Bring Me Flowers (Detectives Kane and Alton)

He lifted a tear-stained face to her. “Yeah. Kate is in there.” He indicated with his chin toward the pool but kept his eyes fixed on her face. “She hasn’t moved and I’ve been calling her name. I know she’s dead.”

“Okay, come with me and we’ll go and speak to the paramedics.” Jenna led him away, taking a mental note of his pristine appearance. Apart from dust on his jeans from sitting on the ground, his clothes appeared clean. She turned to Kane. “I’ll get him off the scene.”

After leading Chad back toward the gym, she raised both eyebrows and shook her head at the paramedics. “Will you take Chad to the ambulance? I don’t want him going into shock.”

“Yes, ma’am. I assume the patient is deceased?”

“I would imagine but we’ll go in and check. I’ll call you if we need you.”

One of the paramedics took Chad by the arm and they walked away. Taking a deep breath, she headed back to her deputies and peered through the gate. The sight of the girl, with her blonde hair blowing in the wind, presented in such a disgusting fashion appalled her. She turned her attention to Kane. “I know her. I spoke to her yesterday. She was so vibrant, so fun-loving. I’m not looking forward to informing her parents.”

“When this sort of thing happens, I’m glad I never had kids. It must be hell for Wolfe to see her. All of our victims are the same age as his daughter.”

“Well, we’re not going to catch this animal unless we can get into the pool area to examine the body.” She looked up at him. “Do your magic but if possible, try and hit the chain—we might get some prints off the lock.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

She turned to make sure Chad and the paramedics had not entered the immediate area and moved into the corridor between the changing rooms to avoid any ricochet but noticed Wolfe standing a few feet away from Kane, his bag of equipment in one hand. Having an expert shooter in her department sure made life easier. One shot and the chain fell away. She walked back to Kane’s side. “Great job!”

“I think a good leader takes full advantage of all the assets on hand.” Kane leaned closer. “In saying that, would you like to send Wolfe to check Kate and use me for a preliminary recon of the immediate area? With the gate locked, the killer might be close by watching to soak up our reactions, and we’ll need to make a note of any possible escape routes from the scene and check them as well.”

The offer of not listening to Wolfe describe the intimate details of Kate’s demise would give her stomach time to stop rolling. “Good idea, and as I know her, I will be able to make a positive ID.” She took out her notepad and pen. “You go ahead and I’ll question Chad and find out how Kate happened to be here alone at this time of night.”

“You okay?” Kane viewed her with concern. “Seeing that kind of carnage is hard for the most seasoned homicide team.”

It was nice to have someone to worry about her but she had a job to do. She gave him a curt nod. “We wouldn’t be human if we didn’t react to seeing a young girl mutilated but thanks for asking. I’ll be fine.”

“Good.” Kane turned away, swung open the gate and headed toward the body.

Twenty-Nine

Jenna walked back to the ambulance to speak to Chad. She had not asked Chad a single question before Wolfe moved to her side and lowered his deep voice to a whisper. “The victim is obviously deceased but I came to inform you I’ll be handling the preliminary forensics on scene. I’ll send the body to the mortuary and I’ll do a post-mortem straight away.”

“The M.E. will still have to preside over the autopsy.”

“Not any longer, my state license came by special delivery and was there when I got home this afternoon. I’m now the official Black Rock Falls medical examiner. I’ve also been advised I have funding to set up a new laboratory and morgue. I would assume the mayor’s office has sent you confirmation as well. I won’t have to work out of the local mortuary for more than a few months.”

She blinked a few times then cleared her throat. “So, I’ll be losing you as a deputy?”

“No, I’ll only be handling the suspicious deaths, so hopefully it won’t interfere with my work too much.” Wolfe’s pale gaze moved over her face. “That is as long as you are okay with having in-house forensic investigations? I hope you agree. It means we can solve crimes faster.”

“Yes, of course. I value your expertise and thank you for offering your services.” She blinked. “Who is paying you? I can’t imagine the mayor will offer any extra funding.”

“All taken care of, ma’am. The letter I received from the mayor’s office said Blackwater has offered funding to use my services as well and I’ll have a full-time medical laboratory technician as an assistant to run the business side of things.” He cleared his throat. “I’ve already been offered a suitable place. On the street behind the sheriff’s office, there is an empty meat-packing plant. Mayor Petersham is going to push through town planning to have the building refurbished to suit our needs.”

All that and he’s only been here a couple of days. Astonished, she waved her hand absently toward the pool entrance. “Well then, get to work.”

When he gave her a curt nod and headed back toward Kate’s mutilated body, she went to the back of the ambulance and stood at the open doors. The two paramedics glanced at her with pale, drawn expressions, and Chad sat in the back, his hands wrapped around a bottle of water, tears streaming down his face.

She cleared her throat. “Do you want to call your parents?”

“And have my mom see Kate like that?” Chad dashed a hand over his swollen eyes. “She will be hysterical. Can you drop me off at home?”

“I should really call your parents. I’ll speak to your dad if you prefer, and he won’t be going anywhere near the pool, I can assure you. First, I need you to answer a few questions.” She laid one hand on his shoulder and squeezed. “I need your help to find out who did this to Kate. How come you are here?”

“We planned to meet outside the gym at eight thirty.” Chad took a sip of the water and his dark brown eyes rested on her face. “It was going to be six thirty then she changed the time. I got here about eight twenty and found the main gate locked, so I went through the woods and came out halfway up the driveway.” He met her gaze. “Everyone cuts through the woods. If you look, you’ll see the path, although you don’t have to use it to get past the gate.” He pulled a tissue out of his jeans pocket and blew his nose. “When she didn’t show, I called her cellphone. I heard the ringtone she uses for me and thought she must be close by but some guy answered. I thought it might be her dad. I asked to speak to her and he told me she was waiting for me by the pool. I was worried then because her dad didn’t know we were meeting in secret and if he was with her I would be in deep shit.” He swiped at the end of his nose. “I found her, and when I couldn’t open the padlock, I called you. The combination has been changed so I don’t know how Kate got into the pool area.”

Jenna frowned. “How did you know the combination to the lock?”