Frozen Past

by Richard C. Hale

  “Maybe we’ll get lucky.”

  “We need something. Right now, we have absolutely zip.”

  He nodded absently and sighed. They definitely needed something to break.

  A day later, Jaxon and Sally were down in the forensics’ lab with Billy Halson, huddled over the decapitated corpse of the dog. Billy pointed to a section of the neck as he spoke.

  “Lacerations here and here are consistent with a serrated knife used to make the initial incision on the neck. This incision continues deep into the tissue until reaching bone, then a larger non-serrated edge, probably consistent with a small axe or hatchet, was used to hack through the bone and tendons separating the head from the torso. The mostly clean initial cuts indicate the animal was most likely dead or incapacitated at the time of the beheading.”

  “So, a steak knife and a hatchet?” Jaxon said.

  “Pretty much,” Billy said. “Now the interesting thing about this whole situation deals with how the dog was subdued.”

  “What do you mean?” Sally asked.

  “He was put to sleep. Like anesthesia. A chemical very similar to Chloroform, but one that isn’t used much medically anymore.”

  Jaxon looked at Sally and she smiled. “Don’t tell me,” Jaxon said. “Diethyl Ether.”

  Billy looked disappointed. “How did you know?”

  “The two boys in the pool. Same thing,” Jaxon said.

  “Damn,” Billy said, “then you’ll definitely find this useful.”

  He walked over to a counter opposite the dog and pulled a small vial from a tray holding multiple vials and test tubes. He held it up for them to see.

  “What is it?” Sally asked.

  “It’s a fingernail,” Jaxon said looking closer.

  “Pulled it from a small laceration on the dog’s abdomen,” Billy said. “If you get a suspect, we can rule out the owner and family with simple saliva tests for DNA and hopefully get a match on the perp. I know it doesn’t help you find the guy, but…”

  “Have you looked at where our boy is getting his hands on Diethyl Ether?” Jaxon asked.

  “It’s still pretty common. Though it’s not used medically any longer, the agent is used quite a bit, commercially, in certain chemical formulations and fuels.”

  “Fuels?”

  “Yes. Alcohol based fuels used in radio control aircraft and high performance racing type engines. They call it ‘Glow fuel.’”

  Jaxon smiled. “Who’s working on the Bannon kid?”

  “Chris,” Billy said, “but he’s off today.”

  “You make sure you guys talk to each other on this. It looks almost certain our guy did the dog too.”

  “You got it.”

  Chapter 15

  The next day Jaxon and Sally were in the Medical Examiner’s Wing of St. Catherine’s Hospital in Reston. The morgue was set aside in the eastern section of the hospital farthest from the main entrance. To get to it you had to park in the E.R. garage and trek through the steam and heat of the laundry facility. The Nuns who ran the hospital were serious about keeping the undesirable aspects of death and dying away from the public eye. Jaxon couldn’t help but wonder how the laundry workers liked having so many of the county’s dead wheeled through their work station on the way to the morgue. Maybe they got used to it.

  They walked into the outer office where a male receptionist dressed in faded green scrubs and too many gold bracelets ignored them as he read through the latest Cosmopolitan. The name on the counter read Boris. It was difficult to associate the name with the effeminate person seated on the other side of the desk. Surely, he must be a temp or something. Jaxon wondered how many people in this world were actually named Boris.

  Jaxon cleared his throat. ‘Boris’ looked up from the magazine and smacked his gum.

  “Can I help you?”

  He definitely didn’t sound like a Boris, Jaxon thought. He held out his badge and Sally did the same. “Detectives Jennings and Winston, Fairfax County PD. We’re here to see Dr. Barstow.”

  “Oh yeah, I think he’s expecting you. Hold on.” He picked up the phone and punched in some numbers with the end of a pencil. He stabbed the keypad of the phone like he was spearing shrimp on the end of a sharp stick. Quick little jabbing motions. Sally rolled her eyes at Jaxon.

  ‘Boris’ carried on a conversation with whoever answered at the other end and then quickly hung up. “Go right on back. He’s in Bay C. Have you been back there before?”

