Her Shallow Grave (Detectives Kane and Alton)

Jenna smiled. “Leave it with me, if we have the IDs, all I need now is the killer. See you at the autopsy.” She disconnected.

Standing, Jenna entered the current

information onto the whiteboard. She printed the images and attached them. Looking into the fresh, young faces, she frowned. “Who killed you?”

Thirty-Three

Not having any viable suspects, Jenna stared at the whiteboard. With all the information to date laid out, still nothing gave her a clue where to find the killer. She had one person of interest, the strange man helping at the shelter, Claude Grady, and could include any number of long-haul truckers living in town. She tapped her bottom lip, considering the conversation they’d had with Jo and Carter. Although Grady didn’t appear to have a motive and being odd didn’t make him a killer, it had to be someone who moved around. She palm-smacked her head. Or usually went on vacation each winter to parts unknown. Now that would make sense. The killer maybe worked in a plant that closed over the holidays—some of them closed for six weeks or more once the snow came. If he went to another state to collect his victims and then brought them back to Black Rock Falls, he likely stored them for the entire year, taking them with him the following year to display in another town. It made perfect sense. The girls wouldn’t be missing in the town and classed as a Jane Doe. She needed more background information on the two frozen women they’d found. What were their circumstances? How did they become victims?

She leaned against her desk. With no leads and nothing of use coming in from the media releases, she had no choice but to wait and hope some information about the movements of the two victims became known via the investigations in their hometowns. Someone must have seen something. Right now, she was flying in a holding position waiting for The Sculptor, if he was their killer, to make his next move. Grabbing her statement for the DA, she headed out to Rowley’s desk and cleared her throat. “I heard from a tattoo artist we have a match on one woman and a possible on the other. I’m going to give Jo a call and see what information they can find for us.” She gave him the women’s names. “We’ll need to know more about them and how they met their killer.”

“Well, we already know their hometowns from the tattoo artist. While we’re waiting, I’ll hunt down their photo IDs and do a search of the Colorado databases.” Rowley glanced at her. “If I can find out where they went to school or where they last worked, we might be able to locate some of their friends.”

Impressed by Rowley’s enthusiasm, Jenna nodded in agreement. “Okay, I’ll contact Jo and see what information she can add to what we have already. I guess the more of us working on this the better.” She glanced at the clock. “Before you start your research, do you mind taking my statement into the DA’s office and then taking your break? I’ll be going to Aunt Betty’s when Kane gets back and then we’re going to attend the Charlotte Barnes autopsy, so we’ll be gone awhile.” She handed him the document.

“Yes, ma’am.” Rowley pushed to his feet. “Right away.”

Jenna walked back to her office, went to her coffee machine and poured a cup, adding sugar and cream. The horrible nagging doubt she’d had about someone raping her and the worry of infection had gone and her stomach was telling her it was way past her time to eat. She glanced at the clock. Not much longer and she would be ordering a meal with Kane at Aunt Betty’s Café.

Returning to her table, she made the call to Agent Jo Wells. After explaining what she needed, she waited for Jo to pass the information to Bobby Kalo, their reformed Black Hat hacker, to do his magic. She sipped her coffee and heard Jo pick up the phone again. “Any interesting cases on your desk?”

“Nothing. We’re snowed in, have been for a few days so we couldn’t help if someone called. Trust me, Snakeskin Gully isn’t the end of the earth but you can see it from here.” Jo chuckled. “We’d have been better opening an office in Black Rock Falls for all the good we’re doing here. Hey, how is Dave handling his stalker?”

Jenna brought her up to date with her kidnapping. “So, the stalking charge is off the table and I went straight to kidnapping an officer of the law with intent to kill.”

“That will keep her busy for some time. At least she’s out of your hair.” Jo sounded distracted. “You sure the guy in the cabin isn’t involved?”

“Pretty sure.” Jenna put her phone on speaker and rubbed her temples. “The Blackwater Sheriff is hunting down any known associates. If he knew Miss Strickland, we’ll find out and take it from there.”

“Ah Bobby has a hit on your victims, he is emailing the info to you now.” Jo sighed. “It’s pretty isolated here, I’m starting to go stir crazy. We need a Cattleman’s Hotel big time. Apart from a couple of bars, there isn’t anywhere to go for entertainment and trust me, an FBI agent isn’t that welcome in local bars.” She snorted. “Although, Carter is in his home away from home here. They accepted him when he moved into the forest but not me. They all look at me as if I have two heads and then dash across the road to avoid eye contact.”

Jenna frowned. “They’ll like you soon enough once they’re in trouble. Any progress with the local sheriff?”

“No.” Jo barked out a laugh. “He is very nice but having Carter with me all the time makes life difficult. Are all these ex-military so overprotective?”

“I’m afraid so.” Jenna smiled into the empty room. “It’s in their genes.” She heard a phone ringing in the background and Carter’s deep voice.

“I’ve gotta go and speak to someone on the other line. Let me know if you need any more help with The Sculptor case.” Jo disconnected.

Jenna read the information Kalo had emailed her and made the calls to the appropriate law enforcement in Colorado. After explaining the murders likely happened in their state, she advised them to contact Wolfe for more details. The fact that both girls had come from another state, confirmed Wolfe’s theory of the freeze and thaw cycle. If the killer had frozen them and transported them to Black Rock Falls, her town was probably his home, but why risk capture by displaying his victims in his hometown? She could hear Kane’s voice in her mind explaining how psychopaths considered themselves invincible and smarter than anyone else. “Hmm, well Sculptor, you’re in my town now and your killing days are numbered.”

Snowflakes stung Jenna’s cheeks as she hustled inside Wolfe’s office door. Using her card to gain entrance into the morgue she led the way with Kane close behind. All during their meal she’d discussed her theories about the possible killer and he’d agreed. “The problem is, how many people leave Black Rock Falls in winter to go on vacation?” She walked backward along the hallway looking at him.

“Too many.” Kane unzipped his coat and pulled off his hat. “I’ve been following normal procedure and running down possible suspects but I can’t point the finger at anyone just yet.” He stuffed his hat and gloves into his pockets then shucked his coat as he walked. “I can place all the sex offenders in town over winter last year. I’ve compiled a list of anyone involved in art including those who arrange the local festivals and work in industries that shut down over winter.”

Jenna shrugged out of her coat. “So you’re convinced this lunatic is using women’s bodies to form his sculptures.”

“Yeah, from what I’ve seen that’s the case.” Kane paused in the hallway and hung up his coat on one of the pegs on a row outside Wolfe’s office. “The women he chooses are the same type, they mean something important to him. I’m guessing something happened to him by someone with similar features to trigger this behavior. The fact the women are naked, tells me he wants to degrade them but as he’s using them as his art, the woman meant something to him at one time.”

“So why move them around and why freeze them?” Jenna unwound her scarf and added it to her coat on the peg. “What are we dealing with here, Dave?”

“This is way above my paygrade but he could be killing for a number of reasons.” Kane went to a bench, opened a jar of mentholated salve, and spread it under his nose. “He takes women from other states, so they are more difficult to identify once found, and as a visitor to another state he’s incognito, no one knows him.” He pushed a face mask on his nose. “Or like you said

, he can only get away to kill people during his winter vacation.”

Jenna pulled a paper gown over her clothes to keep the stink out and handed one to Kane. “Why keep them frozen?”

“I’d say he likes to spend time with them or he’s looking for the perfect place to display his art. Keeping them frozen is convenient and they don’t stink up the place.” He handed her the salve. “A person who does this isn’t exactly logical, he could be doing it for one or all of those reasons. Problem is, nothing I’ve told you really leads to our killer, does it?”