by D. K. Hood
Jenna smiled at him and pulled a strand of hay from his hair. He looked healthy and moved easily. Obviously, the long ride yesterday hadn’t caused him any problems. “Good to know.” She rubbed the noses of the horses. “You go and get cleaned up and I’ll start on breakfast.”
“There’s a pile of hotcakes in the refrigerator, they just need reheating in the microwave.” Kane smiled. “And bacon. I have a hankering for bacon, as many strips as you can fit in a pan, and crispy.”
Jenna grinned at him. “I’ll warm the maple syrup as well. I’m starving.”
As they headed back to the barn, Jenna turned to him. “I’ll call Jo later, after the autopsy, and get her opinion on my theory about James Stone.”
“I’ve been giving what you said a lot of thought.” Kane pressed in the code on the keypad to his cottage. “I figure unless we find June Harris dead and she fits Stone’s MO we might be wasting valuable time. I say we treat this like any other case and hunt down suspects. Right now, we’re surmising June Harris is missing. We don’t know if the ear attached to your porch belongs to her. The two cases may be unrelated. June Harris could have killed her husband and dropped off the grid.”
Jenna headed for the kitchen and washed her hands over the sink. “And if he strikes again?”
“If it’s the same MO as Stone, then two murders the same takes the idea of a coincidence off the board.” Kane headed for the bathroom. “Let’s hope that never happens.”
After stopping by the office to get a report from her deputies, Jenna discovered they’d been very active since the discovery of Payton Harris’ body. Rowley had notified the forest wardens and made sure everyone who went through their station was aware they had a potential missing person and showed them June Harris’ picture. Atohi Blackhawk had called and offered to take a group on horseback with their dogs to search the area across the river from the campsite where Harris was murdered. With the news media broadcasting June Harris’ image on the hour, if she was anywhere in the area Jenna hoped someone would see her or the couple’s vehicle and call the hotline. After sending Rowley and Rio out to check the remote places people might park their vehicles out of Bear Peak, she went with Kane to the ME’s office for the autopsy.
The sterile environment and antiseptic smell did little to hide the stench of death hovering in the air. After settling Duke inside Wolfe’s office, they suited up in the alcove outside the examination room with the red light. “There are people out hunting all over the forest and yet no one has reported anything to the forest wardens. It’s as if June Harris has vanished. If there was a body somewhere out in that area, surely someone would have smelled it by now?”
“Maybe, but the forest is vast. People are field-dressing their kills as well, and that stinks. Most people would assume the smell is from an animal.” Kane removed his jacket and pulled on scrubs. “If she’s up there and alive, she’d head for one of the trails, or a hunter. If she’s dead, the bears could have eaten her by now and we’ll be lucky to find any remains at all.” He snapped on gloves. “Ready?”
Jenna smeared mentholated salve under her nose and pulled on a facemask. “Yeah.” She followed him inside and the doors whooshed closed behind her.
She immediately noticed that Emily was missing but Colt Webber stood beside Wolf, ready to assist. “Morning. Where’s Em?”
“Exams.” Wolfe looked at her over his mask. “She seemed a little more confident this morning. She has it in the bag, I have no doubt. She worries if she fails post grad, she won’t be able to study for her medical degree.” He sighed. “She’s a straight-A student and there’s no reason she won’t pass with honors. I’m not sure why she’s so worried.” His eyebrows rose. “On the bright side, Julie strolled through her exams without a problem, and Anna is doing just fine. They both have their heads set on carving a pumpkin with me next weekend.”
Jenna nodded. “Good to know.” She ignored the covered lump under the sheet on a gurney and walked to the X-rays displayed on a screen. “What do we have?”
“Apart from a bolt through the brain?” Wolfe moved to her side. “The damage you see is a good representation of the food chain in the forest.” He pointed to the image. “Here there are puncture marks in the bone, made from large canines, likely a bear. The mastication, from a powerful jaw, causes pitting and scoring like we see here. See how the lines overlap?”
“Can you tell if he was dead when this happened?” Kane’s brow wrinkled into a frown.
