Page 31 of Girl, Unseen

Dr. Zhao picked up a metal pointer from a nearby tray. 'Main trauma is here.' She indicated his legs. 'Bilateral compound fractures of both tibias and fibulas. Based on the break patterns, I'd say he landed feet-first.'

'Conscious?' Ella asked.

She moved the pointer up. 'Almost certainly. Secondary impact here. The force traveled up through his legs and into his thoracic cavity. Massive internal hemorrhaging, particularly around the liver and spleen.’

Ella looked over at Luca. His face had gone a few shades paler. 'How long did he…?'

'Live? Eight to ten minutes, tops. The internal bleeding would have sent him into hypovolemic shock within five. After that, brain death was inevitable due to loss of blood pressure. We call it traumatic shock syndrome – when the body sustains injuries so severe that the cardiovascular system just gives up.'

Ella studied Marcus's face. Even in death, he looked like he was trying to maintain dignity. 'Any defensive wounds? Signs of struggle?'

'None that I could find. Just a man who fell a very long way.'

Ella winced at the thought. She’d seen some horrific causes of death over the years, but rarely were they as simple as a man falling onto rock. 'What about the second victim?'

Dr. Zhao re-covered Marcus and moved to the other table. Sarah Chen's sheet came away to reveal what multiple days in reservoir water could do to human flesh. The skin had started to take on that specific bloated look that water gave its victims. Her face was mostly intact, though, which somehow made it worse. Like she might open her eyes at any moment and ask what all the fuss was about.

'Cause of death is pretty straightforward.' Dr. Zhao indicated the chest cavity. 'Classic drowning sequence. Victim inhales water, triggering laryngospasm – that's when the vocal cords snap shut to prevent more water entering the lungs. Eventually, oxygen deprivation forces them to relax, allowing water in. We can tell by the presence of diatoms in the pulmonary tissue.'

'Diatoms?' Luca asked.

'Microscopic algae. Different bodies of water have different species. Helps us confirm drowning versus body disposal.' She pulled up an image on a nearby screen. 'See these? Specific to Kensico Reservoir. Means she was alive when she went in.'

Ella frowned. 'No ligature marks? Nothing to suggest restraint?'

'Nothing obvious.’

'What about weights? Something to hold her under?'

'If there were any, they were removed post-mortem. Though drowning someone without restraints isn't impossible. Get them in deep enough water, disorient them somehow...'

'Or drug them,' Ella finished.

'Exactly. Still waiting on the full tox screen, but preliminary tests show traces of something in her system. Won't know what until the lab's done their thing.'

'What about the time of death?'

‘Hard to say with the elements. But anywhere between 24 to 48 hours ago.’

Hard to say with the elements.Ella couldn’t agree more. ‘So, barely a day or two after Marcus. Our unsub is working fast.’

Ella's phone buzzed. A text from Ross lit up her screen.Got Blackwood's address. 442 Old Mill Road, Bedford Hills. Some kind of farm.

Ella's pulse kicked up a notch. Finally, something solid. She showed the text to Luca, whose face hardened into something that didn't look like him at all.

'We need to go.' She turned to Dr. Zhao. 'Thank you for your time. Send me everything you've got?'

'Already typing up the report. I should get toxicology reports back sometime tomorrow.’

Ella thanked Dr. Zhao again and stepped into the corridor. The smell of antiseptic followed them out, clinging to their clothes like cigarette smoke in a dive bar.

‘A farm.’ She waited until they were well clear of the autopsy room before speaking. ‘You thinking what I'm thinking?’

‘The dead animals Ross told us about.’ Luca's face had gotten some of its color back, but not much. ‘The ram they couldn't trace.’

‘Exactly. What are the odds that our prime suspect lives on a farm, and some poor ram ends up carved with the same symbols we found at both murder scenes?’

‘The kind of odds I’d bet on. Call for backup?’

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