared to the outside and decorated in a mixture of white and steel, with medical instruments set out on neat trays and harsh lighting making sure that nothing there would ever be missed.
Two bodies lay on gurneys. Paige recognized Hope Jackson and Aiden Martlet at once. She had to hold back a familiar wave of disgust and sympathy at the sight of them there. The sight of the dead made her remember just how high the stakes were in her job, trying to stop a deadly killer who had already claimed two victims.
Dr. Mikkel led the way to them. “I assume that you’ve seen the police’s files on the murders?”
Paige saw Christopher nod. “My partner has been through them thoroughly, but we’re more interested in hearing your take on things, Doctor.”
Paige saw the coroner pause, obviously trying to get her thoughts into some kind of order. Paige liked being able to talk to the coroner directly like this, rather than just reading a file, because it opened up the possibility of learning things that weren’t in the initial report. It seemed that Christopher thought in the same way.
“Two victims,” Dr. Mikkel said. “Both killed by knife wounds to the chest and abdomen. Multiple stabbing thrusts with a short blade, but at multiple different angles.”
“So, a frenzied attack from in front?” Christopher asked, miming a downward stabbing attack with a knife.
“I would expect the wounds to be higher, and for there to be more defensive wounds on the arms,” Dr. Mikkel said. “Thereissome evidence of bruising on the necks of both victims, perhaps suggesting that they were grabbed to hold them in place while they were attacked.”
Paige thought that she understood then. “Or maybe the killer subdued his victims before killing them?”
She went over to Christopher without thinking, moving behind him and wrapping an arm around his neck to drag him back off balance. From there, it seemed like it would be easy for the killer to start stabbing his victims.
“Yes, that’s consistent with the wounds,” Dr. Mikkel said. “Although my suspicion is that the victims were tied ante-mortem. So, it is possible that the killer subdued them, tied them, and only then killed them.”
Paige felt pleased to have understood that part, but she realized then just how close her small re-enactment had put her to Christopher. She felt a moment of attraction towards him and backed away hurriedly, sudden awkwardness intruding. She saw Christopher looking over Paige’s way and knew that he had to be feeling a lot of the same things.
“Give me a little warning before you do something like that, Paige,” Christopher said. He clearly didn’t want her that close to him in that moment, but Paige had really hoped that they would be able to handle things like that when they were working a case together.
“What else can you tell us?” Paige asked the coroner.
“Both victims tied carefully, perhaps suggesting a level of expertise,” Dr. Mikkel said. “Beyond that? My team have taken higher resolution photographs of the crime scenes than were in the original files. I’ll forward them to you.”
Maybe there would be something in those photographs that they would be able to pick up on that might point the way to the killer. For now, though, Paige wanted to focus on other aspects of what had happened.
“Was there anything unusual left behind at the crime scene?” she asked. They’d seen that before, with killers leaving calling cards behind that had been crucial to understanding their motives.
Dr. Mikkel shook her head. “Nothing that shouldn’t have been there. The victims still had their possessions, too, so I doubt that robbery is a factor here.”
Paige hadn’t thought that it would be. A robber didn’t spend time turning his victims into puppets, even if he killed them. He got the money he’d come for, then ran, trying to get as far away from the scene of the crime as possible.
“Do Hope and Aiden have anything that matches among their possessions?” Christopher asked. “Anything at all, no matter how small?”
