Page 50 of So Twisted

“What can you tell us?” she asked Detective Cuthbert.

“The victim is Dr. Sarah Clement. She’s a well-respected wildlife researcher. Or she was. Recently, she’s faced controversy for her advocacy of some rather… interesting philosophies.”

“Such as?”

“Behavior modification techniques but carried to a bit of an extreme. I’ve only glanced at the surface, but it’s kind of like those old mental hospitals that used electroshock therapy to cure violent patients. Actually, electroshock therapy is one of the tools she uses. Used, I should say.”

Michael chuckled humorlessly. “So it would be safe to say that she abused animals.”

“That’s how the majority of the scientific community saw it. She was fired from Florida State University and lost her fellowship at the Ecological Society of America. She moved here, built her own aviary, and has her own research lab in the basement. CSI’s looking through it now, but it looks like the killer was only present in the aviary. There’s a gate outside that leads directly to the aviary. It doesn’t look like he was even in the house. You can check the basement out if you want. It’s… well, let’s just say I can understand why people didn’t agree with her methods. It looks like a damned psych ward down there.”

“We’ll take your word for it,” Faith said. “But if your officers find anything down there, we want to know about it.”

“Yeah, of course.” He patted his vest and frowned. “Of all the years to quit smoking.”

“How was Dr. Clement murdered?” Michael asked.

“Best guess right now is fishhooks. Big ones. We think the killer was trying to simulate raptor talons. It’s a gruesome scene. The killer gouged her eyes out, tore open her throat and abdomen and ripped her scalp almost completely off.”

“God,” Faith whispered.

“Yeah. That’s why I wish I had a damned cigarette. Oh, shit, I completely forgot. Her research assistant is here. She’s the one who discovered the body and called it in.”

Faith perked up. “Where is she now?”

“She’s helping animal control with some of the more unruly birds. I’ll see if they can spare her yet.”

As he said that, they heard loud screeching. A moment later, a massive eagle with a golden-brown head flew through the living room. Turk barked and leaped at it, but the bird evaded him easily and headed straight for the front door. Faith and Michael hit the deck, and the eagle tucked its wings and soared through the door, then climbed rapidly into the sky, screeching its joy at escape as it rose into the air.

“Well, that one’s free, at least,” Michael said.

“No!” a voice cried.

Faith turned to see a woman in her late twenties crying out in anguish. She was short and plump with freckled cheeks and curly red hair cut so it fell above her shoulders.

She was red-eyed, and her cheeks were puffy. Clearly she’d been crying. Faith stood and approached her. “You must be Dr. Clement’s assistant.”

“I was. Until some asshole killed her. Now Darla’s escaped, and we can’t finish.” Her lower lip trembled, and she took a deep breath to steady herself. “She won’t survive out there. She hasn’t been acclimated to the wild. She was supposed to be Dr. Clement’s personal bird.”

“And what exactly was Dr. Clement’s plan with her?”

The woman wiped tears from her eyes. “Darla was injured as a chick. She never learned how to hunt properly. She won’t even eat live food. Dr. Clement was going to keep her as a pet and take care of her.”

“She didn’t want to modify Darla’s behavior to hunt for live prey?” Michael asked.

The assistant frowned and didn’t answer.

“What’s your name?” Faith asked.

“Grace.”

“Grace. I’m Faith. That’s my partner Michael. We’re here to find out who killed your boss, but we need your help. You need to answer all of our questions honestly. We believe that the person who killed Dr. Clement did so because of her work.”

Grace shook her head, pouting. “They’re all stupid. They don’t get what she was trying to do.”

“What was she trying to do?”

“She was trying to train endangered raptors to live around humans.”

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