by Kay Bigelow
“We need a cause of death and to identify her if we can. Anything that signals to you or is unusual should be photographed.”
“So anything that looks suspicious?” Reagan asked with a smile.
“You got it.”
Reagan moved to the body.
“This isn’t you’re first crime scene, is it?” Reagan asked.
“I was about to ask you the same question,” Leah said.
“No, it’s not. I was hoping I’d seen my last murder victim when I came here. I’m not happy to be involved in this one.”
Leah noticed Reagan hadn’t really answered her question. And she’d called the girl a murder victim. I bet she’s got an interesting story to tell.
“Do you have any preliminary observations?” Leah asked. She wanted to get as much information from the doctor as she could in case the doctor changed her mind about helping with this case.
“I doubt very much she’d be capable of destroying her face herself. While I’m reluctant to say for sure before performing an autopsy, I’d say this child was murdered. It looks like rigor has just begun… I’d estimate she was killed two to three hours ago. So between eight and nine this morning,” Reagan said as she checked the watch on her wrist.
What would have been happening during those times?
Reagan interrupted Leah’s thoughts by saying, “Let’s turn the victim on her side. I want to get her liver temp.”
Leah knew that one of the best ways to determine time of death was to take the body’s temperature. She helped turn the body so Reagan had easy access to the liver. While Reagan was taking the girl’s temperature, Leah examined the ground beneath the body. Her eye was immediately drawn to a rectangular shiny piece of brass. She picked it up and examined it before dropping it into a small evidence bag. She tucked it into her front pocket and would put it with the other evidence once Reagan had finished with the body.
“What’s the temp out here?” Reagan asked.
“It’s seventy-one degrees,” Leah said after checking her computer’s weather app.
“Her body temp is ninety-three point five. That and the outside temp means all things are pointing to a time of death no more than three hours ago.”
“Good. If you find anything interesting, I’ve got evidence bags we can use. I also want to film you doing it so we can confirm chain-of-evidence protocols.”
“Really, you carry evidence bags?” Reagan asked.
“I took storage bags from our kitchen at the bungalow.”
“I’m glad to hear you don’t go on vacation with a full kit with you.”
“Do you have any idea what the cause of death might be?”
“Do you mean other than the victim doesn’t have a face? You want to know if I saw any gunshot wounds or maybe the old standby of blunt force trauma?” Reagan asked as she bent closer to the girl’s face. “There are foreign objects in this wound.”
“Actually, anything at all that will help us identify her,” Leah said with a smile. She was beginning to like the doctor.
“Other than the obvious, I won’t know anything until, or unless, I do an autopsy, if you have the authority to order one. I also want to know what caused the marks on this girl’s wrists.”
“You’ve done autopsies before?”
“For fifteen years. Your experience?”
“Where? I was a cop for twenty years on New America.”
“You’re the Leah Samuels. You caught the chipper guy who killed twenty girls?”
“That’s me. Where did you practice?”
“I was the forensic pathologist for the state police on Calisto. I applied for the job here four years ago thinking I’d stay for a year and then move.”
“And you’re still here.”
“I like the peace and quiet as much as I like not having to look at bodies like this one.”
Leah knew Reagan had only touched on the truth about her experience, but now was neither the place nor the time to have that conversation. Instead, she’d have Cots check her out.
“I’m assuming you’ll need some equipment brought in,” Leah said.
“Yeah. Here I mostly deal with broken bones and sprains with the occasional bad cold thrown in to keep things interesting,” Reagan said with a smile.
“Okay. Let me talk to Jardain and I’ll get back to you.”
“I await your orders.”
“Did you bring a stretcher to transport the body to your clinic.”
“Yes, and I also brought the only body bag I have so let’s hope we don’t have a serial killer in our midst.”
“You are certainly a ray of sunshine, Doctor,” Leah said, smiling.
“All part of the services I provide.”
“You’re sure we got everything we can get here?”
“I wouldn’t bet my home on it, but I’m pretty sure.”
“Okay, then go ahead and take the body. And ask Jardain to please join me here.”
After the doctor left to get the stretcher, Leah once again looked at the body. What kind of person would do this to a kid? She rose from her knees and studied the area around the body. She wasn’t looking for anything specific, just something that was an anomaly. It was obvious that whoever dumped this body here used the same route as she and the doctor had. Why here? How did the killer or killers transport a body to this place? Or was she brought here and killed? If that’s the case, how did they get a nude girl here without anyone noticing? Maybe she was clothed when they got to this spot and was stripped after she was killed. Why? So the body couldn’t be identified by what she was wearing? Was that the same reason why her face was destroyed?
Dani came into the clearing a few minutes later. She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw the body. The horror she must have been feeling showed clearly in her eyes.
“Is that her?”
Leah didn’t bother answering because unless the doctor was right and they had a serial killer on the loose, this was the only dead body they had.
“If you’re going to throw up, please do it over there,” Leah said, pointing to a spot away from the crime scene.
Leah didn’t ask Dani whether she knew the victim. At this point, there was no way to identify the victim based on her looks.