“We took samples of soil around the body and the blood loss was minimal, so no, not alive. There is evidence of lividity in the lower regions of the body, which would be normal in a corpse in a sitting position, but if he’d been alive when his femoral artery was severed, he’d be sitting in a pool of blood.” Wolfe turned and uncovered the remains of Payton Harris. “Animals usually go for the soft parts, so the internal organs, genitals, would be a target, but in this case the gasoline would have kept them away. What clothes remain are soaked. It wasn’t just poured over him, it was dripped over to ensure full penetration of his clothing, hair. His hands were placed inside his pockets and his gloves were still damp when we examined him. There are no defense wounds on his arms, no sign of a struggle.”
“So, he just sat against the tree and allowed someone to shoot him?” Kane scratched his head. “His wife was asleep in the tent and he doesn’t try to fight? That doesn’t make sense.”
Jenna scanned the crime scene photographs. “He was looking up when shot. Is that your conclusion, Shane?”
“Yeah, from the angle, he was staring at the man who shot him.” Wolfe flicked up an image showing a simulated trajectory of the crossbow bolt. “From this I determined the shooter must be approximately six feet tall.” He looked at Jenna. “From the information we have on his wife, she was five-seven. I don’t think she is the shooter.”
Jenna turned to stare at the mangled remains of Payton Harris. “A bear did all this?”
“Nah.” Kane bent to examine the remains. “Parts have been carried away. I’d say a variety of wildlife were involved. Cats wouldn’t be able to drag the body so would take a piece after the bears had left, and dogs often run off with parts. The smaller bite marks are from other critters.”
“The food chain, as I mentioned.” Wolfe turned to her. “The bigger predators get in first and then down the line. The limb Atohi found was carried away by a dog and belongs to Harris.” He sighed. “It wasn’t robbery. He had five hundred in his wallet and all his credit cards.” He looked at Kane. “Possible scenario?”
“Are you asking me how I could trick a guy into sitting still while I shot a bolt into his head at close range?” Kane’s eyes flashed with something Jenna had never seen before as he tipped his head toward Colt Webber. “Webber is a hunter, so maybe you should be asking him?”
Jenna glanced from one to the other and cleared her throat. “I’d try and distract him.” She thought for a beat. “The time of death would add a variant. Have you figured out when he died?” She looked at Wolfe.
“Late Thursday to early Friday morning, going on rigor, decomposition, insect infestation, and taking the local conditions into account.” Wolfe lifted his chin and gave her a quizzical stare. “How do you distract someone in the middle of the night?”
“From the disturbed sleeping bags, the couple were asleep in the tent.” Kane was staring at his boots and then raised his head slowly and looked at Jenna. “I figure the killer knew the victim because there’s no sign of a struggle in the tent or anywhere else. Maybe he made up a story about seeing a bear close by or something and woke Harris.”
Inside Jenna’s head the scene played out. “If he’d mentioned seeing a bear, Harris would have woken his wife.” She looked at the three men. “It’s more likely they sat around the fire having a drink.”
“Okay, so the killer gets him outside.” Webber’s gaze narrowed in thought. “The first thing I’d want to do after being asleep is urinate—that’s normal, right?” He cu
t a gaze to Jenna.
She shrugged. “As there’s bears around here, would a guy be wandering off into the forest to pee?”
“Nah, it’s likely he’d have headed for the closest tree.” Kane leaned against the counter and folded his arms. “Forget the bear warning. I agree with Jenna he’d have woken his wife if an attack was imminent, but how did he get Harris to sit behind the tree?”
“It was a full moon, so he had an excuse to be out hunting.” Webber shrugged. “Maybe he said something like, ‘There’s that elk I’ve been stalking. It’s heading this way. Duck down behind that tree or it will see you. I’ll take it down from here.’ Or whatever.”
“Yeah.” Kane straightened. “Harris would have been staring at the killer waiting for him to make the shot and wham he got one straight between the eyes.”
