Page 7 of Let Her Hide

A young apprentice coroner was working alongside her today--a plucky young woman named Amy, who hovered behind Fiona as she worked.

"What do you see, Ms. Red?" Amy asked.

Fiona looked up, her eyes scanning the young woman's face before she turned back to the hornet. "This isn't a local species," she said, her voice calm and steady. "It's a hornet, but we see these in Florida, not here in Oregon."

"How did it get here?"

"I don't know," Fiona admitted, placing the hornet back onto the tray. "It's not impossible for this species to live here; it's just very uncommon. Bring in the second victim," she instructed.

Amy zipped out of the room, then moments later, wheeled in another table with a sheet on it. Fiona swallowed as she pulled off the sheet, revealing a young woman's body, swollen with stings. She, too, had been discovered in a field.

"This is Carrie Puglisi," Amy informed Fiona as she prepared to examine the body. "No history of allergies to bees."

"Curious," Fiona mumbled, her mind racing with questions. What could possibly connect these two seemingly unrelated deaths? Why were they both found in fields? And what role did these insects play in their demise? With Craig, it made sense--he was allergic. But Carrie wasn't. However, with the level of swollen bee stings all over her body, it was safe to assume that any person could die from something like this. Thousands of tiny red puncture wounds peppered her skin, evidence of the vicious swarm that had descended upon her. Fiona shook her head in disbelief.

"Thousands of stings?" she muttered to herself. "How could so many wasps surround a single person?"

"Exactly my question," said Amy, her brow furrowed. "There's no way this was an accident."

Fiona carefully examined the dead wasp they'd found with the second victim. In her years as an entomologist, she'd encountered plenty of strange insect behavior, but this case seemed different – darker somehow. These deaths were anything but natural.

"Maybe there's some kind of pheromone that attracted them," she suggested, more to herself than to Amy. "Or perhaps something in their environment caused them to swarm." Her mind raced with possibilities, each more unsettling than the last. No... that wasn't right either. In order for Carrie to have been swallowed up by the insects like this, she would probably have to have been in a confined space. Which meant the field she was found in was likely not the place she actually died.

As Fiona reached for a small vial to collect a sample from the wasp found on Carrie, the door to the morgue swung open--and Jake Tucker walked in.

CHAPTER FOUR

Fiona looked up to see Jake standing in the doorway, his dark eyes wide with surprise. His rumpled suit indicated that he had been working non-stop, and the shadows under his eyes only emphasized the exhaustion he must have felt. The sight of him stirred a mixture of emotions within her – concern, hurt, and an undeniable attraction. One she wished she didn't still have.

"Jake," she responded coolly, trying to keep her composure. "I wasn't aware you were on this case."

"I didn't know you were working on it either," Jake admitted, stepping further into the room. His gaze flickered to the discolored body on the table, then back to Fiona. "What have you found?"

Swallowing the ache in her chest, Fiona forced herself to focus on the task at hand. She removed her gloves and picked up her notepad, flipping through pages filled with precise handwriting. "Both victims were covered in wasp and hornet stings, far more than what is typically seen in a natural attack. The first victim, Craig Tozer, had a known allergy to bees, which would explain his rapid decline. However, the second victim, Carrie Puglisi, has no history of bee or wasp allergies in her medical records."

Jake frowned, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "So, how did she die?"

"From what I can gather, both victims were trapped in a confined space with a large number of insects," Fiona explained, her brow furrowing in concentration. "In such an environment, even someone without an allergy could be killed by the sheer volume of venom. It's possible that the killer knew about the first victim's allergy and used it to their advantage. And as for Carrie" – she hesitated, her voice growing somber – "the insects responsible for her death are a poisonous species, the Black-bellied hornet. One or two stings wouldn't have been lethal, but dozens? That would be enough to kill."

The room fell silent as Jake absorbed the information, his eyes darkening with determination. Fiona watched him closely, her concern for him battling with the lingering hurt from their past. There was so much left unsaid between them, yet now was not the time for personal matters.

"We need to find out who's responsible for these deaths," Jake said, his voice low and determined. "We can't let them get away with this."

Fiona nodded silently, feeling a sense of relief that they were on the same page. "I agree. But we need more information. I want to run some tests on the insects we've collected to determine if there's anything unusual about them. And we need to see if there are any other similarities between the victims."

"Any ideas on what kind of space these victims might have been trapped in?" Jake asked, his voice tense but controlled, the way it always was during cases. Even though they hadn't been apart for long, there was something bitterly nostalgic about talking to him like this.

Fiona pursed her lips. "I can't say for certain, but I believe it's likely an indoor space. Somewhere small and cramped, giving them little room to escape the swarm."

"Like a closet or a shed, maybe?" he suggested, his eyes scanning over the numerous insect bites covering Carrie's body.

"Perhaps," Fiona replied, nodding thoughtfully. "But it would have to be sealed tight enough to prevent the insects from escaping while still allowing them to enter in large numbers."

Jake nodded, his expression grim. He glanced at Fiona, their eyes meeting for a brief moment before he looked away. "Thanks for your insight, Red."

He turned to leave, but Fiona felt a sudden urge to ask more about the case. Maybe she didn’t need to be on it, but it was hard to just turn away.

"Jake," she blurted out just as he turned back and said, "Hey, Red--"

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