Her Shallow Grave (Detectives Kane and Alton)

Kane gave Jenna the details as they helped dismantle the screens and lights. Once the ME’s van was loaded, he waited with Jenna for Emily to drive away. They turned into the full blare of the TV cameras. Questions flew and he could feel Jenna tense beside him. He glanced at her. “May I?”

“Yeah, give them both barrels.” Jenna headed for his truck and then turned and walked backward to continue the conversation. “Rowley is meeting us at Aunt Betty’s for breakfast, we can hunt down missing persons from there on our phones while we’re eating.”

“Copy that.” Kane turned and almost collided with a blonde-haired woman with ruby lips, wearing a stylish winter coat and expensive boots. As she opened her mouth to speak to him, he side-stepped her. “I’m sorry, the sheriff doesn’t have a statement for you at this time.”

“We could all see it was a body of a woman, Deputy Kane.” The reporter stepped in front of him again and stuck a microphone in his face. “Is she another murder victim?”

Kane gave her his best “back off” stare. “The sheriff’s department hasn’t issued any statements pertaining to murder victims. The previous deaths are still under investigation by the medical examiner.” He straightened. “I can confirm we discovered a body of a female approximately eighteen to twenty years old with dark hair and blue eyes. Cause of death is undetermined and we’ll be issuing a statement later today. If anyone knows of a missing woman fitting the description, please call the sheriff’s department. You can be assured if any of these deaths are homicides, the sheriff will be working around the clock to find the person responsible.” He turned and marched back to his truck and climbed inside.

“It looks like The Sculptor again.” Jenna turned in her seat to look at him.

“Yeah, but this time Wolfe believes the victim died here.” Kane started the engine. “This murder was rushed. He hasn’t mutilated the body, just posed her, which takes it to a new dimension. What he did to her is power and humiliation. He wanted to make a statement and by placing her on the newspaper’s front steps, he’s gotten the media coverage he craves.”

“Maybe now he’s been on TV, he’ll move on?” Jenna frowned.

Kane shook his head. “No, he won’t. He’s enjoying himself too much.”

Jenna stared out the window. “If you’re right, I figure he’s just gotten started.”

Forty

Preacher stared at the TV and gave a growl of satisfaction. His art had made the news this time and although the media coverage had blocked out the view of Delores, the description given by the reporter had made him smile. He’d enjoyed seeing her wide-eyed shocked expression, the way she stumbled her words as she explained the threat now hanging over Black Rock Falls and how the sheriff was working around the clock to catch him. He snorted. “She couldn’t find her nose in the dark.”

The thumping on the bedroom door came again and he rubbed his temples. He would regret bringing Ava, as Delores insisted he call her, back to the house. He should have finished her and placed her in the meat locker but he’d needed to keep her around for a time. Problem was, she’d contaminate the girl in the cellar by telling her about the one they called Zoe, and he couldn’t have that. He had big plans for Isabella or Delores number three—big plans. He swiveled his chair and looked at the screen. Ava stood in front of the camera, draped in a blanket, her mouth turned down making her ugly. As she’d slept, he’d nailed the shutters closed and rigged a camera in the spare room. He could talk to her, via a speaker. “What is wrong with you, now?”

“You can’t keep me in here without clothes, I’ll freeze to death.” Ava thumped on the door. “I know you killed Zoe. You are one sick SOB.”

He’d turned up the heat and it was as warm as toast inside the cabin. She was lying to him and it made him angry. He flicked on the mic. “You broke the rules. Zoe, as you called her, broke her neck and I put her on ice so she didn’t stink up the place.”

“I don’t believe you.” Ava shook her head. “You should have called the paramedics.”

Preacher smiled at the memory of squeezing the life out of Zoe, feeling her tremble against him as her life drained away. The look in her eyes, the pleading for forgiveness as his fingers closed around her soft neck. He’d used his skill to make her smile and when he’d set her out for all to see, she was happy to be part of his exhibition. “Now why would I want to do that?”

“Okay, okay. You don’t want anyone else here, I guess, but why did you take my clothes? Do you get off seeing me in my underwear?” Ava glared at the camera. “Or are you selling photos of me to your friends?”

Preacher leaned back in his seat and stared at the ceiling. “I don’t see you like that anymore, Delores. You stopped being anything of significance to me the moment you climbed into my truck.”

“What the hell do you mean by that?” Ava stuck out her chin. “And my name is Ava, not Delores.”

He narrowed his gaze on her, feeling nothing but a surge of power. He controlled her and could laugh at her now. He allowed his gaze to move over the scratches on her cheek and untidy hair from running through the forest and sighed. Hadn’t he given her every comfort to preserve her skin? Now he had no choice, he wouldn’t present a damaged piece of artwork again. He would keep her until she was perfect. “You are the means to an end, nothing more. Your complaints mean nothing, your comfort means nothing. I offered you a warm bed, good food, clean clothes and yet you preferred to run into the woods.”

“I’m sorry, okay?” Ava’s eyes brimmed with tears. “I’ll be good and do anything you say but give me back my clothes.”

Tears made him angry, they spoiled Delores’ eyes. He pushed down the urge to strangle her and clenched and unclenched his fists. Conversation with the items in his collection was redundant, although he enjoyed seeing her grovel. “You can’t escape if you have no clothes. If you try again, you’ll die out there before you get to the forest. Now, if you’re planning on eating and drinking sometime today, follow the rules.”

“I need to pee.” Ava paced up and down the room. “There isn’t even a bucket in here. If you want my cooperation then allow me to go to the bathroom.” She looked in the camera lens. “As you say, I can’t escape without clothes, can I?”

Preacher had taken everything into consideration but had wanted her to ask him. Withholding bathroom visits could become another tool in his arsenal. His bathroom could be accessed from either bedroom but he’d locked the door to her side. He stood and walked through his bedroom to the bathroom. After removing all his things, he left small single-use toiletries on the shelf. He sniffed the body lotion and then added a hairbrush. On the towels he placed a set of clean underwear and summer weight PJs. He checked the bars on the window and unlocked the door before moving into his room and locking the door behind him. He went back to his office and stared into the screen. “I’ll allow you to use the bathroom. Clean yourself up and change your clothes. Disrespect me again by breaking the rules and you’ll die slowly in your own filth.” He chuckled. “Do you know how long it takes to die of thirst, Delores?”

“No.” Ava sniffed and stared into the camera, red-eyed.

Preacher grinned. “I do.”

Forty-One

It was turning out to be an exhausting morning for Jenna. Wolfe had confirmed the body was indeed fresh. Decomposition was virtually non-existent, which meant the victim had only been frozen recently and within minutes of her death. The killer was active in Black Rock Falls but who was his victim and who might be next on his macabre list? With people arriving daily, regardless of the freezing temperatures and snowfall, the victim could have been one of many. The media had broadcast the victim’s description and as no one had reported anyone missing, she doubted the victim was one of the townsfolk but it was still early.

Now aware the young woman died in her county, it was like déjà vu on steroids as she went over the casebooks from the previous Sculptor cases and compared them with what she had now. What she had now was zip. Nothing had come through from Jo or Carter, and she wondered if they were still “in the loop” with the Colorado investigation. Starting over and hunting down clues and suspects was like walking in quicksand, as although there were many consistencies between the cases, she had little hard evidence, apart from a frozen corpse of similar type and age.