“Silent and deadly.” Wolfe nodded sagely. “The sound wouldn’t have woken his wife. It gave the killer time to retrieve his can of gas and soak Harris’ hair and clothes. Maybe then he crawled inside the tent to retrieve their phones and woke June Harris. There are broken branches around the campsite but we can’t discount bears disturbing the area after the murder. I can’t say for certain there are signs of a struggle. The pine needles are so thick there are no footprints, but we know from the scratches and scat in the area bears frequent the clearing.” He looked from one to the other. “Shall we get on?” He moved to the body and rolled it over onto one side. “There are no marks to indicate any injury. No bruises or contusions to make me believe he fought for his life. I found nothing unusual in his blood to indicate any drugs. I’ve tested for the usual substances and I’m running a full tox screen, but I don’t believe we’ll find anything.”
Singing a tune in her head to disassociate herself from the horrific sight before her, Jenna concentrated on a paint fleck on the bench as Wolfe dissected what was left of the torso. He made comments as he went and everything not chewed on was perfectly normal. “So, he didn’t die of a heart attack or similar?”
“No. He was fit and healthy, a nonsmoker from his lungs, his heart is good. I’m sure the bolt is responsible for his death. I’ll be conducting a brain examination and dissection to record the damage. Do you want to stick around? It might take some time.”
Sorrow for the poor young man welled up, and Jenna swallowed hard. “No, that’s fine, just send me the report as usual. I’ve seen enough for today.” She turned to Kane. “Do you have any questions before we leave?”
“Yeah, I do.” He looked at Wolfe. “How far did the bolt penetrate into the tree?”
“Approximately three inches.” Wolfe turned to him. “Before you ask, it was a standard aluminum bolt, twenty inches long.” He sighed. “They are a popular generic brand. No fingerprints or foreign trace DNA fragments. I only found the victim’s blood and tree sap.”
“I’d assume a crossbow could take down game at forty yards, so to pierce the skull and the tree it must have been fired at close range to gain the maximum kinetic energy.” Kane unfolded his arms and straightened. “Consider that he’s shooting at a target about six inches wide, we have an expert on our hands. I searched the area for bolts, or signs of them hitting around the body. This killer pulled off a small target in the dark with pinpoint accuracy.” He frowned. “He’s good, damn good.”
Excited, Jenna turned to him. “So if he lives locally, he’d be known for his ability. Someone that skilled would be using the practice range. We’ll go talk to the owners and see if we can get a list. We’ll have a starting point.” She smiled behind her mask at Kane. “I knew together we’d work out this case.”
“Before you head out”—Wolfe lifted a cranium saw from the trolley—“Kalo called. He’s uploaded the security for the ranch onto your new phones. So, the video feed is available on demand. The cards you use to access secured areas here and at the office now include the gate at the ranch, but if you misplace your card, one call to Kalo and he’ll change the access codes. There is a scanner beside the front door to the house. To gain entry, you’ll need a retinal scan. Kalo has incorporated your scan, Dave’s, and mine into the system. I figured as you trust both of us, in times of trouble you’d like us to be able to assist you. You don’t need to set the security each time you come and go. It resets when you enter and leave. The tracker on Duke has been programmed so he won’t set off the alarm if he’s out doing his business. You’re good to go.” He tapped his pocket. “I’ll keep my phone on me at all times.”
Jenna laughed. “I feel safer already.” She gave him a wave and headed for the door.
Twenty
It was a perfect day for hunting humans. The wind had calmed some this morning, and the forest at the foot of Bear Peak was dense and shrouded in shadows. A tang of the wild hung in the air and overhead a murder of crows waited for the next chance of a meal. It was as if they anticipated his arrival in the forest. The birds either sat on the branches still and calm as if imitating black flowers, or they argued amongst themselves. Some whistled as if sending secret messages across the forest to their lookouts. At this time of year, with hunters field-dressing their kills, the crows could pick and choose their meals. Many disliked crows, but not him. They’d helped him and others like him many a time. As nature’s cleaners, once a flock had feasted on a carcass, only the bones remained.
