Dark Wings Descending by Lesley Davis Page A

care what its origin is as long as it’s accurate and can be used in a court of law.” She held out her hand for the USB stick. “What do we have here?” she asked as she began pulling information from the device as soon as it was in her computer.
    Ashley moved before the big screen as the photos were uploaded. She pressed into Rafe to whisper, “Why does no one pay attention to the religious bit?” before stepping away. Rafe barely heard her as her full attention was on the screen, her mouth dropping open as the first photo was one taken from a height above the alley. The vantage point clearly showed the victim’s blood had been spread around the body as if fanning it.
    “Why did none of our crime scene photographers go above the area?” Dean hastened to enlarge the photo. “Look how small she looks, yet check out all the blood. That isn’t a natural pooling; it’s spread too high.” He looked at Ashley. “Did you take these?”
    Rafe grimaced. So much for no questions asked.
    Ashley merely nodded. “I was on a fire escape in the apartment overlooking the alley. I only had a few moments with the body on the ground.” Copying what she’d seen Dean do, Ashley pulled another photo to the forefront, and the tide of blood was more visible around the body. “It looked like the blood had been disturbed .”
    “He’s playing in it?” Alona asked, joining them.
    “It looked spread out, messed with, as if its pouring out underneath her just wasn’t enough for him,” Ashley said.
    “He needs a broader canvas for his art,” Rafe said.
    “He needs time for this,” said Dean. “And he needs to be clean enough from spreading it that he doesn’t draw attention to himself after. Christ, what does he look like when he’s finished with this? He’s got to be covered in blood.”
    “Which brings us back to the butcher in our profile.” Rafe brought up a picture from the most recent killing, again, taken from above. The blood was once again spread out. She tilted her head a little to get another view. “He only managed to spread it on one side this time.”
    “We still think he picked a poor area to do all he wanted to for this one,” Dean pointed out. “Too many chances of being caught by the people at the bar nearby.”
    Ashley pointed to a photo. “Can you get anything evidence-wise from him running his hands through the blood?”
    “Not if he’s wearing gloves, and we needed to have checked the previous scenes closely in the blood itself.” Rafe groaned as a thought struck her. “Oh God, how many walked around her blood and never considered it was an actual clue here?”
    “We’ll consider ourselves warned for the next time.” Dean made a face at his own comment. “Unfortunately.”
    Rafe continued going through the photos. The rest were like their own scene of crime pictures. She gave Ashley a sideways glance. “You should have been a CSI.”
    “Been there, done that,” Ashley said. She then spoke under her breath for Rafe alone, “How do you think I get in so close once the police start arriving?”
    Rafe asked Alona to make copies of the photographs. “Please send a copy to Blythe and tell her we think he’s playing with the blood for some reason. Maybe she can add it to her profile for us.”
    “You have a profiler?” Ashley asked.
    “She’s a friend helping me out.” Rafe felt Ashley’s stare burning through her before she looked up.
    “A friend ?”
    “We were at the academy together. She joined the FBI and I chose a detective’s shield. We’ve been friends for years. I decided to ask her advice; she’s not officially assigned to the case. It’s strictly off-the-record.”
    “Oh, a sneaky friend. I like the sound of her already. I’d be very interested in what she has to say about this killer, if I can read her profile?”
    Rafe reached over for the printout she kept on her desk. Ashley read through it quietly, then nodded. “When do I get to meet this marvel?”
    “I