Stolen Daughters by Carolyn Arnold (top novels TXT) 📗

said drily, and Amanda wasn’t sure if she was being snide and sarcastic or serious. The ME added, “And it only helps if the killer is in the system. However, if the skin cells are from her killer, he would probably have obvious scratches on his face, neck, arms, or hands. Think any possible exposed skin. That could help you ID him. Well, once you find him.” The ME opened Fox’s jaw. “I also took a close look at the mutilation. The edge is clean, not jagged.”

“So the killer didn’t hesitate?” Trent asked.

“It could also mean that the victim didn’t fight the killer while he was cutting out her tongue.”

Amanda leaned a little closer to the body. “Then she was dead at that time?”

“No,” Jeffery dragged out. “You may recall me saying at the scene that, given the amount of blood loss, her heart would have been pumping. No doubt in my mind she was alive.”

“Then, she was given a type of paralytic,” Amanda concluded.

“Not necessarily, but something that would have subdued her.”

Amanda’s phone rang, and the ME pinned her with a nasty glare. Amanda checked caller ID, and it was Malone. “I’ve got to take this.” She stepped away and answered.

“It looks like one of the canvassing officers yesterday might have gotten you a lead,” he said.

“Why so late coming in?”

“Just listen to me.”

“I’m listening.” And she was, but she was also watching Jeffery rolling her eyes. When Malone finished sharing his news, she updated him on the Fosters and told him that there was reason to believe Jane Doe was Ashley Lynch, originally from Washington.

“Nice work. She has a name now.”

“Seems so, but I better go. I’m at Fox’s autopsy and getting stink eyes from the ME.” She ended the call and returned to Jeffery and Trent. “Do you have any more observations to share about the mutilation? Do you think the clean cut is also the result of the killer knowing what he was doing with a knife?”

Jeffery stared at her like she was waiting for an apology for her interruption. She’d be waiting forever. Eventually, the ME said, “Most certainly. Cool under pressure, if nothing else. The victim may not have been able to move, but she likely would have been conscious and watching him.”

That thought sent chills through her. Brandon was probably spot-on when he warned her about this killer. He was a true psychopath. Cutting out Shannon’s tongue while she watched him… She couldn’t imagine the horror that poor woman had experienced in the last few moments of her life. Seeing a man come at her mouth with a knife and feeling—

Amanda stopped her musing there. Hopefully, the drug’s effects also numbed pain. Regardless, Shannon would have been powerless, trapped. Amanda swallowed roughly. “Do you know what kind of knife was used?”

The slightest of nods. “Based on the stab wound, I’d say it was a Bowie knife with an eight-inch blade. The same weapon was likely used to sever the tongue.”

“A Bowie.” Trent stepped closer to the table. “Very sharp. Very large. Commonly used by hunters.”

Amanda regarded Trent. Was her partner one? But this revelation was telling about their killer.

“For fear of repeating myself, that’s not a small knife,” Trent said. “It would have taken skill not to slice into her cheeks.”

Jeffery leveled her gaze at him. “Well, based on where the tongue was severed, the killer would have pulled it outside of the mouth, then cut.”

“Yeah, I guess that would have made it easier.” Trent looked away from the ME.

Amanda pointed toward the stab wound in Fox’s abdomen. “At the scene, you weren’t sure if this was the cause of death. Now?”

Jeffery moved down the body and held her gloved hands around the wound. “I’m still of the same line of thought. While the penetration of the knife had been deep, I don’t believe it was fatal.”

Amanda gazed upon Shannon’s face and spoke to the ME. “Was it the drug she was given that killed her?”

“In probability and why I’m going to rush the lab on tox results. Hopefully, we’ll end up looking at a matter of hours rather than days before we get results.”

“Please let me know the findings the minute you do.”

“You’ll be the third to know. After the lab and me.”

“Just one more thing before you start,” Amanda said. “Is there any indication that Shannon Fox was raped?”

“No evidence of any sexual activity.” Without another word, Jeffery lowered the face shield of her helmet again and retrieved the bone saw from the table. She got to work on the cadaver. Amanda and Trent hung back as Jeffery proceeded with the Y-incision, cutting into the rib cage, and then prying it open. She collected samples of tissue and blood and put them in vials. They stayed until about three thirty before heading out.

On the way back to the car, Amanda turned to Trent. “We’ve really got to stop this son of a bitch.”

“Goes without saying.” He smiled softly at her, but the expression didn’t reach his eyes.

“Rideout told us that it took a lot of determination for the killer to strangle Doe—I mean, Ashley Lynch.” She’d gotten in such a habit of calling her Jane Doe, now her real name was having a hard time sticking. Or maybe it was because as long as she was assigned a label, Amanda could better handle her emotions. “Possibly a lot of hatred,” she amended. “Now Jeffery has described Fox’s wound as deep—so without restraint. Did he feel hatred toward her? He did mutilate her.”

“I’m telling you. He was angry she called nine-one-one.”

“Right. Now Jeffery also described the killer as cool under pressure. And he cut out her tongue while she watched.” The thought was horrifying, but some light came with the second murder. “Our killer has shown versatility in murder methods and also that he can act quickly. Two people in two days. In the same neighborhood no less. And I bet that’s where he really messed up.”

“Now you’re losing me.”

“That was Malone who