Chapter 4

FOUR

Rain hit the Beast like gunshot as they drove to the ME’s office. The few people on the sidewalk hustled along, hunched over as they sidestepped puddles. Kane glanced toward the river. The muddy overflow had reached the edge of the park and engulfed the swings. “This doesn’t look good after all the drainage work the roads department completed after the last flood. It should have been able to cope with the melt.”

“Yeah, maybe if it had been just the melt, but the storms we’ve had over the last few days and the torrential downfall is unusual for this time of the year. It’s not just us. There is flooding all over the state. It’s what the media is calling ‘a weather event.’ It seems that no one will admit to global warming. Although Montana is doing its bit to reduce emissions, it’s pointless if other parts of the world ignore it completely.”

Kane slowed the Beast to drive through a river of water running across the road. He wouldn’t be foolish enough to drive into deep fast-flowing water, but this was less than a foot high and was overflow from a drain. He headed toward the back entrance to Wolfe’s office and pulled up in front of the awning covering the back entrance. “There you go, Jenna. Watch out for the overflow from the roof. I hope Wolfe has his chopper secured up there. I could feel the wind buffeting the truck and that’s unusual in the Beast.”

“I’m hoping Blackhawk is okay.” Jenna flicked him a worried glance. “I heard someone in Aunt Betty’s Café mentioning they’d had mudslides in the res.”

Their Native American friend and Tauri’s onetime guardian had become part of their family since the adoption of their son. He was a person who Kane respected and admired for his skills. He valued his friendship greatly. “I’m sure if they had been in trouble, they would have called for assistance. He knows he can rely on us to help out when necessary.”

“I sure hope so. When we’re through here I might give him a call.” Jenna slipped from the vehicle and dashed to the door. She scanned her retina and stepped inside, turning to hold the door open for Kane.

To the right of the back door there was a place to hang their slickers and leave their boots. The morgue always smelled the same: vanilla room freshener, chemicals, and a bouquet of death. No matter how hard Wolfe tried to disguise it, the smell of decomposition lingered like garlic after a visit to an Italian restaurant. They padded along the white tile passageway to Wolfe’s office. Their friend was inside at his desk working on his computer. “Morning, Shane.”

“There y’all are and right on time too.” Wolfe smiled at them. He was dressed in scrubs with a face mask hanging from one ear. “Nice weather for ducks. I’m seriously starting to worry if my house is in any danger of flooding and it’s halfway up a hill. When I look out of my window, I can see brown water all around. It’s a problem with the drainage.” He let out a long sigh. “The constant flow of water is picking up the forest floor, and all the pine needles, pine cones, and other debris are blocking the drains. I’ve never seen anything like it since I moved here. That last flood we had was just the river overflowing.”

“I noticed crews out all over when we came through town.” Jenna removed her jacket and hung it on a peg inside the office. “I’m sure they’re doing everything possible to relieve the problem.” She gave him a long look as she turned back to the desk. “Do you have an update on the bodies found in the river?”

“Yeah, I do, and Norrell is working on them as we speak.” He stood and waved them toward the door. “Suit up and I’ll meet you in examination room two.”

Kane noticed Jenna’s face had drained of color since they’d arrived. As they walked into the alcove that contained the PPEs he turned to look at her. “Are you feeling okay? I can do this alone if you’d prefer.”

“It’s the different smells in here. I still get an echo of morning sickness occasionally.” Jenna pulled on scrubs over her clothes. “I’ll add some salve under my nose and I’ll be okay. I’m very interested in this case and why it isn’t on our unsolved list. I searched through everything yesterday and couldn’t find any mention of two kids missing over such a long period of time. You would have thought that the previous sheriffs would have made a note in one of the daybooks, but they hadn’t. I’m hoping that the townsfolk will give us some information.”

Confounded why the local sheriffs had neglected to keep decent records, Kane shrugged. “There’s nothing we can do about it now. We’ll just have to rely on people’s memories, I guess.” He followed Jenna to the examination room and waited while she flashed her card over the scanner. Inside, Wolfe was talking to Norrell. She had two of her assistants with her. Emily and Wolfe’s assistant and badge-holding deputy Colt Webber were missing. “Morning.”

