Shadows of Deceit (A Series of Shadows)

by Mell Corcoran

  “Vinny, it’s a done deal as far as I’m concerned. I like the guy.” She put a hand on his arm in a gesture of reassurance. “You can go ahead and make it official. I am good, I promise.”

  It wasn’t a total lie but Lou needed to get them past this. Vinny was stressed as it was with the promotion, he and Vera expecting their first child, having to pick his replacement was just something he did not need to be worrying about any more. He looked at her long and hard, searching for something to say but before he could say anything Dillon walked back in the room with their sodas.

  “You know, I was thinking...” He sat down and passed out cans.

  “Oh this can’t be good.” Lou muttered and winked at Vinny.

  “Har har. Seriously though. Given the condition of Boone’s body it’s going to be tough for Doctor Devereux to get any viable prints off her. Finding out who Boone really was is going to be tough.”

  “Yeah I was thinking that too.” Lou agreed with him while stealing one of Vinny’s french fries.

  “They have a process for re-hydrating burnt flesh but I’m sure it will depend on how badly toasted they are.” Vinny replied after swatting Lou’s hand.

  “Ow!” She hugged her hand close and furrowed her brow.

  “I can call and ask if it’s possible?” Dillon asked, sliding his french fries towards Lou in a silent offering.

  “She’ll know.” Vinny gave Dillon a disapproving glance while Lou gleefully popped one of his french fries in her mouth.

  “You can call if you want though. It might motivate her more if she hears your voice.” Lou gave him a suggestive wink and laughed when she saw Dillon blush.

  “Peter Taylor is coming in, by the way.” Vinny informed them. “I had Barnes call and ask him to come in. He should be here in about an hour. Hopefully we can get to the bottom of the Arcano-Boone relationship.”

  Lou cracked open her soda. “You think he will be able to give us any real information? Or do you think he only knows what he was set up to know?”

  “I think he really cared about Arcano so he observed the relationship with a wary eye.” Dillon gave Lou his take on the man. “He may have even done a little digging on his own out of protectiveness for Casius but I don’t think he would ever admit it.”

  “He would if he thought Boone was a gold-digger or a fraud.” Vinny interjected. “He has a catty side to him. He will dish if we tell him Boone was bogus.”

  “Yeah, he might. I can see that too.” Dillon agreed.

  “Well, we have a lot of digging to do gentlemen. Let’s finish eating then get to it. The more time that’s allowed to pass the further away our suspect gets.” Lou stole a few more of Dillon’s french fries.

  “We have a long night ahead of us too.” Vinny was once again talking with his mouth full. “I got Gearhard, Lopez and Barnes lined up for tonight’s experiment. I made arrangements with the neighbors so our guys will be in the adjacent houses to see if they can detect us flying in.”

  “How did you pull that off?” Lou wondered aloud.

  “OK so I didn’t make the arrangements. Your friend Niko did. He’s buying them some fancy dinner and putting them up in a presidential suite somewhere.” Vinny grinned and took another bite.

  “The captain authorized that expense?” Lou almost stammered with shock.

  “Heck no! Vinny grinned even wider.

  Dillon was hesitant to tell her but he felt she needed to know. “Uh, Niko said he was going to barter with you and Caroline on it. Something about Irish stew and kona blend for life?”

  “Oh lovely.” Lou chuckled. “Sneaky bastard.”

  “Thanks for rattin’ me out sport! Anyway, I like him. Niko that is.” Vinny glared at Dillon then wiped his mouth before he continued. “Kinda odd, but he’s straight up aces. A real solid guy.”

  “Yeah he is.” Lou had thought Niko was odd in the beginning too. Scary and odd. Now she was just utterly grateful for his friendship and support. He had been a lifeline to her during her recovery.

  “OK kids, time to get cracking.” Vinny gathered up all his trash. “I’m going to take a sec to call and check in with Vera. Be back in a minute.”

  “Say hi for me.” Lou requested.

