“Is that something in her ear?” Emily bent close to the victim’s face. “Maybe soapsuds or something similar? I didn’t notice anything like that on any of the other victims.”
“Yeah, that looks interesting.” Wolfe bent low over the victim and brushed back her hair. “I’ll collect a sample of it before we move her.” He reached into his bag and pulled out a kit. “This might be the breakthrough we’ve been looking for.”
Moving closer, Jenna looked at him. “Kane collected samples of a patch of oil just back there on the highway. We didn’t find any footprints anywhere near the body and figured he parked on the blacktop and carried her here. It will be another piece of evidence we can use if we get a suspect driving a vehicle with an oil leak.”
“Used engine oil is great evidence.” Wolfe collected the sample from the woman’s ear with care and slid it into a plastic cylinder before straightening and turning to Jenna. “It tells a story. For instance, all oils have different properties, so we’ll know the brand. Different vehicles produce different contaminants, which we can pin to a particular engine. It’s almost as good as a fingerprint.”
Encouraged by the good news, Jenna smiled behind her mask. “How long before you can do the autopsy? This one might give us the information we need to hunt down a few suspects.”
“There’s no reason I should delay an autopsy, as it’s an obvious homicide. I’ll conduct a preliminary examination when I get her back to the lab. If you scan her prints and run them with her description through the database, you may hit paydirt. Looking at the condition of the body, this one was kidnapped recently. I’ll give you a call when I’m ready to proceed with the autopsy. It will be a few hours yet. There’s a ton of evidence to process on the body before I start.”
Staring past Wolfe to the witness, Jenna nodded. “That’s good. I’ve some leads to chase down. Do you want to speak to the witness who discovered the body? He didn’t see anyone.”
“No, not if you’ve taken his statement. If I need any more information, I’ll catch up with him later. I think it’s more important to get the body on ice and collect as much evidence as possible. For instance, if you want to know if she has drugs in her system, I’d need to get the tests underway without delay.” Wolfe surveyed the crime scene and then turn back to her. “We can handle it from here. If I find anything interesting, I’ll call you later this afternoon.”
It was like a great weight had lifted from Jenna’s shoulders. Having Wolfe to take over the crime scene gave her time to fast-track the investigation. “Thanks, I’ll leave you to it. We’ll see you later.” She walked to her team and waited for them to turn to her. “If you have everything you need from here, we can head back to the office.” As everyone headed for their vehicles, she made her way to where Mr. Woods was leaning against his van. “Thanks for your assistance. We’ll be in touch if we need any more information. I want you to keep this information to yourself as a respect to the family of this woman. I’ll need to discover her identity and inform the next of kin before it’s released to the public.”
“Yeah, I understand. I need to get these deliveries to the general store and then I might go home for the rest of the day.” Woods turned away and climbed into his van.
Jenna walked up to the Beast and slid inside. She looked at Kane and let out a long sigh. “If this body is fresh, maybe we’ll be lucky and find a missing persons’ report. She must be somebody’s daughter. Someone out there must care.”