Not having seen the bodies previously, the sight of the two emaciated golden-skinned corpses surprised him. They did indeed resemble mummified remains, but it was obvious they were Caucasian, and their skin had been stained by the rich golden sand from the caves. The bodies were complete with hair, but the facial features were distorted. The eyes were sunken holes with intact eyelashes. It was as if the skin had been stretched tight across a skeletal-looking face, the lips pulled back to reveal a death smile. The injuries were graphically evident. Although the skin was contorted, the deep cuts reminded him of the layers between the skin and the meat on a cured ham. Fascination drew him closer. The female lay on her back, hands held as if clutching at her head. The skull fracture on the right side was evident even to him. The male was face down, head turned to the left, and his murder had been brutal—three deep wounds in his back and one at the base of his skull. He had one arm tucked beneath his body, and the other was down beside him. Clothes were displayed along one of the countertops. It would seem by the amount of clothing that the murders occurred during the colder months.

“What have you got for me?” Jenna peered at the bodies and then moved her attention to Wolfe and then Norrell. “They look to me as if they’ve been attacked with an ax.” She walked along the autopsy tables peering at the bodies. “Do they tell a story?” She turned and looked at Wolfe and Norrell.

“Without being able to examine the soil around the bodies for clues, or having any decomposition rates or bugs to use for comparison, we have to make a determination from the evidence we have at hand.” Norrell indicated toward the clothes. “Everything here indicates a time span of approximately ten to twelve years ago. The brand names and style of the shoes, for example, are consistent in both victims. The date on the male’s jacket corresponds to his fraternity pin and another we found clutched in the girl’s hand.” She retrieved an evidence bag. “Alpha Pi is a very respected local fraternity.”

Inquisitive, Kane took the bag from her and turned it over in his hand, examining the contents. “Do you think it’s possible she tore this from her killer’s jacket?”

“Yeah, because there’s an identical one on the male victim’s jacket, which means this wasn’t a random thrill kill. These guys knew each other. They were in the same fraternity and that’s like a brotherhood. On the other pin, you can clearly see that there are threads of a similar blue jacket still attached.” Wolfe raised both eyebrows. “This is a clear indication that when she died she was in close proximity to someone wearing the exact same jacket as the other victim. There’s also a wallet and a set of keys from the male. The female has a college ID in the back pocket of her jeans. The IDs are faded but there are partial names evident. These are all great to find, but I’ll need DNA or dental records to do a positive ID.”

“It’s a starting point at least.” Jenna pushed hair from her eyes. “One thing is for sure: this was no accident.”

Kane allowed the evidence to percolate through his mind and could almost envisage what had happened on the night of the murder. “The male victim was attacked from behind, which makes me believe the killer, pardon my pun, had an ax to grind. Maybe this guy had stolen his girlfriend and this was a love triangle. If this was the case, he attacked the guy from behind first—put him down and then went for the girl.”

“Possible, because there are no defensive wounds on either of them.” Wolfe indicated to the center wound in the middle of the male’s back. “This blow would have damaged the spinal cord, and from the angle of entry of the other lacerations, the victim was on his knees when the killer finished him off. I agree with Jenna, an ax was used as the murder weapon. Not a large wood-splitting ax, but a smaller one most campers use.” He turned to the screen array and tapped on his computer, bringing up images of axes he considered could have been used. “All these have the dimensions of the wounds, and the weighted head would have made them a formidable weapon.”

“How do you think she managed to grab the pin from the killer’s jacket?” Jenna peered at the female’s remains. “Do you figure the blow to the head would have knocked her out immediately?”

“Maybe not. Her nails are broken on her right hand, and it was closed into a fist so tight even her stint in the river didn’t unclasp it.” Wolfe frowned. “Maybe he roughed her up some and she ran because the wound was inflicted from behind. Or she was alive when he carried her into the cave to bury her. From the X-rays, I found two blows to the skull—the laceration from the blade and, I believe, the other is from the blunt side of the ax or maybe the handle. The one that ultimately killed her was to the back of the neck.”

