THREE
It took less than two hours to find the well.
It took two more to bring up the hideously battered body of Lynet Grainger.
They had rigged several battery-powered lights to illuminate the clearing around the well, and that made it possible for Dr. Edwards to perform a preliminary exam at the scene. While she was doing that, the area was cordoned off and meticulously searched.
"Not that we'll find anything useful," Alex said to Miranda. "It rained again last night, and I'm betting she was dropped in there either before or during the rain. Nice way to wash away all the evidence. Doesn't miss a trick, our guy."
"You think it's the same killer?"
"I think you noticed the same thing I did."
"Yeah."
"Well then?"
She nodded slowly. "I think we have only one killer here. But. . . there's something different about this victim."
"What?"
"I don't know."
Alex waited a beat. "She's fully clothed, is that it? The other two were naked, or near enough."
"No . . . not that. Something else." She met his gaze and grimaced slightly. "Nothing I can explain, obviously. A hunch, I suppose."
"Your hunches are generally pretty sound."
"They haven't helped us much on this case." Miranda rubbed the back of her neck in a characteristic gesture of weariness.
Alex checked his watch. "Nearly ten. You've been out here more than eight hours, Randy. No supper, no lunch — and I'll bet you hardly slept last night."
Her gaze shifted to the other side of the cordoned-off area where Bishop stood talking to Agent Harte, but all she said was, "I'll sleep tonight. Too tired not to."
"Is Mrs. Task staying with Bonnie?"
"Till I get home, yeah. As usual. I don't know what I'd do without her."
"It goes both ways," Alex said. "She would have been in bad shape if you and Bonnie hadn't come here eight years ago. Widowed and left up to her ears in debt by that louse she was married to, no other family, no skills, no friends. Taking care of the two of you gave her a new lease on life."
"If that's the case, she's more than repaid me. I just hate keeping her up all hours waiting for me."
"She doesn't mind. It's not like you make a habit of it — I mean, before the last couple of months."
That was true enough, Miranda admitted silently. Being the sheriff of a small and generally peaceful town was a nine-to-five job for the most part. There were occasional town council meetings and other evening commitments, but she was usually able to spend her nights home with Bonnie.
Even when she'd been a deputy serving under the last sheriff, the hours had been reasonable and the work mostly pleasant and undemanding.
But that was before a killer began stalking Gladstone.
Before the visions had returned.
Before Bishop came back into her life.
She looked at the doctor to avoid the temptation of watching Bishop, and saw Edwards make a subtle gesture toward him. By the time the doctor reached her and Alex, Bishop and Agent Harte had also joined them.
"I have a preliminary report, Sheriff," Edwards said briskly. "I'll know more later, of course, but. . ."
"Go ahead, Doctor."
"Death occurred approximately twelve to twenty-four hours ago. She's in complete rigor, and judging by the position in which we found the body, she was probably dropped into the well no more than two or three hours after death but certainly well before rigor commenced. In these colder temperatures, of course, rigor would have been retarded for some time."
"Yes," Miranda said. "Go on."
"There are no external signs of rape or other sexual abuse. No signs she was tied up or otherwise bound or physically restrained. No defensive injuries. Nothing under the fingernails. She's been severely beaten by a blunt object, something wooden, possibly a baseball bat. The cause of death, I believe, will prove to be internal injuries caused by the beating. The body's been completely exsanguinated, and by someone who knew what they were doing."
Alex said, "There are people who specialize in draining blood? If anybody mentions vampires, I'll—"
Edwards shook her head, but showed no mockery. "Morticians, doctors, even a vet would know. But it's not just a matter of knowledge. This wasn't done out in a field somewhere. He had to have the right place and the right equipment."
"Running water," Miranda said. "Tubing, drains. Containers for the blood, if he kept it."
"Exactly." Edwards nodded. "He might have read up on the procedures, at least enough to have done a professional job, but we can be sure he had to have enough uninterrupted time and privacy to get the job done."
Miranda gazed steadily at the forensic expert. "Okay. And you're sure she didn't fight him? No defensive injuries, she wasn't restrained, nothing under her fingernails — she just let somebody beat her to death without a struggle?"
"I doubt she knew what was happening. A tox screen will tell us for certain, but I believe she was drugged, possibly to the point of coma, before she was killed."
"Bingo," Alex said quietly, looking at Miranda. "That's what's different."
"We haven't seen the detailed reports of the two other cases yet," Bishop reminded them.
Miranda answered the implicit question. "We don't know about Adam Ramsay, but the tox screen on Kerry Ingram came back negative, and all indications are that she was awake and aware through most of her ordeal. In fact, our medical examiner believes she was repeatedly strangled to the point of unconsciousness and then allowed to revive. A blow to the head finally killed her."
Agent Harte muttered, "I'll interpret that data to mean this guy is a real sicko."
"Amen," Alex agreed.
Edwards said, "I'll be able to test the remains of the Ramsay boy. We should know fairly quickly if he was drugged. And I'll know more about this one after the post."
Miranda said, "You didn't mention her eyes, Doctor."
"Removed, as you obviously noticed. And, again, by someone who knew what they were doing."
"Meaning?"
"Meaning that the eyes weren't hacked out or gouged out. They were very neatly removed from the sockets. Whoever did it was careful not to damage the surrounding tissue. In fact, that was the only injury above her neck."
"I'm no profiler," Alex said, looking at Bishop, "but that sounds significant to me."
"Could be," Bishop said dispassionately, as if he hadn't noticed the direct challenge. "By blinding his victim and yet leaving her face essentially undamaged, he could be telling us she knew him and he felt something for her, possibly even some kind of affection. He took her eyes because she'd seen him, and probably covered her face with something while he was beating her so he could think of her as a nameless, faceless object. On the other hand, though it's comparatively rare for a killer to take a body part as a trophy, that could also be a valid guess."
"I'm sorry I asked," Alex muttered.
"Why did he take her blood?" Miranda asked. "And Kerry Ingram's blood — possibly the blood of all three of them? What does that signify?"
"A ritualistic or cannibalistic obsession, most likely," Bishop answered promptly. "Assuming he kept it and didn't just drain it from the body, he needs the blood or believes he does. Either to drink it or use it some other way in a ritual that's important to him."
"Then maybe," Miranda suggested, "he needed Lynet's eyes as well."
"It is possible," Bishop agreed. "At this point, I barely have enough information to offer a threshold diagnosis, much less a complete profile."
Edwards said, "And I've learned all I can from this body, at least for the moment. Also, in case the rest of you haven't noticed, it's getting damned cold out here. I suggest we bag the body and take it to your autopsy facility, and I'll get started on the post."