Page 54 of The Killer She Knew

“We’ll take whatever you have. Thank you.” A collective sigh of relief breathed at her back, and the hunger knot in Leigh’s own stomach untwisted slightly. But that couldn’t be the only reason the medicolegal investigator was here. “Do you have any updates on Alice Dietz’s autopsy?”

“Yes.” Jenny patted her windbreaker, pulling her phone from one pocket. The screen lit up with a report already cued. “You wouldn’t believe how hard it was to hold up a flashlight for two hours while the ME conducted his examination. We’ll have to wait on toxicology results since the power is still out, but he did narrow down time of death for Alice Dietz between 10:00 p.m. Tuesday night and 2:00 a.m. Wednesday morning. There are a lot of factors that could affect that window, specifically the fact that the investigator in charge wouldn’t let us collect the body until closer to 10:00 a.m., but the ME is confident your vic was poisoned in that time frame. He thinks she was injected with equal amounts of cyanide and arsenic in her left eye based off blood tests we ran under one of the microscopes, which would shut down brain activity within a matter of a minute, maybe two. Most likely with a syringe.”

“Wait.” Leigh stepped closer to get a better view of the screen. “You’re saying that by injecting the compounds into Alice Dietz’s eye, she died almost immediately? No prolonged vomiting, dizziness, or other side effects?”

Up until now, Leigh had assumed the killer had wanted to cause as much pain and disorientation as possible. But the evidence said otherwise. He’d wanted his victims dead, but he hadn’t wanted them to suffer? Why use the arsenic and cyanide at all then? There were much more effective murder weapons than poisoning.

“Right,” Jenny said.

Leigh’s breath hitched.

I didn’t kill them, Leigh. Didn’t kill Teshia Elborne, either. You know that.His voice was in her head again. Trying to claw through the invisible barriers she’d put between them, but there were still too many unanswered questions.

“Were there any traces of chloroform around the victim’s mouth and nose?” It was the only explanation for why none of the victims had fought being stabbed in the eye with a needle.

Three distinct lines centered between Jenny’s brows. “I’m not sure the ME ran a test for chloroform. If your killer used it around the victim’s mouth and nose, there won’t be traces now, though. Too much time has passed.”

Right. And with the power still out, there was only so much the medical examiner’s office could do. Toxicology would have to wait. “I know you probably weren’t expecting more than to drop off supplies and update us on details from the autopsy, but we have three bodies quarantined in classrooms down the hall.”

“I don’t understand. Bodies? As in plural?” Jenny’s voice spiked in volume on the last word.

Leigh turned her back to the gathering students hopeful for updates on their impending release and lowered her voice. “Whoever killed Alice Dietz is still here. He’s killed two more victims with arsenic and cyanide presumably—a female student and a male professor—and we discovered the remains of an unidentified adult male. We’re trying not to instill panic, but there’s no telling who he might target next. You said Durham PD is in the process of clearing the roads now that the storm is moving east. That doesn’t leave us a lot of time. If you were able to make it onto campus, then our killer may try to escape. I can’t let that happen.”

“Tell me what you need me to do.” Jenny folded her arms across her chest, like she was trying to hold herself together. Medicolegal investigators were called after a body had beendropped. Not during. Still, she was the only resource they had at this point.

“The unidentified adult male. I need you to tell me as much about him as you can to get me an ID. He wasn’t killed like the others, which I think means he wasn’t part of the killer’s plans.”

Leigh nodded toward the west corridor branching off the lobby and started moving. Leading them to the sealed classroom, Leigh motioned Jenny inside and closed the door behind them. In three steps, she reached for the US Marshals Service windbreaker and pulled it back to reveal the body. Decomposition had caught up, throwing a wall of odor into her face, and it took every ounce of strength she had left not to gag.

“Whoa. That body is very… juicy.” Jenny crouched beside the remains, pressing the back of her wrist to her nose. “Strangulation marks tell me how he died, but since that doesn’t explain the purple marbling, I’m guessing he was submerged in water.”

“The basement flooded.” Leigh blocked out the memories vying for release. “He was stashed in a closet for at least twelve hours.”

“All right.” Jenny pulled a pair of latex gloves and her phone from her windbreaker. “Give me an hour. I’ll get you some answers.”

THIRTY-THREE

Durham, New Hampshire

Thursday, October 10

7:02 p.m.

It was getting dark again. And, still, Durham PD had not sent word about lifting the shelter in place order. There was a reason for that.

Ford tossed the emergency radio recovered by the maintenance staff onto the table. “Found it in pieces on the third floor. Seems someone didn’t like the idea we could get news from the outside world.”

Shit. She scanned his belt. “Where is the radio the chief of police lent you?”

The marshal seemed to come to the same conclusion. He shook his head. “Someone must’ve taken it off of me when I caught a couple hours of sleep earlier.”

“Mine is missing from the women’s bathroom too.” Had it been the killer? Dean? Were they one and the same? She didn’t trust herself enough at this point to make adetermination. Someone had been isolating them from the beginning. Sabotaging the generator, destroying any chance of aid. The storm and lack of food didn’t help. Ever since the medicolegal investigator had shown up, the atmosphere in the lobby had started buzzing. “The cell towers are still down, and most people’s phones are dead without any way to charge them. If I wasn’t trying to catch this guy, I would admire his war strategies. But Durham PD knows we’re here. They sent one of the medicolegal investigators to bring supplies and updates on Alice Dietz’s autopsy.”

“Did she say when we can get the hell out of here?” Ford asked.

She shook her head. “It’s likely Durham PD will want to keep us contained as long as the killer is still a threat.”

“What about the autopsy results?” Ford took a seat, rubbing his palm over the back of his head. His flinch told her everything she needed to know. The pain hadn’t lessened over the past hour. She’d actually bet it’d gotten worse. Thankfully, they had a physician of sorts in the next room with the unidentified remains. Jenny could at least take a look at the laceration. Make sure there weren’t any signs of internal bleeding. “Anything that stands out?”

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