Page 38 of Silent Ritual

Star gave a half-hearted shrug, her gaze vacantly roaming over the gray building before them. “I guess.”

Sheila reached out to gently squeeze Star's shoulder. “We'll be back in no time,” she said. “Promise you'll stay put?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Star muttered, her eyes now focusing on the car's dashboard.

Sheila studied Star for a few more seconds, wondering whether she could believe Star. What if she just disappeared, ran off? Sheila hated the thought of Star being out there on her own.

You'll just have to take her word for it, she thought. You can't babysit her all the time.

Nodding to herself, Sheila exited the car. Finn was already waiting outside his own vehicle, stifling a yawn.

“Think you’ll make it?” Sheila asked.

“Oh, yeah. The sight of dead bodies always perks me up.”

Sheila rolled her eyes, and together they headed toward the morgue, a foreboding structure of worn stone and darkened windows. The air hung heavy as they walked, the early morning mist casting an eerie pallor over everything it touched. It seemed fitting, Sheila thought, for a place that housed the dead.

Inside, the sterile smell of disinfectants and formaldehyde assaulted their senses as they made their way down the long, brightly lit corridor. The thriving world outside seemed distant, isolated by the thick, soundproof walls that shielded them from the lively morning hustle.

The county coroner, Dr. Lila Matthews, was already waiting for them in the autopsy room. A tall woman with salt-and-pepper hair and a face like weathered stone, she looked as if she belonged in this cold, clinical environment. Her eyes, though watery and tired, shone with an intelligent light behind her rectangular glasses.

"Stone. Mercer," she said with a nod of respect. “Body’s on the table.” Sheila appreciated that about Lila—there was no unnecessary small talk. She got straight to the point.

Sheila followed Lila’s motioning hand toward the covered shape laid out on the stainless steel slab in the center of the room. Exchanging a brief look with Finn, Sheila stepped closer. Lila moved to the edge of the table, her gloved hands gripping the corners of the white sheet. With a swift, almost rehearsed gesture, she pulled it back.

The woman lying supine on the slab was young, perhaps in her mid-twenties. Her fiery hair was neatly arranged around a pale, oval face lightly dusted with freckles.

Lila broke the strained silence first.

"Do we have an identification?" Sheila asked.

"Adaline Preston," Lila said. "Twenty-six years old, freelance photographer. Grew up in Moab."

Sheila felt her gut clench. Adaline Preston had been in her prime, a young woman full of life and potential. To end up here…

"Cause of death?" Finn asked.

"Internal bleeding," Lila said. "She suffered multiple contusions to the head and upper body, along with a number of stab wounds to the torso. She fought back hard, there's no doubt about that, but it wasn't enough."

Finn grimaced, his eyes holding a familiar, haunted look. For all his hardened exterior, Sheila knew he took each loss personally. She reached over and gave his palm a reassuring squeeze. He didn't respond, but she felt a subtle shift in his body language, a quiet acceptance of her comfort.

“Anything you can tell us about the weapon?” Sheila asked.

Lila took a deep breath and adjusted her glasses. “Actually, I discovered something interesting: a dusting of gold in one of the wounds.”

This caught Sheila by surprise. “Gold?”

“It’s possible the killer is using some kind of ceremonial dagger. The gold could be from the hilt or pommel. It’s a bit unusual, but not unheard of.”

“Anything else you can tell us?” Finn asked. “Any DNA that could be the killer’s—skin under the victim’s fingernails, that sort of thing?”

Lila shook her head. "No, nothing of the sort. Besides the gold flecks, there weren't any other foreign materials found."

A silence fell over them as they absorbed the information.

"Thank you, Lila," Sheila said finally.

"You're welcome. I'll send you my full report once it's ready. In the meantime, I should get back to work."

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