Stolen Daughters (Detective Amanda Steele)

Rather deep… Amanda contemplated the meaning behind that. Perhaps whoever killed Shannon had been driven by rage, but then that didn’t explain the restraint. Why just one stabbing? Why not several?

Amanda studied Shannon, searching her mind for similarities between the Jane Doe and Shannon Fox murders. After all, if they were looking at a serial killer, there would likely be something that would irrefutably link the two murders. Something beyond the coincidental. Something beyond a gut feeling. The murder methods had been different, and there was no obvious attempt to set a fire at Fox’s house. Jeffery said that Shannon had been drugged. Did that apply to Jane Doe too? Or was their killer not only impulsive but also versatile? The questions were plentiful, the answers not so much. And she had something else she needed to ask. “Could you estimate TOD?”

“Her body has started into rigor…” Jeffery got up, rummaged in her kit, and pulled out a thermometer, which she pierced into Shannon’s liver. A few seconds later, she noted something in a small book, looked at Trent. “What’s the temperature in the house?”

Trent glanced at Amanda as if looking for permission to go check. Amanda nodded her head. He left the room and came back seconds later.

“It’s seventy-two degrees,” he told Jeffery.

She tapped the tip of her pen into the air, and her mouth moved as she made some calculations. “I’d say the victim died anywhere between four and six this morning.”

Basically the same hours estimated for Jane Doe. It still would have been dark, but it wasn’t an absolutely ungodly hour like two or three. Assuming Shannon’s killer didn’t spend hours with her, someone in the neighborhood might have been up and seen something, especially if she was killed closer to six. By then, people would be waking up to get ready for work.

Jeffery put her items aside, then opened Shannon’s hand, which had been closed, resting on her thigh. “Well, I found her tongue.”

“Oh.” Trent turned away.

Amanda wasn’t sure if she’d even heard the ME correctly, and she couldn’t make out what the mound of flesh was. “You found her tongue… in her hand?”

“That’s what I said.” Blunt, tactless, without patience.

Amanda gave her a hard stare and headed for the door. She’d had enough of Ego ME. “Keep me posted on when you’ll be conducting the autopsy.”

Jeffery grumbled something in Amanda’s wake, but Amanda just shook her head and went down the stairs and outside. She sensed Trent right behind her.

Malone was on the front step. “Get any answers?”

“Not much,” Amanda said. “Jeffery put TOD between four and six this morning. She won’t conclude cause of death until she has the body on a slab, but there was a needle mark in Shannon’s neck.”

“The same for Doe?”

Amanda shook her head. “No injection sites that Rideout found, but he was having a tox panel run on her. She could have consumed a drug in her food or drink.”

“If Doe was drugged, that could be something else that connects the two murders.” Malone rubbed the top of his head. “Do you think the same guy is behind both?”

“Hey, you said to slow down with assumptions. In that vein, we’re going to speak with Shannon’s sister and see if she knows of anyone who may have had a problem with Shannon. The friend didn’t.” Amanda glanced over the front lawn. It would seem Bethany Greene had been sent on her way.

“Whatever you do, wrap this up quickly. Last thing we need is another body.”

More to the point, it was the last thing she needed. Not to sound unsympathetic to the victims, but if Amanda missed clues and the bodies continued to pile up, the lieutenant would only use it as ammunition against her. “I’m with you there. Did you hear Doe was branded by a sex-trafficking ring?”

“Not from you, but dear God.” Malone made the sign of t

he cross and looked heavenward. “Poor girl suffers like that and then she’s murdered. What the hell is the world coming to?”

“Let me know when you figure it out,” she kicked back.

“Please keep me posted, and if you need anything…”

“Actually, can you make sure officers talk to the people who live behind the property? Some of the windows overlook Shannon’s backyard.”

“Will do.” With that Malone walked off.

“Do you really think we’re looking at an isolated incident?” Trent pierced her with his gaze.

“All I can say is, I hope the killing stops here.”

“Guess we’ll find out soon enough.”