Black Orchid Girls (Detective Amanda Steele)

FIVE

There was one piece of the puzzle that could allow the rest to fall more easily into place. “We need that girl’s ID,” Amanda said to Trent. A throwaway comment, but she still felt better verbalizing it. Not that she put faith in some magical universe to grant her wish. She’d put the necessary work in. If they knew who the victim was, they could dig into her life, track her movements, find out what brought her here. Maybe even find someone in her bubble of friends or acquaintances who could lead them to the killer.

“We can try missing persons, basing it on the area, but we don’t have much to go on.”

“Running her face through the system might help us—though not in criminal databases as her prints aren’t in the system. And all this hinges on the assumption that someone actually filed a missing persons report.”

“She looked like she was in decent shape.”

“And…?”

Trent stepped back and held up his hands. “Just meant she took care of herself. Her fingernails were polished, and her teeth appeared to be in good health. I wouldn’t say she’s someone living on the street or with no connections.”

“I’ll give you that. Still, even if she had people who cared about her, they might not know she was missing.”

Trent nodded. “Right. If she just came here this morning, no one might have thought she was.”

Amanda’s mind was trying to conjure up a way of getting to an identity. “Healthy teeth.” She met his gaze. “It’s possible she had a dentist take a mold impression to have on file. If so, that could cement ID.” That still required them to have a suspected ID, though. It wasn’t like there was a searchable dental database; dental records were more for verification once identification was suspected. And while they could search them in missing persons, that put them back to the matter of whether she’d even been reported. Amanda’s excitement at the epiphany was waning quickly, and Sergeant Malone was striding toward them with a park ranger. The man was equal height and size to the sergeant and even looked similar. It was like Malone was walking next to a mirror. Both men were in their fifties, with receding hairlines, gray beards, and mustaches.

“Detectives,” Malone began, “this is Todd Hampton, supervisory state park ranger. He’s in charge here during the week.”

“Detective Steele.” Amanda bobbed her head at him, and Trent introduced himself.

“Ranger Hampton first came down here not long after the Swansons called it in. He’s also been helping officers get a feel for the layout of the park,” Malone said. “And he can answer any questions you might have.”

“The Swansons, who found the girl, never saw any vehicles in Lot C where they parked, but I understand there are several lots that access the premises,” she said.

“There are,” Todd replied.

Amanda addressed Malone. “We’ll need to get officers on those areas and see if any of them will offer up a lead. Maybe a vehicle or something that ties back to the victim.”

Malone smiled subtly. “Already in progress.”

“Are any rangers posted to watch the entry points during the off-hours?” Amanda asked.

Todd nodded. “A couple, but they can’t be everywhere at once.”

“So you have them ‘out there’ but not at every location?” She just wanted to clarify.

“That’s right.”

“What about black orchids? Are they native to the park?”

“No, they’re not. Whoever did this had to have brought the flower with them.”

She loved how people liked to step over the line into the territory of detective. He was a peace officer and armed to keep and establish peace and order, but that’s about as close as their two jobs came. “Did you see her?” She wanted to read his body language. He’d shown no surprise about the orchid.

“I did. Ghastly sight.” His body stiffened, and he hooked a thumb on the waist of his pants.

No obvious signs of guilt. More disgust, fear, and shock at the situation. “Do you know who the girl was?”

“I don’t know her, but I’m pretty sure I’ve seen her around.”

The skin tightened on the back of Amanda’s neck. Could it be too much to wish they’d get her ID sooner than later? “You’ve seen her around. Does she come to the park often?”

“I’m quite sure she does and has a pass.”

That told her three things: one, the girl was likely local; two, she must have visited often; and three, there should be a name on file somewhere in the park offices. “We need to know her name. Could you help us with that?”

Todd’s arms flailed about, and he hoisted up on his pants, finally settling his hands on his hips. “I may be able to help with that, but I’ll need a warrant.” He landed his gaze on Malone, who nodded in understanding.

Amanda didn’t quite understand. Sure, it was a state park with rules and regulations, but that didn’t stop people from finding loopholes. “It’s looking like the girl and her killer gained access to the park when it was technically closed,” she put out stiffly. “I suppose it wouldn’t look good if it got out that people snuck in after hours. Especially when one of those people became a murder victim.” She realized she’d phrased it as if the girl had been killed here, but she was running with that assumption for now. Either way, it put a dead body in the state park.

Todd frowned. “I’m not parting with members’ information without a warrant.”

“All right. We’ll get you one.” Amanda met eyes with Malone, who lowered his lids slightly as if to thank her for backing off. Maybe he’d thanked her too soon. “Did the girl make a habit of visiting the park when it was closed?” The unstated implication was that the chief park ranger didn’t really have control of what was going on in his park.

Todd clenched his jaw. “There isn’t any way I can answer that.”

He was going on the defensive, so she had to reel back a bit. She didn’t need to make an enemy of him—even if she wanted to impress the seriousness of the situation. “It’s a big park,” she conceded, stirring in some empathy to soften her previous words.

“It is, and no one can be here twenty-four seven—or cover every square inch.”

“For sure. But the fact remains that a young woman was found dead in the park. Murdered.” She put that out there and let it percolate. Todd didn’t touch it. She went on. “She had a pass, so we can assume she came often?”

“Most likely.”

“You don’t know for sure?”

“As I said, I’ve seen her before.”

If coming to the park was a routine, then the girl’s killer could have known this and lain in wait or followed her here with the intent to kill. “On a regular basis?” she pressed, feeling he may know more than he was admitting.

He shrugged. “To hazard a guess, at least twice a week.”

That statement prompted another question. What was so exciting about a state park that brought a young woman, college age, here in the first place? If it was for exercise, she could get that anywhere. “Do you know why she came here?”

“I don’t.”

“Do you know if she favored one part of the park over another? Did she stick to specific trails?” The more information they could gather about the girl’s interests, the greater chance they had of piecing together a trail to follow.

“I don’t know. But the computer in the office would tell us at which entrance her pass was swiped. Once I get that warrant.”

Lest they forget the blessed warrant…“The Swansons ran into a ranger on one of the trails this morning. Do you have any male rangers who would have been working this morning, six feet tall with short-cropped brown hair? In their forties?”

Todd’s brow pressed, then he nodded. “Could be Jamie.”

“Last name?”

“Bolton.”

“We’ll want to speak with him,” she said. “He might have seen something or someone.” He might also be a person of interest, but Amanda wasn’t going to say as much to his boss.

“He’s back in the office.”

That raised the question of where Jamie Bolton might have parked. The Swansons had said the lot they were in was empty when they’d arrived. Before Amanda could say anything further, a stifled cry interrupted her.

“Oh my God!” A female ranger was walking toward the four of them, her legs and body swaying like she’d drunk a bottle of booze.

“Ma’am.” Amanda rushed over to steady her and keep her back. There were already too many people in the area. At least the Swansons had cleared out.

The female ranger wasn’t looking at Amanda but had her head turned toward the water. Amanda followed the direction of the woman’s gaze. Rideout and Liam were fitting the girl into a black body bag, a fan of blond hair sticking out, which Liam delicately tucked inside the bag.

“It is her.” The female ranger lowered herself to the ground.

Amanda placed a hand on the woman’s back. “Did you know her, ma’am?”

A loud sniffle and a nod.

Excitement whirled through Amanda. A lead without a warrant?