by Uc Amalu, Jr
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
"It’s a positive I.D," Jay informed Augie. "He’s just taking
a few minutes to say goodbye."
"The poor fellow, it must be horrific for him to see her like
that. I did the best I could to clean her up for the viewing,
Jay," Augie replied.
"I know, you did what you could. I just thank God he has
no idea of what’s beneath the sheet!"
Augie sighed and nodded in agreement. "Such violence."
"Listen Augie, have you had a chance to compare the
autopsy notes on Tessa Hunt and Kylie-Anne at all?"
"Not at this stage. Why is that? Is there something you
need in particular?"
"Well as you can imagine, with there be-ing so many
similarities in their murders, we wanna sift through the
facts to see if they are definitely linked."
"Of course, sure. The one major difference is that Tessa
died from hypoxia, she suffocated to death before she
was mutilated. Kylie-Anne died as a result of blunt force
trauma to the head. Also, from memory Tessa was
mutilated with a serrated instrument, and Kylie-Anne a
more sophisticated blade… sharp, defined…"
"A scalpel?"
"That would be a fair assumption, yes. Apart from that,
they are almost identical. Tessa’s tox results were all clear
for any drugs or inhibitants. I should have Kylie-Anne’s by
the end of the day, I am hoping."
"So our perp is making life easier for him-self, upgrading
his tools. That scares me Augie, it makes me believe that
he…"
"Or she," Augie interrupted. "Remember that there’s been
no evidence of sexual assault with either of these girls, so
it could be a woman."
"Yeah, you’re right. Well, he or she looks like they may be
just getting started.
Why upgrade to better tools if you’re finished kill-ing?"
"Good Lord!" cried Augie, "I hope you’re wrong, Jayy. I
really do."
"So do I Augie. So do I."
"Leave it with me though, I’ll go back over the two cases
and study the notes carefully, if there’s anything there,
forensically speaking, I’ll find it for you."
"Thanks. We need all the help we can get on this one. And
you’ll call me as soon as you have the toxicology results
back?"
"Sure thing, as soon as they hit my desk."
Jay patted him on the shoulder and began to walk away
when he saw Ed, Augie’s assistant coming his way with a
folder under his arm.
"Dr. August, before you go…" Ed raised his voice in order
to catch Augie before he ducked back into the viewing
suite.
Jay turned and looked at Ed.
"Detective Marnotti." Ed greeted Jay pleasantly on his way
past.
"How are ya, Ed?" Jay enquired.
Ed didn’t reply, instead he brushed past Jay and stood
in front of Augie.
"What is it my boy?" Augie asked him.
"Those tox results you’ve been waiting on have just come
in." He handed over the folder from under his arm.
"Aaahh, wonderful. Thank you, Ed," he said. "I see you have
already perused them yourself."
Ed looked a little uncomfortable, "Yes, Sir. I took the
liberty of making a copy for Detective Marnotti since he was
scheduled down to be here for the viewing this morning."
His eyes cast downward and he looked a little
embarrassed. "I’m sorry, Dr. August. I thought I’d save you
some time copying and couriering them over later."
Augie rifled through the papers briefly and then smiled at
his eager young assistant. "Brilliant! How very thoughtful
of you, Ed. Thank you."
A broad smile spread across his face and he stood up
straighter, "Thank you, Sir. Thank you very much. I put
Detective Marnotti’s copy in that envelope right there on the
top," he in-formed Augie, proud of himself for having
been so helpful.
Augie handed the envelope over to Jay, "Well, there you
are. I hope this helps." He turned back to Ed and said, "Is
suite 3 ready for autopsy yet Ed?"
Ed’s smile faded. "I’m right on it Dr. August." He then
excused himself and headed back the way he came.
"Nice kid," Jay remarked.
"Sorry, what was that?" Asked Augie, totally immersed in
the results of Kylie-Anne’s tox screens.
"Something there?" Jay asked. He shuf-fled closer to
Augie, reading over his shoulder.
"Halothane."
"What?"
"The swabs from her nose and throat showed positive
traces of Halothane."
"What exactly is Halothane, what does it do?"
"It’s like a date rape drug. It totally im-mobilises a person,
but at the same time they are fully conscious of what is
going on around them. It’s like being completely
paralysed."
"Was there any found on Tessa Hunts body?"
"No, as I said, her results were completely clear for any
substances."
Jay puzzled over the finding for a min-ute. "Maybe we are
dealing with a female killer. Son of a bitch! All this time, I
was sure it was a guy."
"Slow down Jay, this doesn’t prove any-thing," cautioned
Augie.
