Page 14 of Race to Save Her

“Okay,” she said. She called out to the other officer to release him then turned back to Anderson. “Any particular reason?”

“I don’t mind. And… I… like forensics.”

“Okay,” said Katie with a slight smile. She had a feeling he liked Eva too. “Take this for Eva to make sure a chain of custody is filled out. Do you remember the location it was found?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Katie watched the other officer leave while Anderson went to his patrol car. “Let’s go, Cisco.”

The dog made his way back to the Jeep.

Katie took another look at the area and cataloged in her mind everything that had transpired since she received the call from the watch commander. She had to wait to see what the medical examiner’s office and forensics had to say, but as she scanned the surrounds, her instincts told her something wasn’t right. And that a woman’s arm and index finger were just the beginning.

NINE

Saturday 1445 hours

Katie headed toward home at first, but then decided she wanted to get a head start on the murder board and researching cases that had involved dismembered body parts. She drove to the police station and put Cisco temporarily in a kennel at the K9 training area, then she drove into the parking lot where she usually left her Jeep. It still had remnants of yellow crime scene tape and there were two maintenance men fixing the outdoor lighting. She wondered if they had been tampered with or if it was simply time to update.

She made her way inside to the forensic division. It was quiet—much more so than normal. Everyone was gone. John at the conference. McGaven on personal time. And Eva headed back to the crime scene. She paused at the door to their office, not too sure why, but she needed to gather her thoughts. When she finally went inside, a clean space with neatly stacked files on the table greeted her. The murder wall was empty, just as she had left it last night.

“Okay… time to start.”

Katie retrieved her small notebook and began transcribing her notes, locations, and observations from the scene, including any behavioral evidence. Then she noted the physical evidence they’d found:

Severed woman’s index finger neatly tucked into a white box (a box usually used for jewelry) left in Katie’s Jeep. (Katie discovered it.)

Dismembered right arm missing its index finger found on Heritage Road, strategically balanced on an old fence post. (Found by Arson Investigator Luke Ames.)

The napkin.

The footprint impression.

Possible tampering of the lights in the police parking lot—cameras didn’t show any unusual activities.

Katie had several county road maps in the office, and she taped one to the wall. She designated the crime scene areas with pins, using different colors to indicate specific areas, forensic evidence, and distances between locations. Next, she wrote down a list of potential reasons a killer or perpetrator would leave body parts to be found. It wasn't much, but it gave her a place to start.

Identification. (Assuming the parts belonged to one body, one victim.)

Sending a message.

Taunting the police.

Covering other crimes or hiding/destroying the body for various reasons.

Usually this type of psychology and behavior shows a disorganized offender, but these seemed to be strategic and planned, showing organization.

Specific psychological factors: sexual gratification, dehumanization, power and control, obsessions.

She stepped back and reread her notes and lists. It wasn’t much, but it was a start. And, as much as she hated to admit it, there were going to be more pieces turning up—which at least would be more evidence. It made her shiver not knowing when another dismembered appendage would be found—or where.

Katie sat down and opened her work laptop. Usually, McGaven would have already started researching anything that pertained to the current case, going through police records and scouring the internet for information. Now Katie herself started looking up articles pertaining to dismemberment and similar investigations to this new one. She searched for about an hour without much luck. Most articles referred to famous serial killers like Dahmer, Kemper, and Jack the Ripper, none of which were helpful in this case.

Katie leaned back in her chair, looking at her list and wondering. Pinned up on the wall next to the door was an old quote from the FBI Behavioral Science Unit that defined a serial killer:

“The unlawful killing of two or more victims by the same offender(s), in separate events.”

She went back to her searches and found a police file about the discovery of several dismembered human body parts during a barricade SWAT negotiation in the nearby city of Rockview.