  “Tell her thank you for me please!” Dillon appeared excited all of the sudden. “She offered to help with my house hunt, as well as act as a buffer between her sister and me.”

  “God knows you’re going to need it.” Lou muttered and Vinny just rolled his eyes at her before he walked down the hall.

  “She is a little intense but I appreciate everything she is doing.” Dillon was apologetic.

  “Hey! I get it!” She chuckled. “You don’t have to explain her to me. She has been a nightmare over Vera’s baby shower.”

  Dillon laughed then got up and gathered the remaining trash off the conference table, including Lou’s. He disappeared out of the room for a minute then came back with paper towels and did a thorough mop down before he finally sat and got to clicking away on his computer. Lou was watching him out of the corner of her eye and something Vinny had said early now made sense. Dillon did have more of a military edge to him than small town tree-hugger deputy. Not that Lou minded tree-huggers, she liked to think she was an environmentally conscious nature lover. It was a bad experience Lou had with a group of extreme huggers back in college. The type that had gone off the deep end with the hemp shoes and clothing they had woven themselves and who wore too much patchouli oil to cover up the intense smell of body odor because they showered only once a month to conserve water. The whole ordeal left a bad taste in her mouth.

  “Detectives.” A deep baritone voice called to them from the doorway. “Peter Taylor is here for his interview, where would you like him?”

  “Any room you got available would be great.” Lou requested.

  “One is open, I’ll escort him back for you.” The crisply polished deputy nodded then was off.

  “Go tell Vinny I’m in One would you?” Lou closed her laptop and dug out a box of mints from her bag.

  “You got it.” Dillon shot out of his chair. “Do you mind if I observe?”

  “Actually...” Lou had an idea. “Give me a few minutes alone with him. You and Vinny observe. I can play the new guy on the case and be redundant with questions. You let me know if he deviates from anything he told you before. But I want you in there with me after about ten minutes.”

  “Yes ma’am.” Dillon realized what he had done the moment the word left his lips. Despite the fact that Lou was a foot shorter then him and he outweighed her by an easy one-hundred pounds of pure muscle, she stood on her tip toes and slugged him as hard as she could in his left pectoral.

  “Lou! I mean Lou! I’m sorry! Lou!” He winced.

  “Maybe that will leave enough of a mark so you will remember next time!” She twirled around and headed for Interview One, grinning all the way.

  Doctor Caroline Devereux didn’t care if it was politically incorrect, macabre or morbid. She hated the word morgue despite the fact that she loved her job as medical examiner. She referred to her place of business as “the chop shop” and made no apologies for it, even when her superiors voiced their displeasure with the off-color nick name. For some weird and inexplicable reason, the term made her happy and she had no intentions of changing her vernacular, period.

  Today, the chop shop was buzzing with activity. The Boone case had everyone in overdrive and the first batch of evidence had already been sent to the crime lab for complete analysis. Caroline and her associate, Peter Carpesh, had been working on the presumed Arcano and Boone bodies for several hours and although they were making progress, it was extremely slow going. Separating the mattress from the bodies was extremely tricky. One false move and potentially critical evidence could be lost forever.

  “I think I have a viable digit!” Carpesh announced and the whole room froze with anticipation. He clipped the distal phalanges from the female body and promptly placed it in a specimen jar filled with pin
k fluid. “Let’s keep our fingers crossed, shall we?”

  “Not sure if that’s an appropriate phrase, given the circumstances.” Caroline snickered.

  “Oh my! You are so right! Forgive me.” He was embarrassed at his faux pas.

  She shook her head with a smile then resumed focusing on the dental x-rays of the male body she had been working on. Casius Arcano’s dental records had been digitized years ago due to his extensive travel in unsavory locations. He also had his DNA profile secured with the family attorney which had been very handy ruling Arcano out as one of the headless victims found at his house two days ago. Sadly, based on the dental records there was no doubt the charred remains were indeed those of Casius Arcano. Not wanting to take any chances, Caroline was able to find usable tissue for the lab to verify the DNA. That was going to take some time along with processing the DNA so they could match the heads to their respective bodies.