"It proves that he or she was worried enough that they
couldn’t overpower Kylie-Anne without the aid of a stifling
agent."
"Or, it could mean that your killer is all for making life
easier for him or herself. You said yourself that the
murderer is upgrading himself, speaking figuratively of
course." Augie offered.
"Damn it," Jay stomped his foot on the floor in
frustration. "What is going on here?"
"Wait a moment, what’s this?" Augie’s brow furrowed.
"What?"
"Her rape kit… It’s positive for spermicide. Just a
suggestion Jay, but perhaps the two cases aren’t linked
at all. Maybe the similarities are a coincidence."
"That’s a big maybe Augie. Perhaps our killer is gaining
confidence and he’s moving up to rape."
"You could be right."
"Well, we all know rape is about the power, not the sex
itself," Jay reminded him.
"I myself, tend to agree with your theory of one killer,
however, I also believe that to rule out all other
possibilities at this stage would be a critical mistake."
"Okay," Jay said. "What makes you think that the killer
may be the same?"
"This is just my personal opinion and I can’t prove
anything…"
"I understand, go on."
"The mutilation. What are the chances that there are two
killers running around at the exact same time, cutting up
bodies in the exact same manner?"
Jay nodded his head, "Anything else?"
"Technically speaking, the incisions that were made in the
abdomen. They were similar in starting position, length,
depth and the foetus removal was precise with each girl.
The placenta’s were left in tact with each victim."
"Why do you think the placenta was left behind?"
"Maybe your killer has their re
asons, maybe it’s just
chance. But I do know that he or she is improving with
handling the knife. Kylie-Anne’s abdominal wounds were
severe, but much cleaner and smoother than Tessa’s.
Apart from the different tools used to make the incisions
and the rape of Kylie-Anne, everything else between the
two cases is unquestionably similar."
"Gees Augie, this is just more twisted than I can fathom,"
said Jay.
"Look, take your tox copies back to work and I’ll read mine
thoroughly. If there’s any other discrepancies, I’ll call you
immediately." With that, Augie returned to the viewing
room and left Jay in the corridor to gather his thoughts.
A minute or two later, Frank Saunders emerged from the
viewing room. His eyes were red and swollen from the
tears they had shed. It had been a long time since Jay
had seen a man so broken and beaten. His determination
to bring this killer to justice grew even stronger as he
stood there looking at Frank.
"So many things…"
"I don’t understand," Jay answered.
Frank cleared his throat and started again. "There were so
many terrible things I said to her, so many things."
"I’m sure she is at peace now. Don’t beat yourself up over
them."
"Is she? Does she really know that we did love her and
that we only did what we thought was best for her and
Ashleigh?"
Jay stared at him before answering. "We all do what we
think is right, Frank.
That’s why we do what we do, isn’t it?"
"The monster who did this, was he doing what he thought
was right?"
"We can’t say for sure that it was a man…"
"Oh cut the formalities, Jay. I don’t give a shit if he was a
she. Just find the damn animal that did this!"
"We’re trying, Frank.‛ Jay stood up again and approached
him. ‚But we need your help too."
"Our help? What can we do?" he shot back. "We didn’t
murder her."
"I’m not saying you did. I’m just saying that we need any
information on Kylie-Anne that you may have. What
seems irrelevant to you could be vital to our
investigation."
"Like what? What sort of information?"
"The names of any of her friends or places she frequented,
that sort of stuff. What was your last conversation with
her?"
"I already told you last night, we haven’t spoken to our
daughter for over three years. It was such a long time
ago."
"Think, Frank. Where would she have gone?"
"Honestly, I don’t know. She was heavy into drugs,
marijuana mainly. She could have shacked up with any of
the losers she was buying that from."
"Do you know any of them, their names or where they
live?"
"No. Look, all I know is that I know noth-ing about my
daughter’s life before three and a half years ago. I knew or
understood very little of her, even back then."
"I’m sorry to have to push you like this, especially under
these circumstances, but Ashleigh?"
"What about her?"
"Who is her father?"
"I have no idea and to be truthful. I don’t know that Kylie-
Anne even knew."
Frank reached for his hanky again, before breaking into
tears.
Jay realised that he wasn’t going to get anything of value
from him. He obviously knew very little about his
daughter’s private affairs. "Thank you, Frank. I appreciate
you being so helpful. If you’d like to come back to
reception with me, we can finalise the release of Kylie-
Anne’s body to your preferred funeral home for burial."
"Yes, I’d appreciate that, Jay." Frank tucked his hanky
back into his pants pocket and followed Jay towards the
reception.