Page 49

Story: Deep as the Dead

“Or she was weaker and less difficult to overpower.” Ethan positioned himself to Alexa’s left. The familiar dragonfly was lying on a sterile cloth in front of her. But it was the contents of the glassine bag she held that he was interested in. She used a pair of forceps to withdraw one insect from it and laid it beside the dragonfly. Conrad handed her a magnifyingglass.
“Jesus,” Ethan muttered. He couldn’t get used to the nonchalant way she handled the bugs. And this was a big one even without the magnification. Not that he was squeamish about that sort of thing. “Is that some sort ofcockroach?”
“Looks like a relative of the grasshopper,” Nyle observed, peeringclosely.
“Your guess is closer than Ethan’s. It’s a good-sized specimen,” Alexa set the glass down and sent Ethan a sly smile, half-lifting the paper towel the bug rested on toward him. “Did you want a closerlook?”
He remained rooted in place, but it took effort not to move away. “Brat. What is thatthing?”
“Anabrus simplex. The common name is Mormon cricket, but it’s actually a katydid, not a cricket at all. They’re flightless, except when they’re craving protein and salt, during which time they swarm and are quite destructive to crops.” She reached into her briefcase and took out her reading glasses, putting them on before leaning forward and bringing up several articles about the insects, clicking out of each before he was even half way done skimming it. “Found in the range areas of North America.Ah.”
She went silent then, long enough for Nyle to say, “Well?”
“They’re known to cannibalize members of their own species, usually, again, when craving protein and salt. The slowest and weakest, of course, are the likeliest candidates.” She tapped an index finger thoughtfully against thecounter.
“Well, that sort of makes sense, given the removal of the tongue.” When everyone looked at Nyle, he flushed. “I mean…given Lawler’s profession. She was known for inviting high-profile controversial guests and then pulling the rug out from under them during the show. That’s predatory behavior, if you askme.”
“You have to consider how the UNSUB would view it.” Ethan looked at Alexa. “He wouldn’t have sympathy for the type of guests Lawler had on. Few people would. So, I don’t see this as retribution for her treating people unkindly on hershow.”
“The Mormon crickets prey on the slowest and weakest among their species,” she repeated. Then went silent for a moment as if thinking. Finally, she said, “I don’t know if the UNSUB is saying Lawler secretly preyed on other people in some way, or on females in particular. But whatever her perceived sin, he saw it as worthy ofdeath.”
Ethan looked at the ME. “Sorry for hijacking the procedurehere.”
The man waved a hand. “I’ll admit to being a bit fascinated. I had an insect collection when I was a kid.” That was actually a thing? Ethan wisely swallowed the question as the man went on. “As I was telling Officer Samuels earlier, tox screens will take a couple of days, but Lawler’s blood alcohol level was two point oh three, which is well beyond the legal definition of impairment. She ate approximately six hours prior to her death, which may be when she consumed the wine shedrank.”
“Most of the clubs closed at three-thirty. A few at four,” Ethan said. And they’d missed her at every one ofthem.
“Like Simard, her hands had been treated with bleach and the nails clipped.” Dr. Conrad strode back to the stainless-steel table on which Lawler’s corpse laid. “No defensive wounds are present. Manner of death isunclear.”
“So she didn’t die from having her tongue cutout.”
“It’s possible a person could die from having the lingual artery severed, if that person had no assistance and was unable to stem the bleeding. However, the removal of the tongue occurred only minutes before death.” Conrad leaned down to inspect the sutures around the skull, before straightening again. “As your colleague will tell you, I found three sets of numbers written on her shoulder in what appears to be ink from a pen. Two of the numerals were wornoff.”
“A phone number?” Ethan’s gaze shot to Nyle’s. “And you didn’t lead withthat?”
The other officer smiled smugly, holding up a sheet upon which he’d jotted the digits. Two spaces wereempty.
“Can I see?” Ethan asked theME.
Seeming more amenable than he’d been the last time they’d been here, Conrad waved him over. He levered the body upward so Ethan could peer at the writing. “Definitely seems like a phone number,” he murmured. The two last digits were indecipherable, although there was still ink visible. He stepped back, looked at Alexa. “What are the chances the offender wrote thosedigits?”
She cocked her head as if considering for a moment. “I don’t recall anything in the file similar to this. I think it’s unlikely to be from him. With whom would he be communicating? He already has access to me. If he wanted to send a number, he’d doso.”
Ethan nodded. It would have represented another deviation for the offender. Not that he hadn’t engaged in his share of them in recent days, but those had all involved Alexa in some way. Which was the source of the simmering worry that had lodged in the back of hismind.
No, these numbers were likely related to Lawler’s night out before her death. And given the activities Bixby had indicated she engaged in on such nights, someone who was interested in her might writtenthem.
And he very much wanted to talk to thatperson.
He thanked the ME. After Alexa collected her things, they left the suite and headed for the parking lot. As soon as he reached an area with cell-phone reception, Ethan texted the rest of his team in New Brunswick. He needed them here. If there were still interviews to conduct, one of the men could stay in the other province and finish them, but he could the additional assistance for the most recent victims. The tip line they’d established might just be about to pay off. They needed more bodies to conduct the most promisinginterviews.
“How are you planning to use the partial phone number written on the body?” Nyle asked as they walked outside into the bright sunlight. “No way we get a warrant on all the possiblevariations.”
“Onehundred.”
Both men’s heads swiveled toward Alexa. “That’s how many combinations there would be after filling in the missingdigits.”
“She used to tutor me in math,” Ethan toldNyle.