Page 25 of The Whispering Girls
“Libby said it sounded like a man. And he said the body was between two main trees near the entrance trail.”
“Libby?” said McGaven.
“She’s our administrative assistant. We don’t have any other information.”
Katie thought that was suspicious, but didn’t want to spend any more time on it at the moment. “Do you have mobile lights?”
The officer nodded. “I have two.”
“We’re going to need them. Gav and I are going to do a preliminary search,” she said. “We’ll let you know when we need them.” She hated working a crime scene at night with lights because it was easy to miss evidence.
The officer nodded. He appeared nervous, most likely due to the fact he hadn’t any experience in homicides.
“Clark, we need you to be first officer on the scene. Can you do that?” she said.
“Yeah. I remember from the police academy.”
“What about Dr. Thomas?”
“Jack?”
“Yes. Has he been contacted?” she said.
“It’s protocol. Libby should have called or messaged him.”
Katie shut the Jeep hatch and looked at Cisco, who seemed to have made himself comfortable on a blanket. “Okay,” she said, readying her flashlight. “We’re going to begin the crime scene investigation until he arrives.”
Clark went to his patrol car to prepare the lights as Katie and McGaven headed to the area where the body had been found. Katie slowed her pace and noticed typical groupings of dense trees, but due to the clouds parting the half-moon illuminated an open area between two huge pine trees. She stopped. It was quiet. She couldn’t detect any breeze. Closing her eyes, she gathered her wits, her skills, and prepared herself for what she was about to see.
McGaven had stopped six feet behind her, allowing his partner to approach the crime scene first. Then they would search and scrutinize everything as a team.
Officer Clark observed the detectives but remained at his location.
Katie opened her eyes and pulled on her gloves. She switched on her heavy-duty flashlight and pointed it in front of her, spotlighting the area between the two large trees. It was a small clearing that appeared to be natural and not prepared as a stage setting. She could see the outline of what looked like a body in the distance.
Pushing everything from her mind, Katie walked forward slowly, making sure her path was consistent and not contaminating possible evidence. It was so quiet she was aware of her breathing, which was even and calm. She noticed the area was mostly dirt with mixed small rocks in between remnants of snow. It was a little tricky to keep a straight line as she walked in. About ten feet in, the ground beneath her feet became low dead weeds mixed with soil.
Katie fanned the light back and forth, and didn’t seeanything but the rural landscape. She kept moving forward. As with any crime scene, she examined everything leading up to viewing the body. It not only kept any potential evidence in mind, but it also prepared her to view the body and to look directly at the victim. It would always be difficult, but Katie had to keep her thoughts objective no matter how disturbing things could be.
There was a female body lying flat on the ground. The victim’s pale skin highlighted the scene. Dressed only in panties and a T-shirt, the body was positioned with the arms straight out away from the body and legs straight and unbending, as if she had fallen backward in a trust fall. Katie’s first thought was that the positioning of the body was directly opposed to the first victim hanging in the tree, and wondered if it was significant. It also seemed that there was some type of material covering the woman’s face—only long blonde hair was visible. It looked wet and matted.
Katie stopped.
There were three pine cones positioned together on top of a low pile of pine needles. There was something sparkly around the gathering, and Katie saw there were also some leather strings tied securely in a knot around the pine cones. There was something familiar about this particular grouping, which wasn’t more than five feet away from the body.
Katie finally stood over the victim. The ashen skin with bluish marks on the upper thighs and along the inside of the arms looked oddly out of place. There was the usual discoloring of a deceased individual, but these prominent darker bluish-black intertwining patterns were that of livor mortis, the pooling of blood after death. Katie would know more after the medical examiner did a full examination and autopsy, but she surmised it could mean that the body was transported or stored for a short period of time before being set in its final resting place.
Katie examined the body; there were no obvious indicationsof punctures or means of death. She bent down and took her thumb and forefinger to the burlap fabric—then she cautiously folded it away from the victim’s face.
Katie abruptly stood up. This time shewasstaring into the face of TJ, the young woman who had knocked on her cabin door.
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“What is it?” said McGaven barely five feet behind her.
Katie continued to stare at TJ, remembering the pretty young woman at her door. Katie remembered she’d had several ear piercings and a leather beaded choker—all of which were now gone from her face and seemed to be incorporated into the totem.
