Page 22 of The Lost Bones

“Suggesting she struggled?” Sully asked.

“Yes. Based on the fracture pattern on her mastoid bone, I’d say the blow was strong enough to knock her out.”

“Did you confirm the cause of death to be strangulation?” Mackenzie asked.

“Actually, no,” Becky replied. “She was choked after she was already dead.”

Andrew’s eyebrows dipped. He opened the case file and began flipping through it with urgency. Mackenzie watched him, wondering what thought had popped into his mind.

“What was the cause of death then?” Rivera frowned.

“There was damage on the external auditory meatus.”

“English, please,” Sully said.

“Opening of the skull where auditory nerves feed into the brain. The earhole,” Becky explained, discomfort coloring her tone. “There were scrapings within the cranium and marks inside the parietal and occipital bones. My conclusion is that someone jabbed her in the brain.”

Peterson’s eyebrows shot up. “Through her ear?”

“That’s correct. And then later they choked her. Most likely to confirm she was dead and not just brain-damaged.”

Heavy silence descended on the room while everyone processed the details. Andrew’s mind was visibly racing as he studied a piece of paper.

“Is there anything else, Becky? Any information on the weapon?” Mackenzie asked eventually.

“I’ve sent some particulates to the crime lab for analysis. You’ll know in a day or two.”

“Okay, thanks.” Rivera disconnected the call and addressed the team. “So the cause of death isn’t the same. But we still have the muskrat fur and the messages for Mackenzie. That’s enough to combine the cases.”

Andrew looked up at Mackenzie like she was a puzzle he was close to solving. “The first message wasYou’re welcome, Mackenzie. And here it says that there were hesitation marks when Sophie was murdered.”

“That’s right,” Nick said, sitting back. “What do you think?”

“I think you’re looking at two killers,” Andrew said darkly.

“Two killers?” Rivera narrowed her eyes. “There are two killers leaving these messages and the fur?”

“No, no, no.” He shook his head, standing up. “I don’t think the person who left Sophie’s body for Mackenzie is the one who killed her… unless…”

“Unless what?” Mackenzie leaned forward.

He scratched his head. “I don’t mean to probe. But how close did you and Detective Kennedy get this past summer?”

Mackenzie’s face felt hot. Nick stifled a laugh behind his mug. “Notclose. We were just friends.”

“It’s fair to assume that this killer has been watching you for a while. That’s how they must have figured out about your involvement in the investigation into Sophie’s disappearance. If they were under the assumption that you and Detective Kennedy were romantically involved, they could have perceived Sophie as a threat to that relationship.”

“So they hunted her down, murdered her and left her for Mackenzie to find?” Nick said incredulously. “How the hell did this killer find Sophie when we couldn’t?”

“That’s your domain.” Andrew shoved his hands in his pockets. Tilting his head, he gazed at Mackenzie. “And I can tell you one more thing. Courtney Montenegro won’t be the last victim.”

FOURTEEN

“I finally get why you used to smoke,” Mackenzie confessed, poring over Sophie’s phone records.

Nick offered her a cigarette. She took it from him and tossed it in the garbage. She had spent an entire year getting him to quit. He had mostly behaved, but had a habit of playing with his lighter and case, especially when he was deep in thought.

“There’s nothing here,” he hissed, shutting the file he was reading. They were looking into each other’s victims, hoping to find something new the other had inadvertently missed. “Which makes sense, because it seems our killer isn’t anyone with a personal connection to either victim.”