He grinned as a little before eleven-thirty Emmett and Patti Howard drove into the deserted parking lot at Bear Peak and pulled up alongside him. He jumped down from his truck and pulled his backpack, crossbow, and quiver from the back. “Right on time.”
“Morning, Mr. Bolt.” Patti Howard wriggled into a backpack.
He’d almost forgotten his alias and turned to her. “Call me Jerry.”
“And we’re Patti and Emmett.” She ran her fingers through her long black hair and then pulled out a bright-orange knitted cap and scarf from the truck and put them on. “I want to stick out in the forest. Emmett has a hunting jacket with an orange stripe all around. We don’t plan on any accidents happening.”
Jerry nodded, but his head was making a pleasant buzzing sound and the need to get going became overwhelming. He took a deep breath; he wanted to savor the kill, enjoy every tantalizing second, but time was against him. His gaze moved over her face—her dark brown eyes, so alive now, would rest on him before she died. The thought made him tremble. Each time he killed it was as if he collected their energy deep inside him. “That’s great. I wouldn’t want you to get shot by a stray bullet.”
He waved them ahead down a steep trail that led from the parking lot and snaked around the mountain. It went past the famous cave where many bodies had been found wrapped in plastic some years ago, and weaved around before it came to a fork. One way led right past the cocoon cave, the place chosen and rigged to enjoy the last moments of a kill. Part of him wanted to go there and look inside, but he pushed down the urge and kept going. They’d walked for ten minutes, with Patti in the lead and Emmett hanging back taking in the scenery. It was so close to perfect Jerry couldn’t believe his luck. “Take the left fork, Patti. That’s great, keep going.”
As Patti disappeared into the forest, he pulled out his hunting knife and walked up behind Emmett. He knew just where to strike. Closer, closer, and the second Emmett stopped and turned to say something, he grabbed him by the shoulder and slid the knife in to his spine. Apart from a gasp, Emmett didn’t make a sound. When Emmett’s legs gave way, Jerry whispered in his ear. “There that didn’t hurt for long, did it?”
Tingling with anticipation, he sheathed the knife, dragged his kill to a tree, and sat him upright. The wound had paralyzed him from the waist down and the shock had rendered him speechless. It happened many a time: some screamed for their lives, but most had a surprised expression. Their brains wouldn’t allow them to believe what had happened. He pulled out a roll of duct tape and wrapped it around Emmett’s mouth and head and then wrapped it around the pine tree. He needed him to watch his wife’s final performance, and what a performance it would
be. He’d choreographed it in his head, every move, each mouth-watering cut. Sweat ran down his back in an urgent need to get started, sticking his shirt to his skin. When Emmett’s eyes lifted to his face, Jerry smiled at him. “I’m going to find Patti and then I’m going to make you both famous.”
Twenty-One
After grabbing two to-go cups of coffee from Wolfe’s office, Kane followed Jenna to the Beast. She’d appeared to be off-kilter since the home invasion, and as pale as a ghost. He placed the coffee on the console and waited for Duke to come out of the bushes adjacent to the ME’s office. His dog was happy to wait in Wolfe’s office for as long as necessary, especially since Wolfe had added a doggy bed and food and water receptacles, but before another trip he needed to stretch his legs. Kane looked at Jenna as she added notes to the files and cleared his throat. “Is everything okay?”
“Apart from another murder victim in our town, just peachy.” Jenna went back to her iPad.
Kane shrugged off her snappy reply and slipped behind the wheel. “I know that, Jenna. Do your back and head still ache? Are you okay? You’re pale and the autopsy was brutal.” He handed her a cup of coffee. “Here, I guess you won’t feel like eating for a while?”
“Thanks. No, I couldn’t look at food right now.” Jenna sipped the coffee and looked at him. “I’d be fine if I could just shake the feeling that Stone is going to creep up on me.” She sighed. “Even if they finish up early on the repairs, do you mind if I stay in the cottage until we catch this killer? I don’t want to be in the house alone right now. I feel like my privacy has been invaded and I don’t feel like shopping to replace what the intruder destroyed.”