Page 29 of Dead Man's List

“That’s sweet. So…what did you find at this newest scene?”

“A lot of blood. Signs of a struggle. The younger victim—Shelley—had sent a text to her aunt at eight p.m. on Tuesday night, so she was probably alive then.Ifher killer didn’t send the text himself later. Knowing the actual time of death will be helpful.”

“I’ll get you TOD as soon as I can, but it’s not going to be as precise as you want it to be. I can only give you facts about Munro for now. His killer used a sharp, thin blade. But only on his throat and legs.”

Kit narrowed her eyes. “What does that mean?”

“Yeah,” Connor said, closing Alicia’s office door as he entered the room. “What does that mean?”

“Come and see.” Alicia led them into the exam area, where Munro’s body still lay on the steel table. A sheet was draped over the lower half of his body.

“I always think they’re going to look better after you’ve cleaned them up,” Connor murmured. “But they don’t.”

“Not my job, thankfully,” Alicia said. “I leave that to themorticians. Although Munro’s going to have a closed casket. Y’know. His face. Plus, his head.”

Kit had expected the ravaged face—thanks, cute desert creatures—but there was damage to his head that hadn’t been apparent when she and Sam had found him.

The sides of his head were dented in.

“Holy shit,” Kit said. “What did his killerdoto him?”

“Smashed the hell out of his head,” Alicia said. “The wounds on either side of his head are similar in area and depth. This wasn’t an assault with a blunt object. Constant and heavy pressure was applied.”

“A vise?” Connor asked.

“That was my guess,” Alicia said. “Someone tortured this victim.”

“I figured that from the slices in his skin,” Kit said.

“Let’s talk about those. He’s got twenty-five stab wounds in addition to the slit throat. Twenty in the chest and abdominal areas, two in the back, one on the back of each leg, and one in his groin. He’s missing all his fingers and toes. But the groin wound is grisly. Connor, prepare yourself.” She pulled the sheet back, and even Kit winced.

The man’s genitalia had been mutilated.

Connor cleared his throat. “Premortem or post?”

“Definitely premortem. This guy was alive for everything that was done to him. Whether he was conscious for all of it is another question, but he was conscious for at least part of it. The abrasions at his wrists and ankles indicate a struggle. But the abrasions are deep. He was tied tightly. But that’s not why I called you two in. Each of these wounds is different. Different size, depth, and angle. There appears to have been at least four weapons used.” She pointed to one of the shallower wounds. “The blade went deep enough to hurt, but not enough to causereal damage. The blade used was nonserrated and sharp. I’m thinking a box cutter or a utility knife. The cuts are uniformly deep.”

“Okay,” Kit said. “And the others?”

“Not so fast. These cuts are uniformly deep, but they are all angled differently, just like the deeper wounds. In addition to the utility knife, you’ve got a serrated blade, a super thin blade, like a stiletto, and finally a thick blade, like a survival knife. I’m estimating it was about a quarter inch thick, which is hefty for a knife. But all the wounds, no matter what blade was used, are all angled differently.”

“Different hands,” Kit murmured. Which was a complication. How many hands? How many doers?

“That’s what I think,” Alicia agreed. “There are also indications of hesitation on a few of the cuts. The slices on the legs were done with the stiletto-style blade that cut his throat. They severed the victim’s tendons. He couldn’t have run away, even if he hadn’t been tied.”

Kit fought a shudder. “I mean…we know people hated Munro, but…wow.”

“Yeah.” Alicia sighed. “I think his fingers and toes were removed with the thick blade. It would have been hefty enough to slice through bone and cartilage.”

“Fucking hell.” Connor cleared his throat again. “How many stabbers are we potentially talking about?”

“Could be up to twenty.”

Kit didn’t want to think about that. “Or one guy deliberately making it look like there were multiple hands.”

Alicia shrugged. “Maybe. I think, at a minimum, the same hand cut his throat and sliced the tendons in his calves. There was bandage residue around the deepest cuts. And the severed digits. He was given first aid, at least enough to keep him alive.The deepest wound in his gut had sand in the tissues, deep down. Like the sand was on the knife when he was stabbed.”

“So that wound was made at the scene of his death,” Connor said.

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