  So far they had been able to confirm what the fire captain had said. The blaze had been set with regular unleaded gasoline. They also were able to verify that the victims had been alive when they were set on fire. What little remained of the lungs and related tissue had shown smoke inhalation as well as singeing to the airways. The couple had been bound together with a nylon and polyester blended fiber which Caroline suspected came from the swagged mosquito netting from the canopy of the bed at the scene. She had noticed similar melts on the burned frame and was having tests done to confirm her suspicion. It must have been handy for the suspects to have such easy access to ample amounts of material in which to bind the victims. It made Caroline angry to think of the couple dying in such a brutal and painful way. Not that there was any good way of murdering someone, but this was particularly cruel and sadistic.

  The sound of Caroline’s cell phone nudged her out of her brooding and when she saw that it was Frank calling, her mood lightened immediately. Frank had been there with her parents and uncle when she first learned of her family ties to the Sanguinostri. He had been firm but kind, helping her navigate through all the mind boggling information. Because of that, Caroline knew she would forever have a special bond with the man.

  “Missing me?” She answered the call with a cheeky grin.

  “But of course!” Frank replied. “I’m checking in on the status of our crispy critters. Any news yet?”

  “I’ve matched the dental records of Casius to one of our bodies but I’m waiting on DNA confirmation as well. Same goes for confirmation on the matches to the heads.” Caroline stepped into her office, away from prying ears.

  “What about the woman? You able to get any fingerprints off of her?” He knew it was a long shot given how badly they were burned.

  “Carpesh clipped a finger that he thinks can give us a viable print but it has to soak for a little while, then we can try injecting saline to plump it back up enough to roll a print.” Caroline was hoping for the best. “It’s going to be tough but we might be able to get one out of it.”

  “What about DNA?” He asked.

  “That is processing too but we have nothing to compare it with.” Caroline was certain trying to identify the woman via DNA was a crap shoot at best. “The odds that she is in the system is slim. If we get lucky, her prints will be on file and we’ll get a hit. Provided the digit holds up, that is. Her DNA being in the system is less likely. Unless her parents did a Child ID kit but I think she’s too old for that. That’s only now becoming more popular.”

  “That’s your usual systems though.” She could tell he was grinning. “There is our system remember.”

  Caroline remembered that she had given a sample of her blood when she was indoctrinated. It was a very old and very sacred Sanguinostri ritual but now it had modern and practical purposes. Everyone gave a measure of their blood as a symbol of their fealty. Also, if the individual was given the option of being turned, it was a fifty-fifty shot at surviving the process. Over the years they had developed blood tests that could give more accurate odds so that the subject could make a more informed decision. Due to Caroline’s bloodline, being fourth generation and direct descendant of an original Sanguinostri, the odds of her survival were ninety-two percent. While she was still debating the issue, Caroline knew that if she chose to turn, fortune favored her survival.

  “You think she might have been Sanguinostri?” The possibility bothered Caroline a lot.

  “Maybe, maybe not.” Frank sounded like he had something else in mind. “We’ll have to check. There is another possibility too but I can’t get into that now. Just send me a copy of the results as soon as you have them, OK?”

  “Absolutely.” She had already planned on it. “It’s going to be a while though.”

  “Understood.” Frank was in work mode, she could tell. His sense of humor was decidedly absent from the conversation. “I’ll check in with you later.”

  “Yes sir.” She smiled, even though he couldn’t see her. “You know where to find me.”

  He hung up without saying goodbye which to Caroline’s surprise left her with an odd pang in her chest. She was a confirmed bachelorette and professional flirt with no conscious design on changing her status any time soon. However, Frank was different and had somehow wormed his way into a secluded part of her heart whether she liked it or not. Caroline wondered if this was how Lou felt when she first met Max.

