Her Broken Wings by D.K. Hood
Forty-Three
Surprised to see Jenna and Kane, Wolfe turned off his microphone and peered at them over his face mask. He’d finished the preliminary examinations on all the victims and was in the middle of the autopsy on Trevor Wilson. “Please don’t tell me we have another murder victim?”
“Nope.” Kane held up a sealed plastic bag. “I collected a DNA sample from Brad Kelly. We thought you’d like it right away. I’m not optimistic—he’s right-handed.”
Wolfe stepped away from the corpse pulling off his gloves and apron. “There goes that theory, but you never know what a killer will do to throw us off his scent. Bring it to the lab. He turned to Webber and Emily. “Prepare slides of the samples I’ve taken while I’m gone.” He looked over at Jo. “I figure Jenna will want to speak to you as well.”
“Sure.” Jo smiled at him and followed him from the room.
Wolfe grabbed new scrubs from a closet in the hallway, tossed his into a laundry basket, and pulled on the new ones as he walked, hopping on one foot. “The new technology I have here now will often give me a result in ninety minutes.” He smiled at them. “The lab-on-a-chip is excellent for determining trace evidence at a crime scene but I prefer the Rapid DNA machine.” He pulled on fresh gloves and plucked the bag from Kane’s hand. “If you’ll wait in there.” He pointed into the lab. “We can speak while I process the sample. You can’t come into the sterile area or the sample may be contaminated.”
“Okay.” Jenna smiled at him and led Kane and Jo through the door.
Inside the sterile room, Wolfe opened the bag and took out the sealed tube containing the sample collected from Brad Kelly. As he prepared the machine, he heard Jenna’s voice come through the speaker overhead.
“Have you noticed any scratches on any of the other victims?” Jenna peered at him through the glass partition.
“Not anything notable on initial examination, but I wasn’t looking for scratches.” Wolfe finished preparing the sample and placed it into the machine. “If there are, I don’t think they’re of any consequence. I’m glad you’re here because I wanted you to view Ruby Evans again so I can explain.” He headed for the door and met them in the hallway. “I’ve also found a few inconsistencies with the guy you refer to as victim number one—Wilson.”
“How so?” Jenna took face masks and gloves from the counter outside the morgue and handed a set to Kane.
“It’s better if I explain when we’re viewing the body.” Wolfe pushed open the door to the morgue and approached the stainless-steel cabinet. “I took the temperature of all the victims at the scene and made notes on their state of rigor. The results are conflicting. Most mass murders happen within a few minutes of each other unless it’s a hostage situation.” He went to the drawers lining the morgue and pulled out Ruby. “What do you know about Ruby Evans’ movements immediately prior to her death?”
“We have Susie Hartwig’s account and the bus driver’s.” Kane scrolled through the files on his phone. “Rowley spoke to Susie and she said Ruby left at nine and caught the bus to Stanton Road. She said she usually walks along a trail through a wooded area to get to Elk Creek. The bus driver recalls her getting off the bus at around nine twenty.”
Wolfe pulled on the fresh apron Emily handed him and pulled back the sheet on Ruby Evans. “This is where it gets confusing.” He indicated to the bruises on Ruby’s wrists. “This would normally indicate she was fighting to get away but she has no defense wounds.”
“Are you saying her killer didn’t hit her or attack her from the front?” Kane frowned. “The killer likely tied her up for the trip to the Old Mitcham Ranch. Could the injuries be due to struggling?”
Wolfe nodded. “Some of them at least.” He picked up Ruby’s right hand. “This is where I found the skin under her nails. Well, one nail to be exact.”
“Yet her nails aren’t broken.” Jo held up the other hand. “She gave a swipe in protest and then was subdued.”
“Yes, and if you add this to the mud I discovered on the backs of the heels of her shoes, I’d say the killer pounced on her in the alleyway and she struck out in fright. It’s hard to tell from the damage, but if you look at the bruising on her neck, see here above the laceration,” he pointed to two distinct thumbprints each side of her neck, “we can see the bruising clearly, made from two hands above the laceration. I think the killer subdued her by strangulation after she fainted. I believe if you go and look at that cut-through from Stanton to Elk Creek, you’ll find drag marks made by her heels.”
“Do you believe the marks on her wrists came from struggling when she was in the chair, not from being tied previously?” Jenna peered at the body.
Wolfe nodded. “Yeah. They’re consistent with the damage caused by the tape. Here’s where it gets interesting. She died first and maybe an hour or so before victim number one, Wilson. He died at least two hours before the other two.”
