The Red Light Girls (Unsolved Mysteries Book 2) by Kim Knight (most romantic novels TXT) 📗

holes. Once finished, he then deposited it into another plastic container and closed it. Next, he used his tweezers to pluck out a specimen of dried blood, and then he also dropped that into a separate container. Once the lids were firmly screwed on, his grabbed his Dictaphone, then pressed play.

“Two puncture marks to the left hand-side of the neck, roughly a couple of millimeters in size. One inch apart. Upon observation, the full area of the neck is discoloured—red, swollen, and bruised. Damage appears to be from excessive force to the area.”

He clicked the pause button, moved around to the other side of the body, cleared his throat, and then pressed play.

“Right hand-side resembles the left—no puncture marks. However, excessive, brute force used. Hair, most likely human, found on the left shoulder area, marked as Specimen A.” With a jab of his finger, he stopped the recording.

Slowly, he conducted a thorough examination of the body, then once done, he methodically and in fine detail, he performed a final sweep from head to toe. There were no other obvious signs of force, puncture marks, hairs, or foreign fibers.

He picked up her hand and checked her nails.

“No chips, hair, dirt, or tissue under the nails.” A brief pause for a breath followed. “A swab has been taken from both the left and right hand—all ten fingers.”

The Dictaphone hummed, recording the spoken information until he turned it off.

At the bottom of the table, he separated her legs and examined her intimate area at the “Y” of her legs.

He picked up the Dictaphone and pressed record once again.

“No evidence of bodily fluids, on the body or between the legs. A swab will be taken to be sure. No evidence of excessive force between the legs either.” He cut the recording, placed the device on the tray, then plucked another swab for use.

With a steady hand, he inserted the cotton-tipped end into her vagina and moved it around to get a good sample. Once done, he extracted it with care, then pulled the overhead lamp toward him to take a closer look at the material collected.

He retrieved the Dictaphone again, and pressed record.

“No blood found from the internal swap. The sample will be tested for semen.”

He placed the recorder in his pocket, then examined the feet and toes of the body.

“Everything looks okay here,” he said to himself.

But to be sure, he took a swab from between each of her toes, and under her toenails to be sure, then added those to a plastic container and secured the lid.

Making his way around the table to her face. He opened her lids, first the left then the right, shining a flashlight into them. Once done with her eyes, he opened her mouth and did the same, swabbing it, then placed the sample into a plastic container.

Methodically, he went down the memorised list, swabbing her nostrils, ears, and he inspected her teeth, tongue, lips, gum, and the inside of her cheeks—noting nothing out of the ordinary.

“Let’s hope it’s enough.” He took one final glance over her. Satisfied, he picked up his notepad and made some more notes.

He placed the individual plastic containers inside a lab box along with the sample of the all-important random hair.

A knock at the door broke the silence in the room.

“Come in,” he yelled out.

Sonia, his assistant and trainee coroner, stuck her head around the door. “Doc, anything for me to take for testing?”

“Ah, good timing.” He waved her inside. “Come and take a look at what I have for you.” Camera in hand, he snapped a few pictures of the cadaver.

“Over there on the table.” He nodded over. “I just need to add the labels.”

“Oh, don’t worry. I’ll do it.” Sonia approached and stood next to him.

“Good, girl. Okay, the hair is Specimen A. The small swab, B is internal. And the others, as marked, are from the ears, nose, mouth, fingernails, and toenails. All in that order. And the last sample at the end is from the neck.”

Sonia pulled some additional labels out from the drawer. “Got it.”

“You busy today?” Dr. Cleveland asked.

“Not really. I can have this back to you ASAP.”

“Excellent. I’ll leave you to it.”

Sonia smiled over her shoulder at Dr. Cleveland. He pulled off his gloves and threw them in the waste bin.

With care, he covered Suzy’s body and wheeled the table over to the fridge. He opened one of the many window drawers, lined up the table, and then slid her inside.

The little freezer door snapped shut, and he double checked it was locked. Turning on his heels, clipboard tucked under his arm, he headed toward the door.

“I’ll be in my office if you need me,” he called out, then left the room.

10

Needle in a Haystack

Detective Janssen

Janssen sat at her desk with the unsolved case files of the missing girls surrounding her. She munched on a crisp Granny Smith apple and studied the open file in front of her.

It was only ten and the morning had progressed well. Last night, after she and Gibson had decided how they would handle the case, her partner was on the way to visit the victim’s roommate this morning. Left alone, she started to make headway with the cases left open.

But she had a wall of trouble. There was a lack of witnesses, clues, and possible suspects. She and the team where left stumped and had been for the last six months—ever since the disappearances and murders had started up again.

The criminal had been careful not to leave any evidence while committing the crimes. And after reviewing the evidence, she was positive the perpetrator had acted alone.

So, why the gap between killings? Why now?

“This does just not make sense.” She leaned back, deep thought as if to pinpoint what she had missed. “All these girls are from the city, linked in some way. They’re dancers or entertainers, but that’s all.”

Closing the file, she pulled up Tess Van Dijik’s case. She had been reported missing just two weeks