Page 188 of Sticks and Stones
Gene did the math.
“So he was dead about two plus months from today?”
The man nodded.
“Give or take a couple of weeks. There was predation in what was left of the flesh. What saved our asses with these three victims is the snow. It covered what the animals didn’t eat, and it preserved the flesh. I am using a new technique that takes the flesh and checks the decomp before freezing.”
Honestly, they didn’t care.
They needed data.
PERIOD.
The man kept talking.
“The second victim, Wesley Thorton had the least flesh to test. He was dead for the longest time. I’m going to say he diedright after being taken. He had a burn on his groin above his pubic bone.”
Greyson opened the ME’s copy of the file. Inside, there were all of the photographs.
They all looked at it.
“We don’t know what it is,” Reed said. “But it’s there. The third victim had it too. On his ass cheek.”
Well, that told them that the men branding them didn’t care the location.
“The third victim, Graham Sinclair, died last. I’m putting it around Christmas, so three to four weeks ago. Again, that mark was on his ass.”
Gene clued him in.
“It’s a brand. The men were being sex trafficked. They were being marked by the people who were transporting them. So buyers would know who brought them into the ring.”
Reed looked disgusted.
“That’s gross.”
Yeah, tell them something they didn’t know.
“And the first victim?” Greyson asked, taking pictures of the originals so they’d have it for their file.
If there was a file when Gabe got done.
“None. I’m going to say it’s because he was eaten by predators and out in the elements—or they burned the skin in a place that was a tasty snack. I was lucky to get some flesh to test for drugs, but not much.
Well, that answered that.
Reed kept talking.
“I hope you find out what drug it is. What makes me curious is if they were being trafficked, and drugged, why wouldn’t they use the normal to keep them compliant? I checked their wrists and ankles when there was flesh present. They were bound, but not to the point they’d rubbed their flesh raw. Whatdid they give them that makes them compliant that’s a narcotic opioid?”
Oh, they knew.
SNOW.
And that was something they wouldn’t answer.
“No clue, Doc. If we find out, you’ll be the next to know so you can look for it again,” Gene said. “Oh, and if it pops up in any more victims, can you give me a heads-up call?”
Reed took his card.