  “Yeah,” Jaxon said. “Bay C. Got it.”

  They passed through a set of double doors and followed a long hallway which emptied into another reception like area. This is where the families waited as their loved ones were placed on cold stainless steel tables pending positive I.D. so their deaths could be confirmed and recorded. A long time ago Jaxon had been one of those family members and whenever he came back here, it was like he was suffocating all over again. The room seemed way too small and cold. Sally glanced at him sideways and he realized he was taking quick shallow breaths, almost panting. He got himself under control. He was not going to lose it in here.

  Pushing quickly through the waiting area, they entered Bay C through a single swinging door that had a small window in it about head high. They didn’t knock. This room was even colder than the waiting area and Jaxon shivered despite his jacket. Dr. Barstow was in his green scrubs and gloves standing next to a stainless steel table with the body of an older woman laid out naked. He turned when they entered.

  “Detectives, glad you could make it.”

  “No problem, Doc,” Jaxon said. “What have you got for us?”

  “Something I think will surprise you. I hope it will help I.D. our John Doe.”

  Dr. Barstow walked over to the group of refrigerators along the far wall and pulled a drawer open, sliding a body out for them to see. It was the first boy from the pool. He slid some plastic sheeting out of the way exposing his midsection and chest, the sutures from the Y incision clearly visible.

  Jaxon took an involuntary step back and felt his chest tighten at the sight of the boy lying on the slide. This was all too familiar and he couldn’t keep the vision of his son out of his mind. Twelve years ago he had been in this exact spot, watching them pull his dead son out of the refrigerator so he could I.D. him. He placed a hand on the counter and took a couple of deep breaths. Sally was watching him, but remained silent. Dr. Barstow didn’t seem to notice.

  The doc picked up the boy’s right arm. “He has a few broken fingernails from what looks like a struggle and we were able to get some skin cells from underneath the remaining nails. We’ve sent them off for DNA and when we get the results back we’ll run it through the database and see if we get any hits. It’s not very promising and I’ll explain why in a minute.”

  He put the boys hand down and circled to the other side of his body. Sally had to move out of the way to let him pass. “Here’s one of the freezer burn patches I told you about.”

  He pointed to an area just below the right ribcage. It looked roughened and white compared to the surrounding skin. “Here and here, also,” he said pointing to an area just above his groin. “I sampled a section of skin from here and performed a few tests my colleague up in North Dakota told me to try and I came up with some very interesting findings.”

  He turned and walked over to a counter behind them and moved in front of a microscope set up there. “Come take a look.”

  Jaxon and Sally moved to the microscope and Jaxon bent over and peered into the instrument. “What am I looking at, Doc?” He seemed to do better when he didn’t have to look at the boy’s body.

  “Do you see the jagged edges around the cell wall structure? It looks ruptured in various places correct?”

  “Yeah, I see that.”

  “This indicates the cells have been frozen at a very cold temperature and for a very long time.”

  The Doc paused letting that sink in. Jaxon stood up and let Sally look.

  “How long is a very long
time, Doc?”

  “More than ten years, maybe even twenty. I can’t tell exactly. I can just give you a vague range.”

  “Damn. Somebody kept this kid in deep freeze for more than ten years?”

  Dr. Barstow nodded slowly. “That’s what it looks like.”

  “Is it possible to get a more accurate date?” Sally asked.

  “At this point I don’t know of any way. I’m looking into it.”

  “How about Carbon 14 dating? Can we use that on him?”

  “Not unless he’s been dead for more than two hundred years,” the Doc said. “It’s not accurate enough on substances that are within two hundred or so years old. There are other testing methods and I’m looking into them.”

  “But you estimate between ten and twenty years,” Jaxon said.

  “That’s my estimate, yes.”

  “That’s quite a big time frame to search, but at least we know we’re not looking for something recent,” Jaxon said.

  “No wonder nobody is looking for him or reported him missing,” Sally said. “He’s been dead twenty years.”

