Page 78 of Killer Clone

I’d hide and wait—no shortage of places to hide in a place like that—and when Knox and Yates came charging in, distracted by the homeless guy, I’d take my chance.

My plan was so simple, so clean. The place was perfect, and I would’ve received the bounty and gotten the heck out of there.

But they’d been one step ahead of me. Once again.

A street sign up ahead pointed the way to Idlebrook. The homeless shelter was there, and the soup kitchen. I’d walk there, and I’d make it happen.

My excitement grew. I didn’t have much anymore, but I did have one more lure to set.

I called Dr. Silow, the man who’d tried so hard and failed so badly, and I threw out my bait.

34

In a Tyvek suit, Stella oversaw the forensic team in the empty warehouse, quietly bustling with focused activity. Several portable compact lights operating off generator power had been placed throughout the space to ward against the onset of the evening.

Downstairs, the young police officers had taped the entire building off, though there were no civilians to protect the site from. Off-site, Ander and Anja were with another forensic team, who were bagging items from David Broad’s stolen Toyota Tacoma before hauling it to the lab for sampling.

She was expecting a call from either of them at any moment, giving her an update on their findings.

Stella joined Hagen, also in protective gear, who was standing over the single ratty mattress with the lead forensic specialist, who’d introduced herself as Marsha Donnelly, and a crime scene photographer.

She touched Hagen’s shoulder. “What do we have here?”

Hagen indicated the mattress. “Agent Donnelly here has been performing a scene search for biological evidence.”

Agent Donnelly nodded. “That’s right. I’ve already collected hair samples from the mattress, the sleeping bag, and these garments here.” She pointed to what appeared to be a hoodie and a blanket.

“Any preliminary observations?”

“Well, and of course I can’t say for certain until we get the evidence back to the lab, but I’d speculate that we collected hair samples from at least two individuals. But I also found hair samples from what appeared to be a rodent of some sort. My guess was that whoever was sleeping here found the mattress in a dumpster or similar.”

Stella wrinkled her nose and was glad the suit covered her face. “Do you think there were two people sleeping here?”

Agent Donnelly shrugged. “It’s impossible to say right now. In addition to the hairs, I also found evidence of seminal stains on the mattress, in the sleeping bag, and on the blanket.”

If the mattress had been used by many people, Stella wasn’t sure how that might help. “Is it possible to give an estimate of how long the suspect has been in this location?”

Agent Donnelly considered. “Again, I can’t give you an exact time until I process the evidence. But from the hair samples, the urine and human feces we found over in the corner, and the protein bar wrappers by the side of the bed, I’d say a week at least. Maybe more.”

“What else?”

“Shall we?” The forensic specialist motioned to the large reddish-brown stain on the floor beneath the rope hanging from the ceiling. “I did a quick test with luminol and confirmed my suspicion. All this material is blood. But it’s so dried out, I’d estimate that it’s been left out here in the elements for a week. Possibly more. Considering that DNA and other components in the blood decay rapidly if not stored properly, a delay of even forty-eight hours may make the sample useless.”

Stella mentally crossed her fingers. “Will you be able to perform any kind of blood type match?”

Agent Donnelly shrugged. “It’s cold in here, so that might help, but I won’t know for sure until we perform tests back in the lab.” She pointed to the cuneiform on the walls, brightly lit by their own portable studio light. “Luminol also confirmed that these marks were made in blood.”

Hagen nodded. “That’s not surprising. It looks just like the marks we found in the alley right before the shooting.”

“Indeed. And we’ll need to inspect the photographs in more detail, of course. But what’s interesting is the spatter. Do you see the way the blood has been, for lack of a better word, ‘flicked’ onto the wall here?”

Stella took a closer look. All around the cuneiform marks were speckled streaks of blood, like a macabre Jackson Pollack painting. “I see it. What does it mean?”

“I reviewed the case file before arriving, and what stands out is that these blood spatters don’t align with the victim’s injuries. When the carotid artery is severed, we typically see high-pressure arterial spray…distinct, forceful projections of blood. Even if the victim was positioned against this wall and allowed to bleed out, we’d expect broader, more concentrated patterns, not these finer spatters. That’s assuming the victim remained on their feet throughout the process. The blood is concentrated at about five feet from the ground, which raises questions about positioning and movement at the time of injury.”

“What are you saying?”

Agent Donnelly hesitated for a moment. “My suspicion is that the killer was playing with the blood.”

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