Chapter 27

27

Chief Cox

“So, who called on this one?” Cox circled the man strapped to a chair with his forehead pressed against the hydraulic machine. Like the first two crime scenes, Eye for an Eye had been painted near the victim, in this case, across the machine above him.

“First shift. One of the factory workers found him.” Burke knelt beside him, as the coroner tipped the man’s head back. “Looks like he was beaten pretty bad. His face is swelled up like a balloon. Ear’s been cut clean off.”

“He has swelling all throughout,” the coroner said as he continued his exam. “Compartment syndrome. Often the case in crushing injuries.”

Burke peered up at the bullet wound just above where the guy’s ear used to be. “Gunshot to the head. What’d you say, that’s a twenty-two, Chief?”

“Probably.” Cox turned to the manager and owner of the building, both keeping their distance outside of the investigation circle. “Can we flip this on? We want to lift this press. See what we got under here.”

“Yeah, there’s a switch. On the side of it.”

“You ready?” Cox directed the question to the coroner, still manipulating the man’s face with gloved hands.

“Yes.”

With that, Cox signaled for the manager to fire up the machine, and a burst of air preceded the lift of the press.

“Ah, fuck! Fuck!” Burke spun around, hand covering his mouth, as the gore beneath was revealed. “Who the fuck?”

“You throw up on my crime scene, and I’ll have you filling out parking tickets until you fucking retire,” Cox barked.

“Crushing injury to both arms and hands.” The coroner continued with his assessment, dictating as he examined the victim. “Bones appear to be completely broken, comminuted fracture, I’d say no more than one inch fragments. Skin is split, exposing the fascia beneath. Joint capsules and ligaments appear to have ruptured, dislocating the joint altogether.”

Blood coated the surface of the press, over the edges and onto the floor, but trapped in the crushed hand, beneath a sickly twisted, thick finger, Cox eyed a white scrap. “Gimme the tweezers, Burke.” After donning a pair of gloves, he lifted the scrap like a game of Operation.

Unfolding it revealed the number three.