He looked away.
Eric took up the slack. ‘Look, our boss wasn’t convinced by our reading of the facts so he scaled back our investigation. Finding this perp became the Holy Grail for us. Then we got transferred to LA and that killer’s still out there.’
Steelie asked, ‘What makes you think the material in the ravine is related to your Georgia cases?’
‘If the stuff is human, then it’s the MO of dismemberment in combination with the type of vehicle: multiple witnesses recalled the missing Atlanta women last being seen getting into a van.’
Scott added, ‘When CHP notified us this morning that there was a van wearing Georgia plates involved in this mess, we made it Federal and put on our thinking caps.’ He finally met Jayne’s eyes. ‘Thus the early morning call to you.’
Jayne nodded slowly. ‘So you want us to confirm human, non-human, sex? What else? Because this isn’t our area anymore. We’re dealing with families, not bodies.’
‘Ever noticed how the wick goes all the way through a candle?’ Scott asked.
She frowned at the apparent non sequitur.
He re-started, ‘A candle couldn’t burn if the wick didn’t go all the way through. That’s why you can burn it from either end.’
‘Is that supposed to mean something in this context?’
Eric cut in. ‘He’s trying to say that we’re all doing the same thing, just starting at different ends. You’re trying to make ID’s by starting with missing persons; we’re starting with their bodies. And I’ve heard from Scott that you two have done more than your fair share of body work with the UN. If anyone’s qualified to check out this site, it’s you guys.’
‘So,’ Scott said. ‘Can we do this?’
Jayne and Steelie nodded and Scott called over one of the Critters who arrived holding some flat nylon straps with clips on the ends. He spoke with a deep voice when he identified himself as Agent Weiss. ‘When we get over to the site, you’ll see that the best way to get up there is for me to winch you up. Can I get you two fitted out?’ He unfurled the straps to show they were fixed into a harness that resembled underpants.
Steelie stepped forward to get into the rig as the others watched and she leaned on Weiss’ shoulder for balance. ‘Y’know, Scott, you didn’t have to go to all this trouble just to see me in some underwear.’
Eric choked back a surprised laugh. ‘Hang on. How long have you guys known each other?’
Steelie replied, ‘Since Houston here was still in training pants.’
‘Not training,’ Scott corrected. ‘Trainee. And it was a uniform.’
‘It was a training gun, though, right?’
Eric looked over at his partner. ‘Is she talking about the red ones we use at Quantico?’
‘Before your time, Ramos.’ He looked at Jayne. ‘Can’t you rein her in?’
‘No,’ Jayne said, stepping into her own harness. ‘I can’t.’
But by now Steelie had Eric’s attention. ‘When Jayne and I were at Quantico, we watched a classmate of Scott’s run a semi-covert op to steal his gun.’
His eyes widened as he looked at Scott. ‘From the back of your pants?’
‘She didn’t succeed,’ Scott downplayed. ‘And then I stole hers.’
‘Yeah!’ Steelie rejoined. ‘And she yelled at him from the other side of the bar like it was NASA Control. “Houston? We got a problem.” So then he—’
‘Eric doesn’t need the rest of that story,’ Scott interrupted. ‘You ready, Jayne?’
They followed a CHP officer to the edge of the parking lot and clambered over a low concrete wall to descend into the ravine. They hiked along the bottom for a short distance. Past the Sunkist property line the ravine narrowed and became more overgrown; eucalyptus, vinca, shreds of plastic bags, all sprouting with equal vigor. It was darker and cooler because the sun hadn’t filtered down yet. The group fell silent.
The officer slowed and called back to them, pointing to the left where the berm led up to the freeway. ‘The material’s up there. We marked a wide perimeter with flags. The slope is steep and it is slippery.’ He stepped to the side, using the trunk of a small tree as a handhold.
Jayne and Steelie hung back while the Critters moved in to do their work. Then Scott turned to the anthropologists and said, ‘OK, Thirty-two One, tell us what we got.’
The two women moved to the front of the group, the clicks of the power buttons on their flashlights echoed by clicks on others’ as people followed their lead. Ten seconds passed as they looked up the berm from below. Brown leaves, wet leaves, wet tissue exhibiting pale, red blotches.
‘Well, it’s human. I can tell you that from here,’ declared Jayne.
‘In that case,’ Scott said, ‘I authorize you to take a closer look.’
Weiss clipped their harnesses to a rappelling rope and checked all the connections. Once they were lined up with Jayne in front, he started winching and she and Steelie climbed the slope. As soon as they were parallel to the body parts, they leaned toward them at various angles.
Steelie called down to the others. ‘We’re not going to touch anything because you guys will have to detail-photo this first, OK?’
‘Ten-four, ma’am,’ came the reply.
‘OK,’ Jayne murmured to Steelie. ‘I’m seeing two arms, present from the shoulder down, all fingers present. A chunk of thigh and knee . . . left. You seeing the same thing?’
‘Yeah, plus I’ve got another chunk of torso down here. Everything’s wet.’
‘Is it just wet around the BP’s? Or is that condensation?’
They both looked around. Everything else was dry and dusty, like Southern California should be in the summer.
‘What’s the deal?’ asked Jayne. ‘The parts aren’t fresh but they don’t look like they’re decomping either.’
‘They’re not,’ Steelie replied. ‘Listen. Do you hear that?’ She held her hand up and Jayne stopped moving, cocking her head to the side.
In between the rushes of sound that accompanied the passing traffic on the freeway above them, there was a distinct sound. Sip, sip . . . sip . . . sip, sip. Then, before their eyes, out of the tissue visible in the cross-section of the exposed left knee, came a droplet. It was a watery red shimmer, hanging, then dropping from the tissue on to the bed of leaves below.
‘Not decomping . . .’ said Steelie. ‘Defrosting.’
They straightened up.
Jayne called out, ‘Houston.’
‘Yo,’ came his voice from below.
‘We got a problem.’ She wasn’t smiling.
TWO
Scott watched Steelie’s Jeep leave the Sunkist parking lot as he wrapped up the call on his cell phone. He summoned his team from where they were talking to Highway Patrol.
‘OK, we’ve got the green light from Quantico to process this scene.’ He held up his hand as two of the Critters began to move toward the open rear doors of their vehicle. ‘Hang on. After we get the material, it’s going to the LA County coroner, not Virginia, so bag it for local transport, not shipment.’
Eric looked like he wanted to ask a question but Agent Sparks got in first. ‘You want us to stick to the perimeter CHP established?’
Scott asked Weiss, ‘What’d you see when you put up the rappelling line?’
‘The body parts look like they were thrown down from above. Maybe they’ve rolled a bit but I didn’t see signs that this was the dismemberment site.’ Weiss gestured an invitation to the Critter to his left, who was holding a stack of plastic photo markers with surgical-gloved hands.
Lee nodded. ‘I haven’t seen anything beyond the immediate area where they’re dripping. And CHP kept their perimeter well wide of that. I wouldn’t go wider.’
‘All right,’ Scott said. ‘Let’s use their perimeter line and note that. But Lee, I want you to photo-doc outside the perimeter as well.’