Her Shallow Grave (Detectives Kane and Alton)

After exhausting the local databases, Jenna had put her team to work hunting down possible missing persons from other states. The day seemed to be lasting forever. The hands on the clock had dragged themselves to eleven by the time Kane and Rowley came into her office and sat down. She looked at them. “What do you have for me?”

“We have three possible.” Kane placed three printouts on the desk and pushed them toward her. “Ava Price, Isabella Bennett, and Zoe Henderson. They all fit the general description and the first two went missing over two years ago. Zoe is a runaway from a string of foster homes but they gave up the search when she turned eighteen. She’s been on the streets since she was fifteen.”

“Three, huh? Let’s hope he hasn’t got the other two on ice somewhere.” Mind reeling with possibilities, Jenna leaned on her desk. “It’s a long shot but did these women have cellphones? We could just call them?”

“We thought of that too and no. They don’t.” Rowley shook his head. “I found nothing in their names. I guess they could be using burners. If they’re homeless having a plan might be beyond their means.”

Jenna stared at her notes. Three possible victims and a killer who had decided her town was the place to be this winter. She had little choice but to work the case with only one person of interest, Claude Grady, and he was little more than a gut

feeling. She had no evidence against him, none at all. Who was the girl in the morgue? She lifted her gaze. “If we assume the victim is one of the three women you mentioned, we at least have a starting point. Right now, we have zip.”

“You do have Jo and Carter working the case for the other victims found here.” Kane looked at her. “They might find something we missed—a connection between the victims perhaps?”

Jenna shook her head. “We didn’t miss anything and I hope they’re keeping us in the loop. I haven’t heard back from them. Let’s move on. Anything else I need to know?”

“There have been sightings.” Rowley looked down at his iPad. “A couple of homeless shelters out of Wyoming and another in Salt Lake City. Isabella was born in Utah, the other two hail from Wyoming. Kane has the details.”

Jenna twirled her pen in her fingers, thinking. “Hmm. Any vehicles?”

“Nope. Nothing on record. No fingerprints for Zoe but we have copies for Isabella.” Kane rested one boot on the other knee.

“What else did you find?” Jenna looked at Kane’s relaxed pose. He always seemed to take everything in his stride. For him, a horrific murder was just like any other crime to solve.

“I had a long list of towns in Wyoming with shelters. I called a few of the receptionists and was lucky and hit pay dirt after the third call. One of them recalled a girl named Ava staying a few weeks. From what they remember, Ava was a hitchhiker, and got rides with truckers mostly. It’s what they do to get around.”

Jenna nodded in agreement. “I called Father Derry earlier and he seems to think hitchhiking is their favorite mode of transport as well. Few homeless waste their money on a bus ticket. Many just stay in the same town for years. What about the others, Kane?”

“Salt Lake City was easier and I had a hit for Isabella. Nothing for Zoe yet, but I’ll keep searching.” Kane stretched out his long legs. “I figure we’ll have more luck identifying the victim by her tattoos.”

“Not if they got them after they left home.” Jenna stood and entered the information on the whiteboard. “We’ll need to nail down who is in the morgue. Have you hunted down any relatives?”

“Yeah and I’ve sent all the info and images of the tattoos on the victim to the local law enforcement in the victims’ hometowns. Wolfe was able to get some clear shots. They’ll pay the relatives a visit and get back to us as soon as possible.” Kane glanced at his notes. “Wolfe has already sent an image of the newspaper office victim to Jo and asked if she can get a facial composite of the victim completed today, rather than waiting for the corpse to thaw. Once Wolfe has an ID and a relative, he’ll be able to back it up with either mitochondrial DNA or dental records.”

Jenna wrote on the whiteboard. “That’s great! With their help to identify the victim, we can turn our attention to finding the killer. If I recall, Carter advised us to look at truckers and Jo wondered if the victims were homeless.”

Kane leaned back in his chair. “It would be a perfect scenario for a serial killer. He picks up a girl in his rig, asks her a few questions and if she’s far away from home, she becomes a victim. He can take his time because it’s unlikely anyone will miss her.” He met Jenna’s gaze. “Or be hurrying to identify her body when he’s finished with her.”

Jenna’s mind went back to Claude Grady, the volunteer at the homeless shelter. His attitude and behavior had worried her. If the killer was murdering the homeless in her town, he would be on the top of her list of suspects. “Yeah, a trucker might be feasible but so would anyone who works with the homeless. With the number of long-haul truckers in town and the volunteers giving their time in Black Rock Falls this winter, plus the usual staff, we’ll need to compile a list.” She slipped behind her desk and sat down.

“The killer must own a hunting cabin or live in an isolated ranch hereabouts.” Kane stood and went to the bubbling coffee maker. “I know we’re talking hundreds of people, maybe thousands, who have cabins in the forest but we’re talking about a place they have access to even in winter. So maybe a place adjacent to a road that’s cleared by the snowplow.”

“So anywhere from here to the highway and beyond bordering Stanton Forest.” Rowley looked skeptical. “The forest has many passable trails in winter, the elk and deer move from place to place and keep them clear. Many people living in the forest clear the trails as well. We’d have more luck finding a four-leaf clover.”

Jenna shook her head. “No, Kane is right. We have a ton of people to consider. Removing those living in town would be a start.”

“I’m not convinced a killer couldn’t keep a frozen woman here in town.” Rowley took the cup Kane offered him and placed it on the desk. “Live women would be a problem but frozen women aren’t going to make much noise, are they?”

“Agreed.” Kane placed a cup before Jenna and then took his coffee and sat down. “But we gave out a press release when we discovered the severed limbs at the ski resort. We specifically asked if anyone had heard someone using a chainsaw. All the reports that came in checked out as legitimate. I’m sure the hotline would be buzzing if someone around town was using a chainsaw now it’s all over the news there’s a murderer in town.”

Jenna sipped her coffee, savoring the rich brew and mulling over what everyone had said. “Okay, I have a plan.” She held her cup in her palms enjoying the heat flowing through the porcelain and looked at her deputies. “We have to start somewhere. We have two trucking depots in town and a truck stop out at the Triple Z. Rowley, you head out to the truck depots and go straight to the manager. See if he’ll cooperate. I didn’t have much luck over the phone when I called. Find out if they have regular hauls to Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming. That information should be public knowledge. If so, try and persuade them to give you the names of the truckers who regularly drive that route and if any own their own rigs. Especially anyone transporting frozen goods. Maybe have a chat with any other truckers you run across. Show them the pictures of the three missing girls and see if you get a reaction.”

“Copy that.” Rowley made a few notes.

“I’ll jump onto the Motor Vehicles Division database and search for the vehicles and then cross reference the owners with the county property records and see what comes out.” Kane smiled. “Too easy.”

Jenna smiled at his enthusiasm. “I’ll ask Maggie to do that for us. I’m thinking out of the box. If our killer is just passing through town, he might have stopped by the Triple Z Bar. I’ll head out there with Kane. It’s a well-known truck stop. Some long-haul truckers stay there and I figure it’s a good place to ask questions and show around the photographs.”

“Yeah, I know hitchhikers wait there for a ride.” Rowley frowned.