Page 35 of Her Frozen Heart

Hernandez leaned back in his chair. “Any word on the autopsy results?”

“Doctor Blanchard is doing it today,” Nikki said. “She’s coming in on her holiday and she’s going to be at the dig site tonight, so I’m hoping to get a full report then.”

“What about the guy who found Kesha?”

“Danny Stanton,” Nikki said. “After we’re finished, I’m meeting Courtney in the lab. Hopefully she’s got enough information that we can clear Stanton.”

“You believe him then, even though it looks like his wife is the one who called the family before they could be informed by police?”

“I think so,” Nikki said. “The dynamic between him and his wife is strained, and she seems to bulldoze her way over Danny. That said, if Courtney has found anything significant, I’ll have Stanton brought in for questioning today.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Hernandez said. “Keep me in the loop.”

Nikki bypassed Courtney’s office and went straight to the lab. The wall of bullet-proof glass that protected the lab also made it visible to passersby, and Nikki could see Courtney peering into the microscope, bouncing along to the music that always played on low in the lab. Nikki waved her badge in front of the security door. Courtney buzzed her in without looking up from her microscope.

“I brought Christmas cookies.” Nikki held up the tin. “Where can I put them?”

“Right next to me,” Courtney said. “I’m starving. What kind are they?”

“Sugar, rum balls, gingerbread. Save the rum balls for home.”

Courtney popped a gingerbread cookie into her mouth. “Yum.”

“Thanks for cutting your trip short.”

“Thanks for asking me to,” Courtney quipped. “I couldn’t leave fast enough. And I can tell you that the blood in Stanton’s truck was animal blood. Same with the knife, but I did find trace amounts of human blood at the hilt. I can compare them to Kesha’s once Blanchard is done.”

“It’s a fillet knife,” Nikki said. “It’s not hard to cut yourself on those, especially if you’re not sober. What about the hair and fibers from the truck?”

“The fibers are pretty innocuous,” Courtney said. “The hair found doesn’t look African American to me, but we’ll test against Kesha’s to make sure. Without her hands and feet, I can’t compare fingerprints.” She shuddered. “Why mutilate her if he was just going to dump her in the lake?”

“We’re pretty sure the lake was plan B after the ground froze,” Nikki answered. “And he might have also been afraid of DNA under her fingernails.”

“Why her feet, though?” Courtney asked. “I guess we’ll have to wait and see if he did the same thing to the other victims. How’s the burial area coming?”

“I checked in with Miller this morning and things were progressing as he’d hoped. He’s expecting we’ll be able to start recovery by this evening. We’ll need you there, and Blanchard is coming, along with the forensic anthropologist.” Nikki leaned against the long counter next to Courtney. “Hernandez is bringing in a neuroscientist who’s also a psychologist to consult since Liam is still stuck behind a desk.”

“He’s also covering the Bureau’s ass,” Courtney said bluntly. “Thanks to the MNPD, we’re all under a fresh microscope. Who’s the consultant?”

“Doctor Alexander Roth.”

Courtney looked up from the microscope. “I saw him on the news a few months ago, talking about his study. He reminded me of the new digital image of Alexander the Great. You know the one where he’s ridiculously attractive? If I was interested in men, he’d be on the top of the list.”

“I thought you were bisexual,” Nikki said.

“Yeah, and right now, men piss me off.”

“And women don’t?” Nikki asked.

“They don’t mansplain or struggle with toxic masculinity.” Courtney grinned. “And women are better at sex.”

“That I believe,” Nikki said. “I’m going to brief Liam and his rookies. Call me with any results.”

While major crimes occupied the top floor of the building, Nikki’s small team was situated in the eastern corner, with a beautiful view of the campus thanks to the impressive wall of windows. The bullpen outside Nikki’s office was small; she and Liam were the two primary profilers, along with two junior agents normally tasked with a lot of research and grunt work. Their dedication and efficiency had impressed Nikki, but she hadn’t had enough time with either one of them to know if they were ready to start working with a profiler in the field.

Of the two, Kendra Gray had seniority by a few weeks. She’d assisted Liam on a couple of cases when Nikki had been on leave several months ago, and he’d been impressed with her organization and her ability to make a suspect feel comfortable. The thirty-year-old was single, no kids, her sole focus on her career, which concerned Nikki. As much as it might make the job easier given the uneven hours, it was important for an agent to have a support system. According to Liam, Kendra had a couple of close friends who worked in social services, so she did have someone to lean on when a case got bad.

Jim Barker had joined the team this fall, and while he was efficient and almost as good with computers as Liam, his field experience was limited.

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