Page 11 of The Perfect Prey

Hannah scrunched up her face in concentration.

“I’m sure Dr.Lemmon has been over all this with her,” she said, “but I can’t help but wonder—did something happen to her recently?Or did something maybe happeninsideher

CHAPTER FIVE

Jessie wanted to tell the guy to pick up the pace but forced down the urge.

As she and Susannah sat in the Central Station research department along with Jamil and Beth, they all listened on speakerphone as Kelvin Soto, the medical examiner, told them what he knew so far.He was taking his sweet time getting to the point.She knew it was the combination of impatience and hunger that was gnawing at her.It was almost 2 P.M.and she hadn’t had a break in hours—or lunch.

“As always, I have to caveat all this by saying that these are preliminary results,” Soto said carefully, “but in this instance, I feel fairly comfortable with the conclusions.”

“Whatarethose conclusions?”Jessie heard herself blurt out, despite her promise to herself that she wouldn’t.There was a moment of uncomfortable silence.When Soto replied, there was a hint of wounded feelings in his tone.

“We believe the approximate time of death was between 9 P.M.and 2 A.M.,” he said, regaining his confidence as he went on.“My initial suspicion was also corroborated.When we removed the masks, we found that both victims had suffered serious blows to the front of the head.That’s what was making the masks sit off-kilter on their faces.But that’s not what killed them?”

“Why do you say that?”Susannah asked.

“We’re confident that in both cases, the blows knocked them into unconsciousness,” Soto explained, “but we believe that they both lived several minutes longer.That’s because of the pillow.”

“The pillow?”Jessie repeated, doing her best to rein in the frustration that had gotten the better of her earlier.

“Yes,” Soto said quickly, “we suspect that the victims were both suffocated using one of their pillows.We found saliva residue in the middle of one of them, where the head would normally rest.It was still slightly damp.We’re checking to see if it has both of their DNA.If so, that would strongly suggest that this was the ultimate murder weapon for both of them.All things considered, it’s a pretty humane way to go.”

Jessie felt her simmering frustration bubble up into something closer to outright anger.

“Humane?”she challenged, “How humane do you think it was for them when they found an intruder in their bedroom who bashed in both their heads?”

Jessie knew that Soto hadn’t intended to imply that the experience had been pleasant for the Hartleys, but she simply couldn’t contain the irritation she felt.She suspected that she was at least partly frustrated by things beyond this case, but Soto was getting the brunt of it, justified or not.She was debating whether to apologize when Susannah spoke up.

“Do you have anything else for us at this time?”she asked the doctor.

“No,” he said curtly.

“Okay, well, please update us when you get those DNA results,” she told him.“Thanks for your help.”

Then she hung up and turned to Jessie.

“You know,” she said carefully, “I’m usually the one that puts people on blast and leaves them scurrying for the exits.I can’t help but feel like you’re trying to steal my specialty.Everything okay?”

Jessie glanced over at the two researchers who were both slack-jawed, not used to hearing her blow up like that.

“I’m good,” she said guardedly, before adding.“I think I just need to stretch my legs.Care to join me?”

Susannah got the hint and nodded.

“We’ll be back in a few,” she told Jamil and Beth.“Let us know if you discover anything new.”

Jessie and Susannah left research and walked silently down the long station hallway to the door leading to an interior courtyard.Once outside, they walked over to lone unoccupied bench, which rested in the center of the courtyard under a large tree.They hadn’t even sat down before Susannah asked the question she’d clearly been itching to pose this whole time.

“What is going on with you?”

Jessie sighed, partly out of the accumulation of frustration, but also to give herself time.She obviously couldn’t tell Susannah the main reason that she was riddled with anxiety.One couldn’t simply share with an LAPD detective, even a friend, that she had an intermittent compulsion to violently assault some of the people they hunted down, and that she’s already acted on it.So she focused on other answers that might prove compelling.

“I think that with everything going on, my fuse is super short, and I’ve lost the ability to snuff it out.”

“Are you talking about Ryan’s poisoning?”Susanah asked.“I know his recovery has been slow.”

“That’s part of it, for sure,” Jessie acknowledged, “but it’s not everything.I’m sure you’re keeping up with the Mark Haddonfield trial.”

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