“Dani, we’ve done everything we can without inviting Cots to join us.”
“What’s the bottom line?”
“She died about three hours ago.”
“And?”
“And that’s all we know.”
“What’s next?”
“The doctor will take the body to her facilities. And it will be kept there until you can get the police to come take jurisdiction over it.”
“So my choices are do nothing, ask Cots to consult on this, or bring the police in.”
“Your first option isn’t an option. By intergalactic law, any suspicious death must be investigated.”
“The victim was obviously killed, so why is this suspicious?” Dani asked.
“You don’t know who she is, how she got on the planet, and she was found dead in the woods. And it’s obvious she didn’t commit suicide. Do you want me to continue?”
“Well, phuc.”
“You have two viable choices left to you. You can bring one man onto your planet or you can bring dozens. Your choice.”
“What do you mean, dozens?”
“Do you think there’s a man in the galaxy who wouldn’t jump at the chance to come here to see what all the fuss is about this place—and to gawk at the half-naked women here?”
“Point taken. Cots it is. How do you propose we do this?”
“I’m assuming you want a minimum number of people to know about him. So I suggest we hire a shuttle to bring him and his equipment and some equipment for the doctor. Then we put him in the cottage nearest ours since we seem to be pretty remote.”
While they’d been standing near the body talking quietly, the doctor and two very large women who looked like they were probably members of the securit
y force came to retrieve the body. Dani and Leah watched the two stretcher-bearers gently move the body into a black body bag, seal it, and place it onto the stretcher, all of which they covered with a white sheet. With one woman on either side of the hover-stretcher, they maneuvered it toward the path.
Reagan came to stand beside Leah, who noted once again the doctor and Dani barely acknowledged each other’s presence.
“I took the liberty of making a list of items I’ll need going forward. If you want, I can send it to you, or I can print off a copy. If you call the number at the bottom there, you’ll get hold of Doctor Saundra McClintock. She’ll be willing to lend us most, if not all, that we need,” Reagan said, handing Leah her tablet.
Leah quickly perused the list and then quickly typed in her mailing address. “Good. I’ll get right on obtaining the tools.”
“Wait,” Leah said. “Can we back your truck onto the path? The longer we can keep the knowledge of this murder from the general populace the better.”
Reagan nodded to one of the women who had put the victim into the body bag. She walked off toward the path. Minutes later, a very small van-like vehicle was backing its way toward them. Once the vehicle stopped, they slid the stretcher into the back. The doctor got in with the body, while the two security women got into the front. They slowly drove away from the crime scene toward the main part of the resort.
Leah glanced at Dani and saw the frown and the cleft between her eyebrows. She knew Dani wasn’t happy about her options, but she needed a top-notch cyber researcher and there was none better than Cots. Think like Peony. Think outside the box. Is there some sort of compromise here? She paused for a moment. And then she had it. Of course! Peony is an outstanding investigator and nearly as good as Cots on cyber stuff. Their assistant, Alex, is arguably as good as Cots, although he’d never admit it.
Leah was unsure why she hadn’t thought of Peony sooner. She was the perfect solution to the challenge of finding a compromise to keep Cots off Wild and allow Leah to find a killer.
Chapter Seven
“Do you need to go do some PR kinds of things?” Leah asked.
“No. Camryn will handle all the details. She’s never handled a murder before, but we’ll get to see what she’s made of now. What do you need to do?”
“I need to make a couple of phone calls. I’ve had a couple of ideas and I want to run them by you.”
“Me? Good heavens, what can I do?”
“Let’s get back to the bungalow. I need sustenance.”
“What kind of sustenance?”
“You.”
“Really?”
“Really. There’s nothing more I can do until we sort out who will handle the investigation into the girl’s murder.”
Dani smiled and quickened her pace. When they were inside their front door, Leah pulled Dani to her and kissed her deeply. The kiss had them both breathing hard. Under any other circumstances, Leah would have taken Dani right then and there, but there was the little matter of a dead woman in the doctor’s office to deal with first.
“Whoa. You can’t kiss me like that and then walk away,” Dani said when Leah took a step back.
Leah laughed. “Did you just say ‘whoa’? Really?”
“I did. But that wasn’t the point I was trying to make.”
“I know. It seemed incongruous coming out of your mouth.”
“You’re going to question my choice of words when all I want to do is fuck you blind?”
“Well, when you go all romantic on me like that, I’ll have to think about it.”
“All right, then. Can I bring you a lemon squash?”
“Yes, please.”
Leah could hear Dani puttering about in the kitchen while she gathered her computer and made the connection to Cots on Xing. Dani walked into the living room carrying two glasses just as the connection was made.
“Have you finally caught a case? What is it? Petty thievery—someone steal someone else’s girlfriend and they’ve come to you to get her back? Or did some woman steal another’s bikini?” Cots asked.
“Bored, are you?”
“As a matter of fact. This place runs itself even when you’re not here.”
“It’s supposed to.”
“Hi, Boss,” Peony said. “Having a good time? What’s it like? What does one do while one is there?”
