Page 56 of Diamonds

It’s interesting.Apparently, the symphony is based on the first Russian revolution in 1905.At least, that’s what Shostakovichtoldthe Soviet cultural censors.Some historical scholars believe, however, that the symphony actually refers to the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, which was a direct result of the policies of the Soviet Union.Stalin was dead by then, and Khrushchev had taken charge, but the government still had a tight stranglehold on popular culture.Shostakovich only claimed the symphony was written in reference to a pre-Soviet event to get a message of defiance out to the Russian people.Fascinating stuff.

I’m actually getting into the lecture when we arrive at the mortuary, and I’m kind of bummed to flip the radio off.

But we have bigger fish to fry tonight.

If I’d thought this through, I would have suggested we take Alissa’s car to the symphony tonight, in case we had to stop here on the way home.My car sticks out like a damn sore thumb parked on the city streets.

Hopefully none of Rouge’s allies are passing through tonight.

Bill is standing outside the main door.I put the car into park, exit, and walk around it to open Alissa’s door.

She steps out right as a gust of wind cuts through the parking lot.She rubs her arms against the chill.“I should have worn a jacket tonight.”

“Christ, what am I thinking?”I take my own blazer off and hand it to her.“Here you go.Sorry.Should have given this to you sooner.”

“No apology necessary.”She wraps the jacket around her, buttoning it in the front.“Thank you.My knight in woolen armor saves the day again.”

I wrap my arm around her shoulder and we walk over to Bill.

He opens the door for us.“Come in, quick.”

Bill leads us to the same room where we met with him before.He reaches into a file cabinet with a manila folder.On its tab I see a question mark followed by a comma and the wordMay.

“Thank you for coming over,” Bill says.“I realize it’s a little late, but since you had no problem dragging me out of bed at three in the morning Sunday night, I figured I’d return the favor.”

I nod.“Fair enough.”

Bill takes a few sheets of paper out of the folder and spreads them neatly on one of the stainless-steel tables.“My initial impression was correct.Further examination of the deceased’s hyoid bone in her throat shows fracturing.That in tandem with the petechial hemorrhages present in her eyes and the coagulation of the blood around her neck indicate that she was strangled before the head was removed.At the very least, we know she was unconscious upon decapitation, so she didn’t feel anything.”

Alissa scoffs.“You mean, besides being strangled to death?”

Bill scratches his arm.“Well, yes.That would have likely been highly unpleasant.There is the possibility that she was attacked in her sleep.”

“Was she knocked out?Any drugs in her bloodstream?”

“I only have her head and hands to work with.But the few tests I ran showed no presence of any drugs, recreational or otherwise.Her lips and eyes had no discoloration besides that associated with the natural putrefaction process of the human body, so I think we can rule out poisoning.”

I nod.“Great.So were you able to confirm her identity?”

Bill frowns.“Unfortunately, dental records and DNA samples both came up with nothing.It seems this girl never went to a dentist appointment while she was here in the States.”

I tilt my head.“That can’t be.Rouge takes care of the medical expenses of all the employees under her care.”

“She at least claims to.”Bill shrugs.“Maybe she didn’t feel dental care was an essential medical service.I don’t know what to tell you, Maddox.”

Alissa slumps into a chair in the corner of the room.“So we’re no bloody closer to solving this than we were three days ago.”

“Not true,” I say.“We have a method.Maybe there’s something from there.”

She rolls her eyes.“Yes, perhaps we can ask Rouge if she prefers to strangle her victims or outright decapitate them.If she admits to the former, we’re all set.”

“You also have the name and origin country of the deceased,” Bill adds.

“We had thatbeforeshe was murdered.”Alissa springs to her feet, pacing the area.“I’m sure there’s more than one May in the Vietnamese phonebook.”

I grab Alissa’s hand.“We might have one more lead.”

She faces me.“What else could we possibly have?You heard Bill.No dental records, no DNA…”