Page 24 of Only Girl Alive

He studied the throat carefully before glancing at Eve.

“The tissue at the cut is too thick for the weapon to have been a scalpel, but the blade was very sharp. Knife went in directly above the zygomatic bone at the ear. I would guess prior knowledge on slitting a throat.”

She glanced at Clyde. He was deep in thought. Her gaze went back to the table. Photos came next, followed by extracting fluid from the eyes with a long syringe inserted directly into the pupil. If the family was drugged, it would show in the vitreous gel.

The Y incision was made and the organs removed one at a time to be weighed. Small slices were then cut from each organ and placed on slides for examination by clinical lab experts. Stomach samples were also taken. They would show a sedative if it were in the food.

It took another forty-five minutes before George finished the first autopsy. His tech began sewing closed the Y incision with a large needle and heavy yellow cord.

“Nothing strange that I could see with Mr. Tanner,” George told them. “Cause of death was definitely the cut to the throat and not drugs. No contusions or hematomas to the brain that would cause unconsciousness. The incision was too clean and he was drugged to the point he didn’t fight.”

Her team knew it, but it was always nice to have it validated by the pathologist.

Bart Tanner’s body was moved to its original gurney and he was zipped back in the same bag. The table was scrubbed and George was ready to continue.

Marcella was next.

After her clothes were removed, it was impossible to miss the tape residue on her wrists and ankles. Thoughts of the attic filled Eve’s head. She couldn’t see the expression on Clyde’s face behind his mask but she knew he was speculating about the same things. George stopped his examination and turned his green, quizzical gaze on her.

“The crime scene matches this,” she told him. “We have a room in the house that makes us think something more happened.”

The autopsy continued. Eve usually added to her notes when George examined private areas on the bodies, unless it was a sexual assault case. The duct tape on the chair and evidence of it on Marcella changed everything. She also had several bruises on her back and upper thighs that fit the width of the belt. George snapped photos after he cataloged them in his recorder.

“From what the examination shows, she’s been sexually assaulted,” George said. “She has bruising and—”

Eve’s gaze snapped to George. She barely registered the rest of what he said. Could Bart Tanner have been a seed bearer? It made no sense. His home was small and he only had two wives living with him. He was not in good standing with the religious sect. He couldn’t be. Your worth was defined by your female property and the number of children you had. It made more sense that a seed bearer was brought in and the women fought against what was happening.

“I’m taking semen samples,” George told her. “I know they are from the polygamist community and it would be nearly impossible for the women to cheat on their spouse but I’m doing as you asked and treating this like a case I know nothing about. It will be interesting if the DNA did not match her husband.”

The team knew about seed bearers but it had not come up in a case before. Fundamentalist polygamy information was disseminated to law enforcement and Tamm was in charge of advising them on anything new that they might encounter. When the prophet established the doctrine given to him by God that children could only be fathered by the men the prophet selected, Tamm had been livid. Eve and her team hadn’t reacted much differently.

Like so many of his revelations, this one was unimaginable.

There was a metal folding chair in the corner of the autopsy room. Eve walked to it and sat down. The cold from the seat traveled through her clothes and she crossed her arms in front of her. She needed time to think. Could the deaths of his family be punishment for Bart’s sins? Was having sex with your wife, against the prophet’s orders, enough of a sin?

“Continue.” She waved at George and Clyde. “I’m thinking. Let me know if you find something else.” Sex was one of Eve’s personal and emotional hang-ups. The polygamist church was directly responsible for how she felt. It embarrassed her that she would have fallen in line like Marcella and Tracy. She would not have questioned Bart no matter what he had done. It was not the role of women.

Keep sweet.

She hated that phrase.

Would George find the same evidence with Tracy? So many questions. She was unable to wrap her head around the unwanted thoughts this case evoked.

“God will inform the prophet when you are ready,” one of her mothers had told her when she was eleven years old. “Your only job will be to keep sweet and do as your husband commands. Your sister wives will be with you when your subservience is tested. Rely on them and do not fight your husband.”

None of it had made sense at the time and she had looked forward to marriage. Now she knew that sister wives stayed with the very young brides on their wedding night and helped pacify them for their new husbands. The entire practice was abominable. Eve knew she held on to a lot of guilt over the fact she would have gone along with everything in order to attain the lowest rung in heaven, which Aaron had convinced her was the only shot she had.

“I’m starting on the second Mrs. Tanner,” George said, breaking into her memories.

Eve walked back to the autopsy table and watched as he began the same methodical examination of Tracy. Tape residue was also found on her wrists and ankles. She had much heavier bruising on the backs of her thighs. George again found signs of sexual assault. Eve stood there throughout, trying to remain focused and not allow her mind to wander to the attic.

It was finally time for Elijah. He had the same tape residue but his physical injuries were far more pronounced. Elijah’s hips, thighs, and legs were covered in belt marks. Some had broken the skin and healed, while others were open sores. He had been severely beaten. It was hard for Eve to hold her anger in.

He had suffered so much more than his horrific death. George’s next pronouncement made it hard to hold back a scream. Elijah had been sexually assaulted.

Clyde’s eyes held pure fury. He and Eve were standing on the edge of a very steep cliff. George made it clear the bruises and sexual abuse were not a one-time thing. His tone had changed and his cheery disposition was gone. Marcella, Tracy, and Elijah were all subjected to an unimaginable monster.

George saw more tragic abuse and death than Eve could imagine and he was having as much trouble with this as they were.

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