Kenneher.”
“So who is it?”
“That’s a damned good question.” He started to cross the street, motioning for Mia to follow.
“I guess if you had a report of a missing local woman you’d have mentioned it by now.” Mia caught up with him on the sidewalk on the opposite side of the street.
“Good guess.”
“So it isn’t the woman you knew about, the one from the neighboring town.” She quickened her pace. “And you haven’t gotten word of anyone else missing?”
“None.”
“Which means he brought her here from somewhere else just to jab at you a little, or someone’s missing who hasn’t been reported.”
“Judging by the appearance of the corpse, this one’s been missing for a while. The flesh was pretty soupy.”
“What’s your guess, weeks?”
“Tough to tell. Even the ME wasn’t sure she’d be able to pinpoint how long the vic’s been dead. Given the heat and the temperature that would have built up inside that plastic wrapping, I don’t know that we’ll ever know for sure how long she’s been dead. Unless, of course, we’re able to identify her and figure out how long she’s been missing.”
“I’ll call someone back at the Bureau, see if he can shoot over a list of women who have been reported missing over the past, let’s say six months in a fifty mile radius. We’ll see if any of them match the vital stats of your vic.” They reached the municipal building and headed for the door.
“I’ll give the ME a call and see what she’s got that we can use. As I said, the body is in pretty bad shape.”
Beck held the door and allowed Mia to enter the building first. Garland was flagging him down with a fistfull of phone messages and Beck grabbed them as he walked by, mouthing a thanks to the dispatcher who was busy taking another call.
“There’s a phone in the conference room you can use,” Beck told Mia. “My office is the next door over. Come on in when you’re finished.”
“I brought my own.” She took her phone from her bag and held it up as she went into the conference room. He had calls to make as did she.
Five minutes later Mia tapped lightly on Beck’s open office door then entered without waiting for his invitation.
“Someone in my office is running through the latest NCIC missing-person entries,” she told him.
“Great. We’ll see if any of them match up with the ME’s best guess.” Beck leaned against the corner of his desk. “She’s thinking the vic is in her mid-twenties, blond hair. Hazel eyes. Five feet six inches tall, weight at the time of her death was probably around one twenty-five. Extensive cosmetic dental work—a lot of porcelain crowns. Expensive stuff. The flesh was in poor condition so she’s not sure of any distinguishing marks like birthmarks. There is an old healed fracture of the right forearm, most likely a childhood injury. And that’s all we’ve got to try to match her up with.”
“If she’s in the system, we’ll have her. If not—”
“If not, we go on the six o’clock news and let the world know what we’ve got. Someone has to be looking for this woman.”
“In the meantime—”
“In the meantime, we wait,” he snapped.
She stared at him for a long time, then said calmly, “I’ll be waiting in the conference room. I’d appreciate it if you’d get me a copy of the files on the two vics—the first one that was found, and the one who’s still missing. In particular, I’ll need to see all the interviews. Family, friends, coworkers.”
He looked at her quizzically.
“Know the victim, know the killer.” She turned and went into the conference room, closing the door quietly behind her.
8
Mia rested an elbow on the edge of the table and tried to brush off the twinge of annoyance that flared inside her when Beck had cut her off. Clearly he was used to being in charge. She could deal with that. All her life she’d been surrounded by men who were used to giving orders. What bothered her about
“So who is it?”
“That’s a damned good question.” He started to cross the street, motioning for Mia to follow.
“I guess if you had a report of a missing local woman you’d have mentioned it by now.” Mia caught up with him on the sidewalk on the opposite side of the street.
“Good guess.”
“So it isn’t the woman you knew about, the one from the neighboring town.” She quickened her pace. “And you haven’t gotten word of anyone else missing?”
“None.”
“Which means he brought her here from somewhere else just to jab at you a little, or someone’s missing who hasn’t been reported.”
“Judging by the appearance of the corpse, this one’s been missing for a while. The flesh was pretty soupy.”
“What’s your guess, weeks?”
“Tough to tell. Even the ME wasn’t sure she’d be able to pinpoint how long the vic’s been dead. Given the heat and the temperature that would have built up inside that plastic wrapping, I don’t know that we’ll ever know for sure how long she’s been dead. Unless, of course, we’re able to identify her and figure out how long she’s been missing.”
“I’ll call someone back at the Bureau, see if he can shoot over a list of women who have been reported missing over the past, let’s say six months in a fifty mile radius. We’ll see if any of them match the vital stats of your vic.” They reached the municipal building and headed for the door.
“I’ll give the ME a call and see what she’s got that we can use. As I said, the body is in pretty bad shape.”
Beck held the door and allowed Mia to enter the building first. Garland was flagging him down with a fistfull of phone messages and Beck grabbed them as he walked by, mouthing a thanks to the dispatcher who was busy taking another call.
“There’s a phone in the conference room you can use,” Beck told Mia. “My office is the next door over. Come on in when you’re finished.”
“I brought my own.” She took her phone from her bag and held it up as she went into the conference room. He had calls to make as did she.
Five minutes later Mia tapped lightly on Beck’s open office door then entered without waiting for his invitation.
“Someone in my office is running through the latest NCIC missing-person entries,” she told him.
“Great. We’ll see if any of them match up with the ME’s best guess.” Beck leaned against the corner of his desk. “She’s thinking the vic is in her mid-twenties, blond hair. Hazel eyes. Five feet six inches tall, weight at the time of her death was probably around one twenty-five. Extensive cosmetic dental work—a lot of porcelain crowns. Expensive stuff. The flesh was in poor condition so she’s not sure of any distinguishing marks like birthmarks. There is an old healed fracture of the right forearm, most likely a childhood injury. And that’s all we’ve got to try to match her up with.”
“If she’s in the system, we’ll have her. If not—”
“If not, we go on the six o’clock news and let the world know what we’ve got. Someone has to be looking for this woman.”
“In the meantime—”
“In the meantime, we wait,” he snapped.
She stared at him for a long time, then said calmly, “I’ll be waiting in the conference room. I’d appreciate it if you’d get me a copy of the files on the two vics—the first one that was found, and the one who’s still missing. In particular, I’ll need to see all the interviews. Family, friends, coworkers.”
He looked at her quizzically.
“Know the victim, know the killer.” She turned and went into the conference room, closing the door quietly behind her.
8
Mia rested an elbow on the edge of the table and tried to brush off the twinge of annoyance that flared inside her when Beck had cut her off. Clearly he was used to being in charge. She could deal with that. All her life she’d been surrounded by men who were used to giving orders. What bothered her about
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