Page 23 of The Fragile Ones
“Yes. It’s nice to see you, Doctor,” Katie said as she entered.
McGaven nodded his greeting through gritted teeth.
“Well,” began Dr. Dean. “I’ll clue you in on what I have so far, but the full report will follow by email.” As he spoke he pulled on his white lab coat over his trademark khaki shorts and Hawaiian shirt.
“Are the girls related?” Katie asked.
“Yes, and no,” was his reply.
Katie didn’t understand. Stepsisters, perhaps?
“The two girls match a missing persons’ report from Rock Creek from about two years ago,” he said, reading from his file. “They are Tessa Mayfield, ten years old, and Megan Mayfield, eleven years old. Their mother, Mrs. Robin Mayfield, came in yesterday and identified them. But we still run a DNA as protocol due to the state of decomposition.”
“Oh,” Katie said aloud and didn’t realize she had uttered a sound. She thought of how terrible it must’ve been for a mother to ID her two children. Clearing her throat, she said, “You said yes and no when I asked about them being sisters. What do you mean?”
“This is where it gets complicated, and that’s why I waited for the investigator to be assigned to the case.” Katie was momentarily confused. “Mrs. Mayfield swore that she had given birth to both girls and had their birth certificates to prove it. But the DNA of both girls didn’t match as her children. Megan, the older one, is her biological daughter, but Tessa is not,” said Dr. Dean.
“How is that possible?” she asked.
“The hospital,” said McGaven. “Maybe a mix-up?”
“That’s terrible,” Katie said, thinking of the numbers 372 on the one girl’s scalp and wondering what that meant.
“A mix-up is one possibility, but it goes a step further. The DNA from Tessa came back as a match to another girl who had been kidnapped nine and half years ago, according to a report from the state of Texas.”
Just when Katie didn’t think anything else could shock her, the news that one of the girls may have been kidnapped left her reeling. She took out her small notebook and made notes in her personal shorthand to buy herself a moment to think.
“I know this is a lot to grasp,” said the examiner.
“To say the least,” said Katie as she finished scribbling. She took a deep breath and followed Dr. Dean over to the closest table to begin going through his findings.
Dr. Dean turned back the sheet halfway to reveal the first small body. She looked so small, even for her age of almost eleven. Almost frozen in a fetal position from being attached to her sister, her curved body made Katie think of an ancient hieroglyph, a symbol that she had to decode. Advanced skeletonized decomposition meant there were missing patches of skin, but most of the girl’s blonde hair was intact, except near the area of the branding.
“This is Tessa Mayfield,” the doctor confirmed. “She had various injuries, broken bones, fractures and such post mortem, most likely due to the fall from the canyon.” He indicated with his fingers towards her head. “But the marks on her neck indicate her cause of death was strangulation and I’m deeming it homicide. The strangulation and death was before she sustained injuries consistent with the fall into the canyon.”
Katie studied the neck area which had darkened, making the pattern visible. “It looks like the damage was caused by some kind of chain,” she said.
“Could be,” he said.
“And it’s definitely the cause of death?”
“No doubt—the proof is in the extended damage to her vertebrae and broken hyoid bone.”
“It’s a bit overkill, wouldn’t you say? She’s so small and delicate. Isn’t this much more than would be necessary to kill her?” asked Katie. Her mind moved through killers who used brute force to subdue or kill their victims. Why did he do this?
“Most definitely. Brute strength was used, excessively, to break this child’s neck.”
Katie thought about that. “Anything under her nails?” She was hopeful, but it was unlikely after so long.
“No DNA, just dirt and debris. The samples have been sent to John along with the remnants of their clothing and a small piece of fabric found in her hand.”
Katie nodded as she noted those pieces of evidence. “Is there anything else that stands out about Tessa Mayfield’s body?”
The medical examiner pulled the rest of the sheet away. It was clear that there were numerous broken bones and crushed areas. Large patches of her arms, stomach, and the top of her thighs were a strange purplish-orange color, unlike rigor mortis but more like the result of severe first-degree burns.
“Is that an injury?” she asked.
“These were the areas that were in contact with her sister’s body. It wasn’t clear if they clung to one another after they were thrown down the ravine—or evenasthey were thrown—and remained entwined, or if it was where they had landed. And after time, skeletonized decomposition in the open air fused them together.”