  “Doc, Billy Halson in Forensics has found something interesting on a decapitated dog we got a call on a number of weeks back. Apparently the dog has traces of Diethyl Ether in its bloodstream, just like John Doe here and Paul Bannon. We think it’s the same guy. But in a twenty year span? It’s hard to get around that.”

  “With the exceptions of the frozen organs and freezer burn, the two boys have very similar traits. I would have bet my life that it was the same guy, but this huge space in time really puts serious doubts into my mind. It’s not impossible, but it is somewhat unlikely.”

  “Has any other evidence turned up? What about residues or fingerprints on the bodies?” Jaxon asked.

  “The pool water washed most of that kind of thing away. Did you guys drain the pool and filter the water?”

  “No, not yet. We haven’t been able to get in touch with the sports complex manager to get permission to drain it. He’s in Miami at the moment. That’s definitely on the agenda.”

  “Well, John Doe will stay here for a while longer anyway,” Dr. Barstow said, “but I’m going to release Paul Bannon to his parents so they can bury him. Any problems with that?”

  “Do they plan on cremating him or burying him?” Sally asked.

  “Burial, at least that was the desire expressed to me. If it’s important to you, you should contact them.”

  “No, if you feel you’ve retrieved all the evidence he has to offer that’s good enough for us,” Jaxon said. “Thanks Doc. Let us know if you find anything more definitive on a date for John Doe.”

  “I will.”

  “Let’s go, Sally. We’ve got some digging to do.”

  Jaxon left Bay C quickly, glad to leave the coldness and the memories behind. He hated coming here, but he knew it was something unavoidable in his line of work. He couldn’t count the number of times he had visited the facility. All he knew is he expected it to get easier. It didn’t.

  ‘Boris’ was still reading his magazine as they pushed through the double doors and he looked up and smiled as they left. “Have a nice day,” he said, flapping a hand at them that jangled.

  “Yeah. You too,” Jaxon said, but thought, too late for that.

  Part 2

  Chapter 16

  Five Months Later

  Luke dove into the pool and started his practice laps. The swim team was halfway through its season and Luke, John, Jimmy, and Ellie were all in the pool stroking away while the coach pushed them harder. The team consisted of about thirty five kids from the neighborhood and had done fairly well winning six of the eight meets already concluded. There were seven more to go.

  Ellie was the star, placing first in all her heats, and rumors were spreading she was to be selected for the state team in her event, the women’s one hundred meter butterfly. Luke wasn’t nearly as competitive, finishing second in two of his heats and third in all the others. He still had fun and wouldn’t miss it for the world. If Ellie got to go to state, he would be without her for a week. Even though he was proud she was so good, he didn’t want her to leave. Maybe he’d get to go anyway and cheer her on.

  Jimmy crossed the lane divider and bumped into Luke. He stopped and then pushed Luke down deeper into the pool. Luke came up sputtering, his rhythm broken. Jimmy grinned at him looking goofy in his swim goggles and Luke jumped at him trying to dunk him. The two laughed and wrestled until John came up and pushed them both under. John then cut straight across the pool through all the lanes as Luke and Jimmy swam after him. All the other swimmers doing laps had to move out of the way or stop as the boys disrupted the pool.

  “Harrison! Besner! Will you three cut it out!” Will Francis, their swim coach, yelled. “You’re messing up the whole team!”

  Ellie swam into Luke and came up looking frustrated until she saw it was him. “Hey cutie! What the heck are you doing?” she said, her nose clip making her sound all stuffy.

  “Waiting for you to pay attention to me.”

  “What? You don’t get enough of me the rest of the day?” She smiled at him, breathing a little hard from the exertion.

  “I could never get enough of you,” he said seriously, but then splashed her in the face.

  “Hey!”

  He dove away and swam hard for the far end but she caught him mid-pool and they came up in each other’s arms laughing. She tickled him as the other swimmers passed around them.

  He squirmed, laughing out loud and reached to tickle her back but she slipped from his grasp and swam away. He caught her and said, “Oh, you’re not getting away that easily.”

