Page 34 of In Her Wake
“There’s something else you should see,” Melissa said, gesturing for them to come closer.She pointed to faint impressions on Marjory’s face—a slight redness around the nose and mouth in the shape of an oval.“See these marks?They indicate she was wearing some kind of mask shortly before or at the time of death—looks to me like it was a medical oxygen mask.”
Jenna remembered her dream.The Marjory mannequin had pointed to her real body, which had been wearing what looked like an oxygen mask.
“What do you suppose it was for?”Jake frowned.
“For delivering death, I suspect,” Melissa replied grimly.“Based on the lack of petechial hemorrhaging in the eyes and the absence of signs of struggle, I’m speculating she was killed by an inert gas—nitrogen or helium, possibly.The body shows no trauma, no ligature marks, nothing to suggest physical violence.”
“Could it have been carbon monoxide?”Jenna asked, recalling cases she’d investigated where victims appeared similarly peaceful.
Melissa shook her head.“I doubt it.CO would leave a cherry-red appearance to the lips and skin, which we don’t see here.An inert gas would simply displace oxygen in the lungs, leading to painless asphyxiation.The victim would feel light-headed, perhaps euphoric, then simply lose consciousness and die.”
“But she would have fought it, tried to remove the mask,” Spelling observed.
“Not if she was already subdued,” Melissa countered.“I’ll need to run toxicology, but I suspect we’ll find evidence of a sedative or muscle relaxant in her system.Maybe administered by injection.”She lifted one of Marjory’s arms, pointing to a small mark on the inside of her elbow.“Like here.”
Jenna found herself staring at the dead woman’s face—identical to the mannequin’s yet fundamentally different.This was the real Marjory, the woman who had sold houses and celebrated commissions and loved her husband.Who had been alive yesterday morning, with no idea what the day would bring.
“I’ll know more after the autopsy,” Melissa continued.“But whoever did this knew what they were doing.This wasn’t an amateur fumbling through a murder.”
Jake’s phone rang suddenly, cutting through the grim atmosphere.He checked the display.“It’s Betty Rosin,” he said to Jenna, then answered.“Deputy Hawkins.”
Rebecca Ashcroft’s employee, Jenna remembered.
After a moment, Jake asked, "When did you receive this?And you're at the store now?"Then Jake nodded at whatever response came through."Stay there.We're on our way."He ended the call and turned to Jenna."That was Betty from the Velvet Hanger.Rebecca Ashcroft just texted her saying she's in some kind of trouble and headed to the boutique.She said she needs Betty's help."
“Rebecca,” Jenna repeated, mentally shifting gears.“After disappearing conveniently yesterday.”
“Betty’s at the store now, waiting,” Jake added.
Jenna turned to Spelling.“Colonel, we need to follow up on this lead.Rebecca Ashcroft had a public falling out with Marjory, and she vanished right around the time Marjory disappeared.”
Spelling nodded.“Go.I’ll coordinate here with Dr.Stark.We’ll need to process this scene thoroughly.”
“Officer Baldry,” Jenna called to the officer securing the perimeter.“I want a full canvas of the area.Check for tire tracks, footprints, anything that might tell us how the body was transported here.”
“Yes, Sheriff,” Baldry replied.
“And Greg,” she added, using his first name to emphasize the importance, “if another call comes in about a mannequin, I want to know immediately.”
“You think there’s going to be another one?”Baldry asked, his expression grave.
Jenna remembered Marjory’s words from her dream: “I wasn’t the first.And I won’t be the last.”But she couldn’t explain that, not here, not now.
“A precaution,” she said instead.“This case has too many unusual elements not to consider every possibility.”
She and Jake started back up the gentle slope toward their vehicles.The morning had warmed slightly, the dew burning off the grass, but Jenna felt cold inside.Marjory Powell’s death had been carried out with unusual skill.Her body had been arranged like a discarded doll, an artificial version of her placed in her own kitchen.This killer had planned every detail carefully and executed it flawlessly.
How could they begin to guess who might be the next victim?
There was also the question about the danger to the public.Would releasing these details to the public help them protect themselves or just produce panic and wild accusations?After all, at this point, they had no reason to think a serial killer was at work—no reason except for Jenna's dream.
“What do you make of Rebecca’s text?”Jake interrupted her thoughts as they reached the cruiser.“You think it’s legitimate, or some kind of trap?”
“I don’t know,” Jenna admitted, unlocking the vehicle.“But it’s the best lead we have right now.Rebecca certainly has personality issues.She also had a motive to harm Marjory, and her sudden disappearance is suspicious.”She slid behind the wheel.“Marjory said in my dream that ‘he’ did this to her, but dreams aren’t always literal.Maybe Rebecca hired someone.Or maybe Rebecca has nothing to do with this, and she’s in genuine trouble.”
Jake buckled his seatbelt.“Only one way to find out.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