  Enough time had passed that they could give hydrating the digit a whirl and Caroline was eager to get to it. With Carpesh’s assistance, they carefully removed the phalanges from the fluid then proceeded to inject the pad of the fingertip with saline. To their delight, the flesh plumped up without tearing. After sufficient time had passed for the tissue to stabilize, they gingerly rolled the fingertip on the glass platen of the live scan fingerprint device and the image was whisked away through the magic of technology. A few moments later the digitized image of the fingerprint appeared on the computer monitor and a collective breath was taken. They had a clear print. Caroline wasted no time running it through AFIS and sending a copy to Frank. With any luck something would pop on their mystery woman soon.

  “Here are the x-rays for Jane Doe, Doctor Devereux.” A lab assistant appeared behind Caroline out of nowhere.

  “Thank you.” She took the folder from the young man and headed for the light box so she could take a look.

  In sifting through the remains earlier they had hit on Max’s suspicion. Remnants of casings for breast implants had been found between the two bodies when they were pulled apart. Both Caroline and Carpesh came to the same determination that they separated from the woman’s body when the heat of the fire caused the saline to boil, ultimately causing them to burst. They also found two malar implants from a cheek augmentation. In looking at the facial x-rays it appeared that the woman had extensive remodeling done to the chin. Between the shaving of bone and the implants, someone had severely changed their victim’s appearance. Unfortunately the fire had damaged the implants just enough that getting serial numbers off of any of them was not going to happen. They had called in a forensic anthropologist who specialized in facial reconstruction to help them get an idea of what their female victim looked like before and after her face had been worked on. He was due to arrive at any moment. Carpesh was taking care of cleaning up the skull to prepare it for the process but it was all going to take time.

  Caroline stepped outside to get some air as well as call in and let Frank know that Max had been right about the woman’s plastic surgery. She tried to call Lou as well but got sent straight to voicemail. All Caroline could do now was focus on the rest of the mess they had to get through and wait. Something Caroline did not do well.

  Lou made sure that Vinny and Dillon were both in the observation room before she entered Interview One. She had armed herself with a couple of bottles of water and an assortment of snacks from the vending machines. The idea was that Taylor would see the offerings and the implication he was going to be there a while would motivate him to get to the point rather than be evasive. It was s
ubtle but Lou found it was an effective enough tactic.

  “Hello Mr. Taylor?” She said as she entered the room.

  “Yes, hello.” The man stood up and offered his hand to Lou.

  She dumped the snacks and water on the table and shook his hand vigorously. “I’m Detective Lou Donovan. Thank you so much for coming in to meet with me.” She smiled brightly at him then took her seat.

  “Well it sounded like I didn’t have much of a choice.” He sat back down. “I’m not sure what else I can tell you that I didn’t already tell the other detectives.”

  “I’m sorry for any inconvenience but I need to go over some things with you and since I came on the case a little late, I’d appreciate you baring with me.” Lou was being overly sweet and it made Vinny chuckle behind the one way mirror that separated the observation and interview rooms. “I brought you some things in case you get hungry or thirsty. Help yourself.”

  “Thank you but I’m fine.” He shifted in his seat a bit indicating to Lou he was uncomfortable.

  “Did you happen to bring in that picture thing that my partner requested?” She shuffled the stack of files she had brought in and selected the one labeled “Angela Boone”.

  “Oh, yeah.” Taylor retrieved his briefcase from the floor and fished out the digital picture frame that he had shown Dillon and Vinny when they were in Arcano’s office on Sunday. “Here you go. The switch to turn it on is on the back and there are two buttons above it to cycle through, backwards or forwards.” He handed it to her.

  “Thank you so much.” Lou flipped the switch on and watched the slide show of Casius Arcano’s former lovers. “Did you know Angela Boone personally?”

  “I suppose.” He thought for a moment. “I mean, I met her after she and Casius had been dating for a few weeks. He had me send her flowers, make dinner reservations and what not.”

  “That was a few weeks after they had started dating?” Lou flipped open a fresh notepad and began scribbling.