Page 14 of Dark Angel
“The sheriff didn’t suspect an abduction.” Wolfe glanced over at Ryder and then back at her. “He mentioned things like that didn’t happen here. I guess mainly because few women live in a mining town out in the mountains. So, there’s not many kids.”
“Maybe a few years back but not so much now.” Styles pulled a piece of wheatgrass from the pathway and chewed on the long stalk. “The mine owners have made Rattlesnake Creek their home and have families. The people who run the stores and saloons all have kids. Well, most do.”
“Okay, what have you got for me?” Wolfe stared at the evidence bags in Beth’s hand.
Holding them up for inspection, Beth indicated to the trail behind them. “We found a pink ribbon along the trail and a shoe we figure belongs to the other missing girl, Skylar Peters. They match the list of clothing the sheriff obtained from the parents. We assume from the hair color that the deceased victim is Brooklyn Daniels.”
“I always find it a problem to assume anything in a murder case. This young lady will be referred to as Jane Doe until I get a positive ID from the parents.” Wolfe’s gaze narrowed over the top of his face mask. “If this is Brooklyn Daniels and she was last seen on Monday afternoon, then I would say from the state of the body, insect infestation, the livor mortis, and the fact that rigor has come and gone, she likely was murdered a short time after she left home.” He shook his head. “I’ll need to take a closer look once I get her back to Rattlesnake Creek. The ER there has offered me their facilities to conduct an autopsy. I’ll be taking any trace evidence I find back to Black Rock Falls for analysis.” He turned to look at Sheriff Ryder. “I’ll call you once I’m done and you can make arrangements for the parents to view the body for ID.”
“What else can you tell us?” Styles removed his Stetson and ran a hand through his hair before pushing the hat back on his head. “Do you figure the damage to the corpse is by animals or mutilation?”
“I’ll need to check saliva and other factors, including trace evidence left by either animals or her killer.” Wolfe gave instructions to his team to remove the body and then turned back to Styles. “From my preliminary examination, the burst blood vessels in the eyes and the marks on the face would indicate suffocation. The bruising on the thighs and vaginal area would indicate a sexual assault. From what I can ascertain, all the other injuries occurred post-mortem.” He waved a hand to encompass everyone in the clearing. “I want the names, hair samples, and fingerprints from everyone who came close to the body for elimination purposes. Emily will start with the forest warden as he was the first on scene.”
Beth held up the evidence bags. “Do you want these as well? Or do you want us to log them into evidence?”
“I’ll take them.” Wolfe held out a hand. “He might have been careful with this one.” He indicated with his chin toward the body bag on the gurney. “Sometimes, with a second victim they make mistakes.” He gave Beth a long look. “How come you’re working in these parts now?”
Beth shrugged. “I’m here so that Styles can assess my capability in the field.” She shook her head. “Apparently, the psych test they gave me showed that I didn’t show enough care for the victim—the child, not the rapist.” She lifted her chin and stared at him, hoping her dark side wasn’t showing through. “The truth is I was concerned for the child and she was my first consideration. I kept her calm and removed the hood covering her face. I told her to look at a patch of wildflowers and not look behind her. I figured seeing a guy bleeding to death all over her would be more traumatic. The monster trying to rape her had his throat cut, and to be perfectly honest, I didn’t consider him to be a victim, so when the psychiatrist asked me if I was concerned that he’d died in front of me, I told her the truth.”
“Which was?” Wolfe raised one eyebrow.
Trying to stop her lips quivering into a smile, she shrugged. “I told her I hoped he’d rot in hell.”
FOURTEEN
Styles stared at Beth in disbelief. He’d been trying to make people believe she was an asset. If a report that she was unstable went in from someone like Dr. Shane Wolfe, she’d be fired. He opened his mouth to jump to her defense when Wolfe gave a hearty laugh. He cleared his throat. “I’m sure she doesn’t mean that. You don’t do you, Beth?”
