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Amber had to push those feelingsdown. The best thing she could do for Alice Chan now was to find whoever hadkilled her, and that meant focusing on the job.
“The local PD said it looked likeshe drowned,” Simon said, as he, Amber and Dr. Selwyn approached the gurney. “Isthat the official cause of death?”
Dr. Selwyn nodded. “It is.”
“So the killer held her down underthe water?” Amber asked.
Dr. Selwyn shook her head. “If so,I would expect to see more signs of a violent struggle. But when I ran atoxicology screen, I found evidence of a sedative in her system.”
“So the killer drugged her and thenthrew her into the pool?” Simon said. He frowned slightly. “I’m not sure ifthat’s better or worse than him just drowning her. Would she have still beenconscious?”
Dr. Selwyn shook her head. “Notwith this amount of sedative in her system.”
“So this isn’t about hurting hisvictims as much as possible,” Amber guessed. “He had a tableau that he wantedto set up, and he wanted to do it as efficiently as possible.”
Dr. Selwyn nodded. “Alice was fullyclothed when she was found in her street clothes. There are also abrasions onher back and legs consistent with being dragged across the parking lot outsidethe pool.”
Amber nodded. That fit with thefact that her bag had been found near her car rather than near the pool. "So,the killer ambushed her as she went out to her car, sedated her, and thendragged her back to the pool.”
Simon looked briefly thoughtful.“So maybe we’re looking for someone without access to the pool? Otherwise, whynot sneak into the building, where it’s more private, rather than risking anambush outside where the victim could get away?”
Amber hadn’t thought about it likethat. It made a kind of sense. If Simon was right, the killer would have beenable to use Alice’s key to take her back into the building. It also suggestedthat the local PD had been right to discount her coach as a suspect, since hewould have had an easier time than almost anyone else sneaking into the building.
“I haven’t been able to isolateusable DNA samples from the body,” Dr. Selwyn said. “The high chlorine contentof the water of the pool makes it less likely that we’ll recover anythinguseful. Other than that, I’m not really sure what else I can tell you.”
Under different circumstances,Amber would have taken that as her cue to leave. As it was, though, she’d onlydone half of what she came there to do.
“Actually, Dr. Selwyn, we wanted toask you about another death, as well.”
“What other death?” Dr. Selwyn said.“As far as I’m aware, Alice Chan is the only woman to die like this recently.”
“Katrina van Nuit,” Simon supplied.
“The kindergarten teacher? But thatwas almost two years ago.”
Amber nodded. That bothered her,too. Why would a killer murder someone, wait two years, and then strike againout of the blue? Yet the similarities were hard to ignore.
“There were astrological symbolsleft at that crime scene too,” Amber pointed out.
“It’s a common enough motif for acertain type of killer,” Dr. Selwyn replied. She looked thoughtful, though.“But yes, I take your point. Come back through. I’ll have to look up thedetails to be sure of everything.”
She led the way back through to thereception area. Amber was grateful to be able to leave the somber chill of themain morgue behind, although this was only a partial improvement. Dr. Selwynwent over to a computer at the desk, typing for a second or two.
“Okay, Katrina van Nuit. The causeof death was strangulation, but… yes, I thought I remembered this. She wassedated first.”
Just as Alice had been.
“Can you tell us anything else?”Simon asked. “What about the type of sedative?”
“I’m just pulling up the tox-screennow,” Dr. Selwyn said. “Yes, the sedative used was the same, which may or maynot mean anything, since it’s a relatively common type. But… the similaritiesthere are compelling. Even down to drag marks on the body, suggesting that Ms.Van Nuit was repositioned after her death.”
It certainly felt too similar to Alice’sdeath to ignore. Yet, in some ways, finding this second death raised as manyquestions as it answered. Why had the killer targeted these two victims? Whatdid the astrological symbols mean? Why had the killer waited so long to killagain? What did the coded message left at the scene mean?
Amber didn’t have answers to thosequestions, and if she didn’t find the answers soon, then more women were goingto die.
CHAPTER SIX
“Any progress with that code?”Simon asked.
