Page 4 of Their Haunted Hearts
“What have we got?” Wolfe’s eyes narrowed as he scanned the crime scene. “Is the shooter responsible for this?”
Shrugging, Jenna looked at him. “Right now, I have no idea. He shot up the coffin. Who put her in there is another matter.”
“White female, eighteen to twenty. She has sharp force trauma to her neck and a wooden stake through her chest pinning her to the coffin.” Raven pulled off examination gloves with a snap. “Good luck working out this one, Shane.”
Everyone stood back as Wolfe moved around the coffin. He examined the body and then turned to his team.
“Webber, record the crime scene. I’ll need to take her back to the lab in situ.” Wolfe looked from Kane to Raven. “When Webber has recorded the scene, if y’all give me a hand to get her and the coffin into my van, I’ll do the preliminary examination at the morgue.” He leaned toward Jenna. “She’s been dead for at least twelve or more hours by the state of rigor.” He looked at Emily. “Do you concur?”
“Yeah.” Emily frowned. “The marks on her neck, are they supposed to resemble a vampire bite? That’s pushing the Halloween theme a little far, don’t you agree?”
Nodding, Jenna glanced at her watch. “Nothing surprises me any longer.” She turned to Wolfe. “When will you do the autopsy?”
“Two o’clock suit you?” Wolfe frowned. “Or do you need to be home for the boys?”
Jenna smiled. “No, they’re fine. Jackson is okay with us leaving him with Nanny Raya. He’s a big boy now, fifteen months, walking and talking. Tauri dotes on him.” She sighed. “I know you haven’t seen him for a month or so. We’ve just been so busy. I had no idea the extent of the catch-up we needed after taking a year away from the office.”
“I’ve been busy myself.” Wolfe smiled at her. “Getting the medical examiner registration documents in order for Emily to work with me and organizing an office for her has kept us busy too.”
Surprised Wolfe didn’t have his new wife and forensic anthropologist, Norrell, with him, Jenna frowned. “How is Norrell? Is she well?”
“She’s great.” Wolfe smiled. “She has a case. A couple renovating an old house in Helena discovered a mummified body inside a wall. She’s working on identifying it, is all.”
After Wolfe loaded the coffin and body into his van, Jenna turned to Kane and Raven. “I’ll go and speak to the women who discovered the body. As we’re short-staffed, I’ll take them back to the office to interview them and get their statements. If you can go talk to everyone and ask if they’ve seen anyone hanging around and then follow up on the damage, it will save time. When we’re done, Raven, you take lunch. I’ll be heading out to the autopsy with Dave.” She looked at Raven. “Unless you want to come too? We can eat later.”
“Wouldn’t miss it.” Raven indicated to the damage to the town and shook his head. “Another day in paradise, huh?”
Jenna grimaced. “Yeah. Paradise lost.” She headed for the grocery store.
Three
After speaking to Christine McEntire and Terry Bauman, Jenna left them with the receptionist, Maggie, to sign their statements. She called the mayor to give him a report of the incident and arrange for a crew to come out and clean the mess on the sidewalk and road. She went back downstairs to speak to Rowley. He had been with her since she first joined the sheriff’s department and she’d trained him. Rowley was married with boisterous twins, and his wife, Sandy, had given birth to a baby girl a few months after Jackson was born. “How’s the prisoner?”
“Sleeping.” Rowley stood from behind his desk opposite the cells. “We took his prints. I’m running them through the database now. He wouldn’t give his name and has no identification on him. He had his weapons and a bunch of keys, is all.”
Jenna frowned. That was unusual. “We’ll let him sleep.” She leaned against the wall. “How are Sandy and the kids?”
“They’re fine.” Rowley smiled and pulled up a photograph on his phone. “The kids are growing like weeds, and Mia is walking and talking up a storm already.”
Jenna peered at the image. “Mia is so like Sandy.” She tapped her bottom lip. “You’re going to be stuck here for a while. We discovered a body in town just before. Wolfe is conducting an autopsy at two. You’ll need to order takeout for lunch and grab sandwiches for the prisoner. He’ll wake up hungry.”
“Body?” Rowley raised both eyebrows. “Where? Is it a homicide or did the drunk guy shoot them?”
She nodded. “I think homicide, but he did shoot her in the cheek but she was already dead. Wolfe believes she died hours ago.” She straightened from the wall. “The victim was found in a coffin outside Aunt Betty’s. The guy in the cells shot it up and two women noticed it wasn’t a mannequin. It was starting to stink, so it would have been discovered before long.” She sighed. “It has two marks on its neck and a stake through its heart. I figure we have another Halloween lunatic running around. It’s going to be hard to keep this murder under wraps, half the townsfolk have seen the body.”
“So, you don’t figure the shooter and the corpse are connected?” Rowley rubbed his chin.
Jenna checked her watch. “Right now, I don’t have a clue.” She sighed. “As Dave and Raven aren’t back yet, I’ll walk into town and see what’s delaying them.” She headed for the door.
On the way she collected their bloodhound, Duke, from under Maggie’s desk and headed back along Main. She moved through people trying to put things straight on their displays. One older man sat on a pile of hay bales carving a pumpkin and around him he’d scattered corn husks. A line of pumpkins at his feet grinned at her. After the disturbance everything was returning to normal. She found no sign of Kane or Raven on Main, but Raven’s truck was still parked where he’d left it. When she reached Aunt Betty’s Café, Duke did a happy dance and ran around her legs. As a patrol dog he was allowed inside and the manager spoiled him. She pushed open the door and swept her gaze over the room. Kane and Raven sat at their reserved table drinking coffee.
“There you are. I figured you’d show sooner or later. We’re starving and couldn’t wait.” Kane stood and pulled out a chair for her. “You need to eat too. Do you want the special? Pulled pork sandwiches and apple pie. I’ll go and order.”
Jenna nodded. “Yeah, that’s fine and something for Duke.” She looked at Raven. “Is Ben allowed to have something to eat?”
“Sure.” Raven smiled at her. “He eats anything.”
“Okay, three specials and two dog meals.” Kane headed for the counter.
