Tangled

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Tangled Page 16

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.

 

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