by Chris Carter
They both stared at the body in silence for a moment.
‘Well,’ the captain said. ‘I have to admit I’m glad this is all over.’
‘Me too,’ Doctor Winston replied with a smile. ‘How’s Carlos doing?’ he said changing the subject.
‘Getting better. Give him time and he’ll be alright.’
‘How about Robert?’
‘He’s still a little shook up. He’s blaming himself for not figuring it out earlier.’
‘It’s understandable. The killer got close to him, too close in fact. Emotionally and physically. But I don’t know any other detective that would’ve come out of it alive.’
‘Me neither.’ Captain Bolter’s eyes moved back to the body. ‘Well, she’s dead. Robert will be over it and onto the next case by next week.’
‘I’m sure he will, but, anyway, that’s not why I called you here.’
Captain Bolter frowned with interest, waiting for Doctor Winston to carry on.
‘Robert will wanna see the autopsy report.’
‘So?’
‘I think I should alter it.’
Captain Bolter shot him a worried look. ‘Why would you wanna do that?’
Doctor Winston took a piece of paper from his desk and handed it to Captain Bolter who read it attentively. His eyes stopped moving halfway down the page and widened in surprise.
‘Are you sure about this, Doctor?’
‘As sure as I can be.’
‘How old?’
‘Judging by the size of the embryo, no more than four or five weeks.’
Captain Bolter ran his hand through his hair before rereading the autopsy report. ‘That’s about when they met isn’t it?’
‘That’s what I thought,’ the doctor replied.
‘Do you know for certain it’s his?’
‘No . . . not without a DNA test, but she had one agenda in mind. She doesn’t strike me as the type who’d sleep around, not when all her efforts were on avenging her family’s death and getting to Robert.’
Captain Bolter placed the report back on the doctor’s desk. A minute of silence went by before he spoke again.
‘It would do Robert no good if he found this out.’
‘I agree. This is the last thing he needs.’
‘Who else knows about this?’
‘You and I, that’s it.’
‘Let’s keep it that way then. Alter the report,’ the captain said firmly.
‘I heard you’re getting a commendation from the Chief of Police and the Mayor himself,’ Garcia said as Hunter poured himself a glass of water from the glass jug by Garcia’s bed.
‘So are you.’
Garcia raised both of his eyebrows.
‘We’re partners remember? We were on the case together.’
Garcia smiled.
‘Not bad for your first case as a RHD detective,’ Hunter teased.
‘Yeah, not bad for someone who can now use his hands as whistles.’ Garcia lifted his right hand and moved it back and forth in front of his mouth pretending to blow on it and making a quick whistling sound.
They both broke into laughter.
A gentle knock on the door grabbed their attention. ‘I could hear you two laughing halfway down the hall,’ Anna said as she entered the room. ‘It’s great to see both of you laughing.’
‘It certainly is,’ Hunter said, resting his hand on Garcia’s arm. ‘It certainly is.’
About the author
Born in Brazil of Italian origin, Chris Carter studied psychology and criminal behaviour at the University of Michigan. As a member of the Michigan State District Attorney’s Criminal Psychology team, he interviewed and studied many criminals, including serial and multiple homicide offenders with life imprisonment convictions.
Having departed for Los Angeles in the early 1990s, Chris spent ten years as a guitarist for numerous Glam Rock bands before leaving the music business to write full-time. He now lives in London. The Crucifix Killer is his first novel.
Visit www.chriscarterbooks.com
Table of Contents
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
Eleven
Twelve
Thirteen
Fourteen
Fifteen
Sixteen
Seventeen
Eighteen
Nineteen
Twenty
Twenty-One
Twenty-Two
Twenty-Three
Twenty-Four
Twenty-Five
Twenty-Six
Twenty-Seven
Twenty-Eight
Twenty-Nine
Thirty
Thirty-One
Thirty-Two
Thirty-Three
Thirty-Four
Thirty-Five
Thirty-Six
Thirty-Seven
Thirty-Eight
Thirty-Nine
Forty
Forty-One
Forty-Two
Forty-Three
Forty-Four
Forty-Five
Forty-Six
Forty-Seven
Forty-Eight
Forty-Nine
Fifty
Fifty-One
Fifty-Two
Fifty-Three
Fifty-Four
Fifty-Five
Fifty-Six
Fifty-Seven
Fifty-Eight
Fifty-Nine
Sixty
Sixty-One
Sixty-Two
Sixty-Three
Sixty-Four
Sixty-Five
Sixty-Six
Sixty-Seven
Sixty-Eight
Sixty-Nine
Seventy