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“They were in Africa, yes?”
“Yes, on a photo safari in Tanzania. It was a gift from the rest of their children, for their anniversary. It was also the first time they’d left town since Jaelyn was taken—which took a lot of convincing by their surviving kids. They just knew that as soon as they left the area, there’d be news.”
“Parental intuition?” Navarro murmured. “Or just wishful thinking?”
She shrugged. “Either way, they were right.” Eyeing the rest of the candy bar wistfully, she set it aside and met her boss’s eyes. “Mrs.Watts was certain we were wrong, that it couldn’t be Jaelyn. She and her husband rushed back, but it was still a long trip after they made it back to the nearest airport.”
“But you had the dental comparison.”
The surviving siblings had cooperated fully, desperate for closure of some kind. “It’s Jaelyn, no doubt. But Mrs.Watts wouldn’t believe us, not until she saw the body.”
Navarro sighed. “Unfortunately, I get it.”
“So do I.” Kit had insisted on identifying Wren’s body, after all. “The ME didn’t do a full reveal, of course. Jaelyn had a birthmark on her leg and a scar on her elbow. There was enough left for the parents to ID her based on those. Mrs.Watts... well, she was as you’d expect. Devastated. Weeping. Her husband was stoic until we’d left the morgue, then he collapsed, too.”
It always brought back the memories of Harlan McKittrick’s sobs in the barn that night, whenever she saw a big man cry like his heart was breaking.
Because Harlan’s had been. So had Jaelyn’s father’s.
She took another bite of chocolatey goodness, trying to rid herself of the acrid taste of fury at what had come next. “And then we were ambushed by Tamsin Kavanaugh outside the morgue.”
Kit had good relationships with several of San Diego’s reporters, but not Tamsin Kavanaugh. The woman was a thorn in her side, going out of her way to get Kit’s statement on every case. Kit said “no comment” ninety-nine percent of the time, but Kavanaugh was undeterred.
“Oh, for God’s sake,” Navarro muttered. “How did she know you were there?”
“She followed me. She does that sometimes, when she’s hard up for a story. Usually I can lose her, but I was distracted today.”
“Parents’ grief will do that,” he said gently.
“Yeah, but my distraction meant she put her microphone in their faces. I wanted to hit her.”
“Please tell me you didn’t.”
“I didn’t, but it was close. ‘Why are you here? What did you see? Who did you lose? How do you feel?’ ” she said, her tone mocking. “How the hell did she think they felt? They were coming out of the morgue, for fuck’s sake. They were crying and she badgered them and it was so cruel. Luckily Baz kept his head and distracted her while I got the Wattses into our car.”
“Where’s Baz now?” Navarro asked.
“He went home. I told him to go,” she added when Navarro frowned. “They’re having his granddaughter’s birthday party tonight. I escorted the Wattses home and made sure they weren’t alone. Their other children were there, waiting for them. They’d already accepted Jaelyn’s death.”
“So what’s next?”
“This morning, we finally tracked down the Good Samaritan who found the second victim thirteen years ago. The only one who saw the pink handcuffs. He’s dead. Has been for ten years. His wife said that she knew something was wrong, but he never told her specifically.”
Navarro’s brows shot up. “Define ‘specifically.’ ”
“She thought he was having an affair because his behavior had changed so radically. He told her that he’d found a body and couldn’t get it out of his head. He gave her the name of Detective Hammond so that she could verify.”
“Hammond retired, what, eleven years ago?”
“Twelve, sir. She called him and he verified that her husband was telling the truth. That’s all she needed to know. She said she never bugged her husband about it again. I called Hammond and he confirmed that she’d called him.”
“So the only civilian who knew about the pink handcuffs didn’t spill the beans.”
“And he was dead by the time the last three of five victims were found.” She nibbled the corner of the candy bar. Not enough to fill her mouth, but enough to let the chocolate coat her tongue. “He wasn’t able to sleep after finding that body. His wife said that his doctor cautioned him about his stress levels. She thought it accelerated his heart attack—which was what killed him.”
“Ripples,” Navarro said quietly.
“Exactly.” The depraved actions of one killer affected so many other lives. “We may have ID’d one of the three remaining Jane Does, the one between Ricki Emerson and Jaelyn Watts.”
