Break the Silence (Detectives Kane and Alton)

“You won’t be able to drag them away from the horses.” Wolfe glanced over at Kane. “You know they’ll bug you for a ride.”

“I enjoy their company.” Kane pulled on a face mask. “Do you think Anna is old enough for a pony? It’s her birthday soon.”

“Dang, not you as well.” Wolfe snorted. “They’ve both been at me for months to buy them one. I ask them, ‘Where can we keep a pony? When do I have time to care for one or take them for rides?’ Then I’m the bad guy for a week.”

“We’ve got the space.” Jenna looked at him. “One little pony isn’t too much more to care for, and I know Atohi has one for sale.” She smiled behind the mask, remembering the beautiful paint pony their Native American friend had raised on the res.

“Is it okay if I buy it for her birthday?” Kane looked at Wolfe. “I’ll take full responsibility for everything. It won’t be any extra work or expense for you, but it will make it safer for her when she comes by to ride the horses.”

“Hmm.” Wolfe’s gaze moved from one to the other. “She’s been pestering you as well, hasn’t she?”

“Nope.” Kane shrugged. “She hasn’t said a word. We just figured it would be easier than riding with me when she comes by. I can’t risk her on my stallion alone.”

“I’ll think on it.” Wolfe waved a hand toward the body. “Let’s start.” He pulled the sheet from Jacobs’ body and switched on the microphone. “We have the body of Alex Jacobs, twenty-two years old, Caucasian, weight two hundred pounds, height six-one. The body appears to be in excellent physical shape. Apart from the trauma to the neck, there are no signs of external damage apart from a small bruise to the left hip. I would estimate the bruise to be approximately six days old.”

Jenna watched as the autopsy progressed; the heart, lungs, and other organs all presented as normal, and the blood tests conducted by Wolfe earlier had not given a result for alcohol. As Wolfe progressed to dissecting the neck region, she moved forward as he explained.

“As you can see from the X-ray alone, the damage to the atlas and axis… ah, the upper part of the cervical spine, is severe. Blunt force trauma crushed the larynx and hyoid bone. I’d say paralysis would’ve been instantaneous; the spinal cord damage alone would have killed him instantly.” Wolfe looked up at them. “Herein lies the problem.” He removed his gloves and went to his computer. “Here are some images of similar fatalities during weight training using a similar bench.” He scrolled down the page. “And here are the images taken at the scene.” He glanced at the others. “As I mentioned before, all of the other victims have their hands under the bar. All of them tried to prevent the bar from crushing them. Why does Jacobs have his hands hanging down both sides of him?”

“I examined the equipment.” Kane pointed at the screen. “As you can see from the images, the rack wasn’t damaged and the equipment is solid. He couldn’t have missed the rack and dropped it, and the bar couldn’t have rolled off the rack. If the bar had slipped, his hands would be gripping the bar and he’d have tried to maneuver the weight away from him.”

“This is why I believe someone else was involved.” Wolfe narrowed his gaze. “I’ve lifted weights, and unless he tried to commit suicide by throwing them in the air in the hope of dropping them on his neck, I doubt he’d have gotten his hands out the way in the split second it takes for that amount of weight to drop.” He looked at Jenna. “I’d like to know how much weight he usually presses. According to the bench press standards, a male novice at 200 pounds should be able to press around 140; an advanced around 300 pounds. Including the weight of the bar, he was lifting in excess of 300 pounds. In my opinion, going on his physical shape, he may have been able to lift it a few times with a spotter. The only logical conclusion is his arms were down because someone had taken the weight and he thought they had placed the weight on the rack. If they dropped the weight on him, he wouldn’t have had time to react.”

Jenna allowed the information to sink in then looked at him. “So you’re saying we have a homicide?”

“Nope, I’m saying someone else could’ve been involved.” Wolfe gave her a long look. “What if it was an unfortunate accident? The spotter was lifting the bar the last inch and it slipped out his hand. Maybe he’d gotten scared and hightailed it out the gym.” He sighed. “Until we discover the truth I’m leaving the cause of death open.” He pulled on a fresh pair of gloves. “I’ll finish up here and release the body to the mortician.”

Jenna removed her mask and gloves. “Thanks, we’ll look into it some more.”

“Before you go.” Wolfe turned back to her. “The vomit in the car matches the stomach contents of Chrissie Lowe, and the hair is the same color. I found a set of her prints under the edge of the car seat and matched the blood in the car to her type; the DNA test is running now. I don’t have any doubt that Chrissie was in the janitor’s vehicle.” He waved a hand toward the counter. “I found other hairs, at least five different people. I’ve obtained samples from the janitor and his wife and discounted them. I’ve taken samples from Jacobs and we have Lyons’ fingerprints from the glass but right now, I’ve no other samples to use as a comparison. There was no other trace evidence or prints apart from the janitor’s, and they were fresh.” He frowned. “It’s going to be difficult proving who raped her without evidence. I’ll take some prints from Jacobs’ hands and see if they match the marks on her arms. I found a groove on his pinky finger, which makes me believe he wore a ring. If we can link the ring to the mark on Chrissie’s arm, it will put him at the scene of the rape. If we can implicate him in the rape, the rest might fall like a house of cards.”

Jenna exchanged a glance with Webber. “As Colt’s willing to infiltrate their house, we’ll get the creeps. Sooner or later one of them will break the code of silence.”

Fourteen

Kane stood for a few seconds to inhale the fresh breeze and rid his nose of the smell of death. As Jenna walked to his side, he turn

ed to her. “We’ll need to keep a close eye on Webber if he manages to get close to Lyons.” He led the way to his truck. “I don’t trust that guy.”

“Me neither.” Jenna glanced up at him. “Oh, and Rowley hunted down Owen Jones. I figure we go see him and find out his angle on the fight with Jacobs, but first, I need a moment to get my head straight after the autopsy.”

Kane opened the door of his truck. “Sure. Wanna take a break at Aunt Betty’s?”

“That sounds like a plan.” Jenna smiled. “A strong coffee will help to remove the horrible morgue taste in my mouth.”

Kane grinned at her. “Hush, don’t say that too loud—people will figure you’ve been snacking on tissue samples.”

“Ewww.” Jenna pulled a face. “Now I’ve lost my appetite.” She climbed into the passenger seat.

Kane slid behind the wheel. “Nah, Aunt Betty’s pecan pie would tempt a saint.”

He headed slowly through town. A carnival atmosphere filled Main Street, and visitors’ horse trailers arriving for the rodeo made up the majority of traffic. The Jumpy Castle was in the park, and with school out for the day, kids ran in all directions, eating great clouds of cotton candy, or ketchup-dripping hot dogs. “The clowns are absent this year.”

“I’m not surprised—the last time they showed, the parents kept their kids away.” Jenna sighed. “Not that I blame them. I’ve hated clowns all my life, and ever since we had some involved in a pedophile ring, I hate them even more.”

Kane pulled up outside Aunt Betty’s Café, glad to find a parking space, and climbed out. Inside, the noise was way above his comfort level, which was unusual. He cast his eye over the patrons and a few of the locals gave him a nod. The ruckus was coming from a group of cowboys, and he stopped to glare at them. When Jenna turned to stare at them as well, the men elbowed each other and kept their heads down, and the café quietened to its normal hum of polite conversation. They went to the far end of the counter to avoid the line, and Susie Hartwig dashed over to take their order.

Kane followed Jenna to their reserved table and sat down. “It sure is nice to have this table and fast service for the department.”