“Thirty-two thousand dollars.”
John choked on the amount. “Where would I get that kind of money?”
“How the hell do I know?” She yelled this so loudly that he stepped back.
“Joyce—”
She jabbed her finger in his face, saying, “I’m only going to ask you this one more time, and I swear to God, John, I swear on Mama’s grave, if you lie to me I will cut you out of my life so quick you won’t know what hit you.”
“You sound just like Dad.”
“That’s it.” She started to walk away.
“Wait,” he said, and she stopped but didn’t turn around. “Joyce—someone’s stolen my identity.”
Her shoulders sagged. When she finally looked at him, he could read every horrible thing he was ever involved in etched into the lines of her face. She was quiet now, anger spent. “Why would someone steal your identity?”
“To cover himself. Cover his tracks.”
“For what reason? And why you?”
“Because he didn’t think I would get out. He thought I’d be in prison for the rest of my life, that he could use my identity to keep from getting caught.”
“Who thought this? Who’s doing this to you?”
John felt the name stick like a piece of glass in his throat. “The same guy who hurt Mary Alice.”
Joyce visibly flinched at the girl’s name. They were both quiet, nothing but the swish of water through the car wash and the buzz of the vacuums interrupting the silence.
John forced himself to close some of the space between them. “The person who framed me for killing Mary Alice is trying to do it again.”
She had tears in her eyes.
“I didn’t do it, Joyce. I didn’t hurt her.”
Her chin trembled as she struggled to contain her emotions.
“It wasn’t me.”
Her throat worked as she swallowed. “Okay,” she said. “Okay.” She sniffled, taking a deep breath. “I need to get back to work.”
“Joyce—”
“Take care of yourself, John.”
“Joyce, please—”
“Good-bye.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
9:30 AM
Will watched Pete Hanson’s hands as the medical examiner deftly sewed together Cynthia Barrett’s abdomen and chest. Her skin tugged up as the doctor pulled the baseball stitch through the Y-incision he’d made at the beginning of the autopsy. During the procedure, Will had concentrated on the parts of the body rather than the whole, but now there was no avoiding the fact that Cynthia Barrett was a human being, little more than a child. With her slim build and delicate features, she had an almost elfin quality about her. How a man could hurt this girl was beyond him.
“It’s a sad thing,” Pete said, as if he could read Will’s mind.
“Yes.” Will had been gritting his teeth from the moment he entered the morgue. In his law-enforcement career, Will had seen all kinds of damage done to people, but he still found himself shocked when he saw a child victimized. He always thought about Angie, the horrible things that had been done to her when she was just a little girl. It made his stomach hurt.
The doors opened and Michael Ormewood walked in. There were dark circles under his eyes and he still had a piece of tissue stuck to his chin where he had apparently cut himself shaving.
“Sorry I’m late,” Michael apologized.
Will looked at his watch; the movement was reflexive, but when he looked back up, he could see Michael’s irritation.
“That’s fine,” Will said, realizing too late that he had said the wrong thing. He tried, “Dr. Hanson was just finishing up. You didn’t miss anything.”
Michael kept silent, and Pete broke the tension, saying, “I’m so sorry for your loss, Detective.”
After a few seconds, Michael nodded his head. He wiped his mouth, rolling the tissue off his chin. He looked surprised at the bloody paper between his fingers and threw it in the trashcan. “It’s been a little hard at home.”
“I can imagine.” Pete patted him on the shoulder. “My condolences.”
“Yes,” Will agreed, not knowing what else to say.
“She was just a neighbor, but still…” The smile on Michael’s face seemed forced, as if he was having trouble keeping his emotions in. “It eats you up when something bad happens to an innocent kid like that.” Will saw his gaze settle onto the body, noticed the flash of despair in the other man’s eyes. Michael reached out as if to touch the blonde hair, then pulled his hand back. Will remembered how Michael had acted this same way the day before when they had first seen the body. It was as if Cynthia was the man’s own child instead of a neighbor’s.
“Poor baby,” Michael whispered.
“Yes,” Pete concurred.
“I’m sorry, guys,” Michael apologized. He cleared his throat a few times, seemed to try to get himself together. “What have you got, Pete?”
“I was just about to do my summary report with Agent Trent.” Pete started to roll back the sheet covering the lower half of the body.
Michael flinched visibly. “Just give me the highlights, okay?”
Pete rolled the sheet back up, stopping just under the girl’s neck, telling them, “I believe she tripped and hit her head. The force from the fall shattered her skull above the left temporal lobe. Her neck twisted on impact, snapping the spinal cord at C-2. Death was instantaneous. An unfortunate accident, but for the missing tongue.”
Michael asked, “Did they locate it yet?”
“No,” Will answered, then asked Pete, “Could you go over the differences between the two murders?”
“Of course,” Pete replied. “Unlike your prostitute, this girl’s tongue was not bitten off, but cut. Most likely a serrated knife was used. A lesser man might not notice, but I’m certain it’s different.”
Michael asked, “How can you tell?”
“The cut is not clean, like your biter.” The doctor snapped his teeth together to illustrate, the sound echoing in the tiled room. “What’s more, I would expect a crescent pattern, because the teeth are not in a straight line in the mouth, but curved. If you look…” He had been about to open the girl’s mouth, but seemed to change his mind. “There are several test marks where whoever removed her tongue obviously had difficulty getting a grip on it. The tongue slid and the blade caught. Your guy was determined, though. He accomplished the task on the third or fourth try.”
“It was slick?” Will asked. “From blood? Saliva?”
“There would have been little blood because she was already dead by the time the mutilation occurred. I would assume his grip was compromised because the tongue is so small. Further, a grown man would have difficulty reaching his hand into her mouth. It’s very narrow.”
Michael was nodding, but he didn’t seem to be listening to Pete. His eyes were still locked on the girl and a single tear rolled down his cheek. He looked away for just a second, using the back of his hand to wipe the tear, pretending to be rubbing his nose.