Over the years, they’d had many callouts for disturbances concerning college students, and Kane had dealt with every type of mischief a group of college kids could get into when out together. He rubbed his chin. “I figure we’re looking for a group of kids that came up into the mountains for the day or even stayed a couple of nights, camping by the river. It would be unusual for a couple to go so deep into the forest for a romantic liaison in the cold weather.”

“We also found candy in the jacket pocket of the male victim.” Norrell produced another evidence bag and held it up for Jenna. “The candy was long gone but the wrappers were still intact and they have pictures of pumpkins on them.”

“If they were in the mountains over Halloween, it would make it easier to discover when they went missing.” Jenna examined the bag and nodded. “This is looking more like a group of college kids who went into the mountains to scare themselves silly over Halloween.”

“The murder weapon is unusual.” Wolfe leaned back on the counter and folded his arms across his chest. “It’s not easily concealed, whereas a knife would be a more suitable choice if the killer had intended to murder these people. Say we assume that he was part of the group that went into the mountains. He waits for the couple to walk off, maybe to visit the caves or whatever, and then follows them?”

“Yeah, that sounds reasonable, but what about the others in the group? They should have heard the girl screaming for sure.” Jenna looked from one to the other. “Unless you believe that this murder was due to hazing?”

Kane shook his head. “I don’t know about twelve years ago, but I do know the fraternities within the Black Rock Falls College are held in high regard. There’s no hazing there now. It’s illegal and bullies are expelled.” He examined the fraternity pins. “This would be a good place to start because fraternities keep records of their members. Someone at the college would recall if one of their members went missing never to return.”

“That’s a good idea.” Jenna pinched the nose of her face mask tighter. “If a group of college students went out on Halloween and two didn’t return, you would imagine search and rescue would have been called out. The sheriff would have definitely been involved, so why can’t I find even a small notation in a daybook of the event?” She turned her attention to Wolfe. “Honestly, it’s as if there was a time shift or a fire because there’s no logical explanation for the missing records. Either crime rate in Black Rock Falls was zero or we had a progression of lazy sheriffs. I’ve read through the files many times searching for information and there just isn’t anything there to read. It’s as if the actual files for what happened in town over that time are missing.”

“I often come up against brick walls like this, Jenna.” Norrell gave her a sympathetic look over the top of her face mask. “The only thing you can do is to go to the remaining sources for the information that you require. As Kane said, the college is a good place to start looking as we at least know the male victim’s fraternity and his last name ends in ers . The college would be able to give you an exact year of when he left or vanished, whatever the case may be.”

“What about the female?” Jenna peered at the line of evidence bags.

“Not much info at all, but I’ve tried to enhance the image of the card and I believe her name was Abby.” Norrell smiled. “It’s not a full name but better than nothing.”

“How long do you intend to keep the details from the media?” Wolfe’s attention moved to Jenna. “It’s a good guess these kids went to the local dentist. If you discover their names, I’ll get a positive ID.”

“A media release has been issued but without any details. Get me a positive ID and I’ll notify the next of kin.” Jenna shrugged. “Then I’ll call a media conference. Although, I can’t explain about mummified remains. It would be beneficial to have you or Shane there to field the questions I can’t answer.”

“I don’t have a problem fronting the media.” Norrell smiled. “Shane will be there as well to back me up.”

Concerned about the media releasing the identities of the victims prior to them notifying the next of kin, Kane straightened. “As Jenna said, our first priority is identifying the victims. The media has likely discovered the information on the missing college students. It’s all over town about the bodies found in the river. It won’t take them long to put two and two together and plaster the victims’ photographs all over the news. That would be a terrible shock to the families.”

“Leave the media to me.” Wolfe shrugged. “Rio will have a list of where he sent the media releases, and I’ll request that any information on the missing students should be sent either to me or to the sheriff and not broadcast until we’ve notified the next of kin. I’ll inform y’all. Be in touch to organize a tell-all press conference in the next day or so.”

“That sounds like a plan.” Jenna nodded. “If we’re through here, we’ll head to the college and see what we can discover.”

Kane removed his gloves and tossed them into the trash. “Lead the way.” He turned to Wolfe and Norrell. “Thanks.” He followed Jenna from the room.