  “Dammit Harrison! Now you’re messing with my star. Will you let her swim please?” Coach Francis stood there with his hands on his hips and the whistle dangling from his lips. “Twenty more laps for you today, Luke. Now get moving.”

  “You got me in trouble,” Luke said to Ellie, but grinned. “Now you owe me.”

  She pushed him away and laughed. “We’ll see, you Goofy Goober.” She dove under the water and resumed her training. He followed after her.

  After practice, they were walking home when John said, “Hey! Let’s go check out the creek. It rained a bunch last night and I bet it’s full.”

  Instead of going through Luke’s fence at the back of the tennis courts, they turned right and followed a path into the woods. The trail gave access to the pool and tennis courts for the neighborhood which existed on the other side of the creek. They passed a couple and their two children loaded down with towels and floats, all headed for the pool. The little kids kept running ahead of the parents and the dad would yell at them to ‘Wait up!’ Ellie reached out and grabbed the little girl, tickling her as she squirmed in her arms. She squealed with delight.

  “Ellie! Stop!” the little girl yelled as she laughed.

  “Thanks, Ellie,” the dad said.

  “No problem Mr. Stinson.” To the little girl she said, “Mel, you listen to your Daddy, now. He’s smart.” And she smiled at the little girl.

  “Ok, Ellie. I will. I’m a good girl.”

  “I know you are sweetie,” Ellie said putting her down and giving her a big hug. “I’ll come play with you soon, ok?”

  Mel’s face lit up and she yelled, “Yea! Ellie’s gonna play with me! Ellie’s gonna play with me!” She did a little dance in her swimmies and started to take off again, but then seemed to remember she wasn’t supposed to. She stopped and looked at her dad and then walked up to him taking his hand. “Sorry, Daddy.”

  “It’s ok, Mel. Just stay close to me, alright?”

  She nodded her little head and waved at Ellie as they continued on their way to the pool.

  “You haven’t babysat for them in a while,” Luke said.

  “I know. I think he lost his job or something. They haven’t been going out much. I love Mel and Robby. I like to just go and see them every once in awhile for the fun of it.”

  “I hate babysitting,�
� Jimmy said. “What a waste of time.”

  “Who’ve you ever babysat?” John asked.

  “Nobody. I just think it’s a waste of time and I know I would hate it.”

  “My little brother’s ok sometimes,” Luke said. “He used to crap his pants and I hated cleaning that up.”

  “See,” Jimmy said. “I’d hate that. Baby crap, what a load of shit.”

  Luke noticed Ellie wasn’t saying anything. He turned around and found her stopped in front of a tree looking at a sign hanging on it.

  “What is it, El?” Luke yelled back.

  “Come and look at this!” she said.

  They went back and Ellie pointed at it.

  “It’s a lost dog,” Jimmy said. “Do you know it?”

  “No,” she said, “but I’ve seen like five lost pet signs in the last two weeks.”

  “So,” Jimmy said.

  “Maybe they’re not lost,” she said seriously.

  Jimmy wasn’t getting it and said, “What? Somebody’s scamming people, hoping someone finds a real dog and calls them.”

  “No, Jim,” Luke said. “It’s not a scam. These people really don’t know where their dogs are.”

  “Do you think it’s him?” Ellie said quietly.

  “I don’t think so, El,” Luke said moving next to her. “He’s probably gone now. We haven’t heard anything from him in months.”

  “I know-it’s just weird. All of a sudden, these cats and dogs go missing.”

  “It could be a coincidence,” John said. “It’s summer. People let their dogs outside more and they just run off because no one is paying attention to them.”

  “Just like Bentley?” she said, a little anger edging into her voice. “What are you saying? I didn’t pay attention to my dog?”

  “No,” John said quickly, “I’m not even talking about you.”

  “But you make it sound like these people don’t care about their animals. They just got lazy and the dog ran off, right? Well, I wasn’t lazy. I was cold and somebody took Bentley and then cut his head off!” She was shouting now and on the verge of tears.