“I can see why a comment like that would ruffle a few feathers.” Wolfe smiled at her. “Trust me, many victims of unspeakable crimes come across my table. I look at mutilated bodies and wonder what kind of animal can do that to another human being. This is why I work in this field of medicine.” He indicated to the body bag. “A young girl is dead and most people would say she has no way of telling us what happened, but she does. Once I’ve examined her, I’ll be able to place a timeline of what occurred, starting from her last meal, what it was and how long before she died she consumed it.” He removed his mask and smiled at Beth. “Like me, we’re all like Lady Justice. We must look at both sides and not favor either. If you stick to the evidence, the victims will get justice.”
“Maybe in a perfect world.” Beth’s mouth turned down at the corners. “You’ve worked on many serial killer crimes. Just how many do they murder before they’re caught?” She gave an exasperated sigh. “How many escape and kill again? This young girl should never have been killed if people were doing their jobs. He’s been on a killing spree.” She stared at Wolfe. “You want honesty? The only thing that stopped me shooting him was the chance of killing the girl. I would have killed him without hesitation. Using my weapon to club him over the head would have been my next move if I hadn’t seen the blood.”
Horrified, Styles touched her arm. “I’m sure Dr. Wolfe doesn’t need to hear all this stuff, Beth.”
“It’s okay.” Wolfe squeezed Beth’s shoulder. “You felt responsible for the girl by not getting there in time to stop him assaulting her, but you did save her. Trying to protect her by the only means possible is perfectly normal. You couldn’t have lifted a man that size to free her. You had no choice. The fact you actually tried to save the rapist’s life was commendable and I told Mac the same thing. He asked me for my professional opinion and my personal thoughts don’t apply. I can only give him the facts. My team went all over the crime scene and searched for a murder weapon and found nothing more than a few drops of blood heading toward the road. This evidence and the tarot card points to him taking revenge on an unstoppable child killer. You arrived shortly after and found the carnage. The psych test is normal procedure. Don’t concern yourself about it. The work you’re doing here is solid and I figure Styles needs a partner.” He looked at Styles. “I heard about the gang bullying the pizza guy. I figure y’all need to calm down some and try and work together if you’re planning on catching the Pied Piper.”
Ears heating from the reprimand, Styles nodded. “So, you figure it’s the same killer?”
“Unofficially, yeah, I do.” Wolfe indicated to the pile of neatly folded clothes. “This fact isn’t something that’s been released to the media, neither is the shoe. It can’t be a copycat. Y’all need to be hunting down suspects who move around. He establishes comfort zones—places where he can travel to kill and then return to base. He must work close by the towns where he kills. That alone is enough to pin him down. You get at it and I’ll do my job and find you the evidence you need for a conviction.”
Styles nodded. “Yeah, I understand the concept, and Beth has tracked pedophiles and sex offenders on the dark web. She understands how a psychopath’s mind works.”
“You’ve studied psychopaths?” Wolfe raised one eyebrow.
“Yeah, I’ve read everything Dr. Jo Wells, the behavioral analyst, has written.” Beth shrugged. “Her prison interviews are very enlightening. Now I know she’s here in Montana and working out of the Snakeskin Gully field office, I can call her if we need advice.”
“That’s good.” Wolfe smiled. “We’re done here. I don’t need to revisit the scene. I’ll be in touch with the report ASAP.”
Removing his gloves and rolling them into a ball, Styles walked over to Ryder and Nate. “The ME has released the crime scene. We’ll have to assume its Brooklyn Daniels, so when you find her next of kin, explain they’ll need to identify the body. Send me their details and inform them that Wolfe will contact them when the body is ready to be identified. Maybe mention their daughter is in the Rattlesnake Creek Hospital morgue.”
“Copy that.” Ryder pushed his hat firmly on his head. “You both heading back now?”
“Yeah.” Beth removed her mask. “We need all the time we can get to hunt down this killer and find Skylar Peters before he murders her as well.”
“No one has found a trace of her.” Ryder stared blankly into the forest. “They never find the second girl, do they? I wonder what he does with them?”
“It’s past the forty-eight-hours comfort zone.” Nate stared at Beth. “You know more about these maniacs than I do. Don’t most of them kill them within the first few hours after the abduction?”
“Unfortunately, no.” Beth’s eyes flashed with anger. “Sometimes when these monsters abduct a kid, they keep them for years or pass them around. So many go missing and are never found.”