“Which means the killer was with them for a minimum of three hours?” Kane raised both eyebrows in question. “We’ve assumed the killer kidnapped Ruby, took her to the ranch, set her up on the porch, and then brought her round. Her screaming alerted the sleeping men, who came to help, and the killer was waiting for them.”
Wolfe looked from one to the other. “It’s the only explanation I can offer you.” He glanced at Jenna. “I’ve taken DNA samples for comparison against the men at the scene; none of them match the sample from Ruby. They all have a few scrapes, from working, but she didn’t scratch any of them.”
“Was she sexually assaulted?” Jenna pulled the sheet up and over Ruby’s body.
“No.” Wolfe pushed Ruby back into the body storage locker.
“I don’t think she meant much to the killer. I agree, she was used as bait.” Jo looked at Jenna. “He cut her throat post-mortem to shock the men; they probably believed she was still alive.”
Wolfe nodded. “From the results I have now, it went down like this: The men came out, he made an example of Wilson, maybe because he was carrying a weapon, and shot him in the knee. From the prints on the gun, Wilson unloaded it and tossed it aside, so we can assume the killer was holding a weapon on him. He got the other men to tie each other to the chairs using the gaffer tape. I found corresponding prints on each man’s tape to prove this beyond doubt.”
“Who removed the hands?” Jenna looked confused.
Wolfe met her gaze. “The killer. There are no prints on the ax. He made the last man bind his own legs to the chair and one of his hands. The tape on one of his hands is clean, so our killer was wearing leather gloves, not latex or similar because they stick hard and would’ve left residue.”
“What would induce a man to tie up his friends and then himself?” Jenna looked horrified.
“Fear.” Jo walked to the body of Wilson. “The killer made an example of this man. Wolfe made the determination that someone removed his hand post-mortem. Think about the situation: a man has a gun on them. He shoots the boss in the knee and orders one of the men to tie him up, so he does it. Maybe one of the men mouthed off, so he shot Wilson. Now the others are terrified. He tells the third man, Taylor, to tie up Kenny and Skinner and then removes the dead man’s hand. After that he removes Kenny’s hand and so on.”
“It’s a power trip.” Kane looked at Jenna. “He was controlling them, bending them to his will.”
“All the while feeding off their pain and misery.” Jo looked at Jenna. “He enjoys killing; seeing people suffer and die is like a drug to him.”
“This is all the proof we need to confirm the killer planned this out.” Jenna leaned against the counter. “I think he had a beef with Wilson and this is payback.” She shook her head slowly. “Wilson is an out-of-towner. What the hell did he do to the killer to make him track him here, and how does this tie in with the three other homicides?”
“We’ve been discussing multiple personality disorder as a factor in this case.” Jo leaned against the counter beside Jenna. “The mass murder could’ve been committed by one of several personalities.”
“Yeah.” Kane pulled off his gloves and mask. “This is the psychopath, leader of the pack. He is the avenger. If someone caused one of the other personalities a problem, he comes out and fixes it.”
“The problem with this, Jenna.” Jo raised both eyebrows. “If we’re correct, we’re dealing with a cold contract killer personality, responsible for Robinson and likely the Stanton Forest murders.” She waved a hand toward the refrigerated cabinets. “That personality is calm and cool. He might be a really nice guy. I don’t think we’ve met him yet because none of the men you’ve interviewed have been calm or cool.” She looked at Kane. “How was Brad Kelly when you interviewed him today?”
“Cooperative and he denied being involved.” Kane frowned. “He appeared to be quite offended that we thought he might be involved. He brought up the fact he’d seen his father kill his mother as an excuse.”
“Hmm.” Jo walked up and down for a few moments. “If he’s our killer, he could be the personality who can handle the stress.” She looked at Jenna. “The angry young man we met could’ve been a totally different personality.”
Wolfe cleared his throat and everyone looked at him. “Whatever personality we have committing murder, as a medical examiner, the only clues I’ve found to indicate the murders at the Old Mitcham Ranch were committed by the same person are the black feather and the assumption he is left-handed.”
“It wouldn’t be unusual for a person with dissociative identity disorder to change from right- to left-handed during a switch.” Jo sighed. “In fact, anything is possible. Not all are violent, some self-harm, and most have no idea the other personalities exist. If so, and Brad Kelly is our killer, he’d pass a lie detector test.”
Wolfe took a breath. “One thing is for sure and that’s we have a psychopath out there, and I suggest you try and stop him before he murders someone else.”