“Listen, if you two would be quiet for two minutes, I’ll tell you some news.”
“You and Jardain have gotten married,” Cots said.
“Uh, Cots, she’s right here.”
They could hear Peony’s laughter off camera.
“Okay. I’m all seriousness now.”
“Boss, I hope you’ve got work for him. He’s driving us all crazy.”
“How’s murder sound to you?”
“Don’t tease me, Leah,” Cots said.
“I’m not. A girl between ten and twelve, five feet tall, was found this morning just off a pathway. She had no identification with her, no identifying marks—except bruises and old scars—that I could see, and so far, no one knows her. And, she’s obviously not a registered guest.”
“Let me guess, we’ve been hired to find out who she is and who killed her?”
Leah looked at Dani, who nodded.
“Yes, the firm has been asked to solve this. Here’s what I need. I’ve got a number I want you to call, Cots. She’s a doctor and will lend us some tools the doctor here needs to perform an autopsy. I’ve sent you the list already. I want you to call Marty to see if he’s got extra of that preserving stuff he uses when he has to keep a body fresh. I want Peony and Alex to come here, with any electronics they need, to deal with the cyber side of things. Once you’ve got the stuff on the list, they’ll accompany the medical supplies to Wild. Dani’s sending a shuttle for them.”
“Hey! How come they get to spend time on Wild with you and I don’t?”
“And here I thought you thought you were a detective.”
“Ah. It’s because I’m male and they’re not.”
“See, I knew you had a talent for this detecting business,” Leah said. “I need you to start finding out who the victim is. The best lead I have right now is a photo of the body. I know we don’t have much to go on, but we may have to identify her before we can find out who killed her. If we get very, very lucky, someone has filed a missing person report about her.”
“Send me what you’ve got. I’ve got some ideas on where to start looking.”
“We all need to keep the murder board updated if this long-distance investigation is going to work. Peony, do me a favor and bring one of the new instruments Cots designed to check for bugs.”
“Will do, Boss.”
“Cots, Wild is under no governmental jurisdiction and thus has no ties to any police department. You said you’d met the commissioner of Xing’s law enforcement and that you liked him. Could you call him to explain what’s going on here and see if he’d be willing to assume jurisdiction? Remind him that Wild is a women-only planet so he can’t send in his troops. However, we could use a few trained police officers to help with the details of the investigation. Make sure he understands they’ve got to be women.”
“Will do, Boss.”
“Cots, keep me updated. And Peony? Don’t forget your bikini,” Leah said and cut the connection.
“Sounds like you’ve got a well-oiled machine there,” Dani said.
“We work well together, and have from the start of our first case.”
“Tell me what I can do.”
“You can call Reagan and see if she needs medical supplies or some such. Since we’re already bringing tools to her, maybe she needs other things here as well. You might want to talk to your chef to see if she needs anything as well—that might put her in a better mood.”
“I’ll send the smaller shuttle to make the run. If memory serves me correctly, the shuttle will arrive in Xing this afternoon to drop a couple of guests off. Peony, Alex, and the equipment and supplies can
hitch a ride back on it. I don’t think there’s another pickup until next week, so if the shuttle needs to stay docked for a couple of days, it can,” Dani said.
“Can you get me a list of the guests due to leave first? We need to interview them and plot where they were at the time of death. We also need to verify they’re who they say they are.”
“Camryn should be able to quickly provide us with that information. Anything else?”
“Do you have a large-scale map of the grounds? I’d like to pinpoint where every guest says they were at the time of death. And do any of your guests use their own shuttles to come here?”
“Yes. A number regularly visit us. I’ll ask Camryn for a list of them. And the map, too.”
“How about guests who stay for long periods of time?”
“There are two who stay year-round. I guess you want their information, too?”
“Yes, please. I also need to talk to the head of your security team.”
“May I ask why?”
“As a courtesy. And, I want to know if there has been any unusual activity going on.”
“Like what?” Dani asked.
“I’m not sure. I’ll know it when I hear it.”
“Anything else?”
“One more thing. What kind of security do you have around your planet?”
“What makes you think…never mind. We have both a security net that can’t be seen by the human eye and something more obvious that will deter most ‘visitors.’ We’re notified by the net when a ship approaches within two hundred kilometers of the planet,” Dani said, and added when she saw the look on Leah’s face, “One hundred twenty-five miles.”
Leah smiled. “Was it that obvious that I was trying to do the math in my head of converting kilometers to miles?”
“Yes.”
Leah’s computer beeped that there was a message from Cots. She glanced at the computer.
“Cots says he’s communicated with your shuttle pilot. The pilot told him the trip here will be five hours. Why did it take us fifteen hours and only five hours for them to get here?”
“They’ll be taking the straight route and we took a circuitous route.”
“Why?”
“So no one can find us easily. We’ve had guests’ family members try to follow them here thinking they can sneak onto the planet. And a few months ago, we had a woman reporter manage to get to the space port before being found out. Thus far, no one has been successful.”