She Who Watches by Patricia H. Rushford Page B

the esophagus for evidence of ligature strangulation.
    â€œSee these marks?” Kristen pointed, stopping her dictation. “Looks like there was something wrapped around her neck and face. Grab my blue light, Henry.”
    Henry shut off the lights and handed Kristen a simple-looking light with a special blue bulb on the end, covered by a red plastic shield on one side. Kristen waived the wand over the body, finding nothing other than soil until the special lighting reached the head and neck area. The striations took form now, showing wide, structured patterns on the neck. She shut off the light after taking measurements and recording the information on the Dictaphone. Henry turned the lights back on while Kristen stood back from the table and thought for a moment.
    â€œWhat do you think?” Mac asked, knowing the look on Kristen’s face.
    â€œDuct tape would be my guess, something that was tightly wrapped around her face and neck. You guys better take some scrapings from her face, hair, and wrists. I wouldn’t be surprised if we found evidence of some type of resin or glue on her.”
    Kristen examined the hands of the victim more closely, this time with a magnifying glass. “Her nails are trimmed down to the pad under the nail. They are cut right into the dermis. No woman would keep her nails like this.” Kristen raised the right hand for Dana to view.
    â€œYou’re right. First of all, it would be too painful. Look how uneven they are; I’m surprised they aren’t bloody in spots,” Dana added.
    â€œProbably because she was dead when they were cut,” Kristen noted. “No heartbeat, no blood pumping. Her killer apparently took great care to remove the bindings and trim the fingernails, along with all the clothing. Too bad. We might have found forensic evidence on her clothes. This creep put quite a bit of thought into it.” Her jaw clenched. “He knew exactly what he was doing.”
    Kristen moved up to examine the eyes and the nose, noting some hemorrhaging characteristics on the whites of the eyes that evidenced lack of oxygen. “I can’t say for sure if she was choked or strangled, gang, but there is evidence of oxygen deprivation.”
    Doc Thorpe put her left hand on the victim’s forehead and her right palm on the chin, forcing open the jaw with a crack. “We have something inside the mouth. Give me some light here, Henry.” She held the mouth open while Nate photographed the object and moved aside so Kristen could remove it. “It’s some kind of leather pouch or something.”
    Kristen set the object on the table, turning over the small brown leather object to reveal the same kind of intricate beadwork they’d found on the object they’d recovered near the body.
    Dana told her about the find. “The leather and bead coloring look like a match. What do you guys think?”
    Nate took several more photos. “Hard to tell. But I’d say it’s a good guess.”
    â€œI have the piece we found so we can compare.” Mac retrieved the evidence bag. The beaded leather piece the dog had unearthed looked like it had been a flap over the pouch and had been torn away. Mac pulled the item from the evidence bag, smoothing the wrinkled leather with his gloved hands. He examined that piece alongside the larger section that Kristen had pulled from the victim’s mouth, comparing the beadwork and leather. “It’s a match, all right.”
    â€œThere’s something inside the pouch.” Kristen pulled open the leather string and withdrew a small round stone, which she set on the examination table. “There’s something I haven’t seen before.” Kristen stepped back so Nate could photograph it.
    Mac moved in for a closer look. Carved into the face of the stone was a crude image of a catlike face or possibly an image of a raccoon.
    â€œTsagagalal.”Nate peered down at the image.