Page 29 of Fallen Creed

To Maggie, it made little difference. She was used to windowless basement morgues. This one appeared well equipped.

“There’s some bruising,” Lucy continued, “around what’s left of the wrist. Possible ligature marks, too. It’s difficult to tell since he cut just below them. If we find the corresponding piece, it’ll be more definitive. However, I did find some tissue under her fingernails.”

“She got a piece of him?”

“You sound surprised.”

“Clean, sharp cuts, but he leaves a possible DNA sample? Seems a bit sloppy. Reckless.”

“Or perhaps he knows he’s not in the system,” Lucy said. “Maybe he enjoys taking risks. He left something else.”

She pulled another tray closer and removed the cloth covering the dismembered part. Maggie couldn’t immediately identify it, but human teeth unmistakably made the pierced imprint in the flesh.

“I know bite-mark evidence isn’t usually conclusive,” Lucy said.

“That’s how they ended up connecting Ted Bundy to the sorority house murders in Florida.”

“I didn’t know that.”

“He bit one of the victims. From what I remember, his was a distinctive impression because he had a chipped tooth and his incisors were crooked.”

“This one’s not that remarkable, but it might discount a suspect. It appears to be a rather small mouth.”

“So, do all the pieces inside the bag go together?” Maggie asked.

“You’re asking if he cut up an arm and put it all in one bag, then moved on to the next? That doesn’t appear to be the case. It’s more like a jumble of parts.”

Maggie waited for more, but Lucy was still focused on showing her the cut marks.

“I believe he used a hacksaw. No surprise there but notice the lack of bone chattering. There aren’t any hesitation marks or overlaps. Again, the cuts all appear clean and smooth. In some areas, the skin was snipped before he used the saw.”

“Snipped?”

“Possibly tin snips,” Lucy said as she showed her, running a gloved finger over a section.

“Not a knife?”

“A knife didn’t make these cuts. Some may have been made with a box cutter.”

“Hacksaw, tin snips, box cutter,” Maggie repeated. “Common tools anyone can pick up in a hardware store.”

“I’ll submit tissue for DNA and to toxicology. Strangely, there’s very little blood. Even at the bottom of the garbage bags.”

“He was someplace where he could take his time.”

Maggie had investigated murders involving dismemberment, but never one where the killer had taken time to cut the body into so many pieces. Did it mean something? A ritual of some kind? Again, she thought about Pakula’s theory, that this victim might be a part of a human trafficking war. Mexican cartels did this sort of thing all the time. They wanted the shock and horror included in their message.

Maggie thought about Freddie Mason. He didn’t strike her as smart enough to cut up a body so expertly. She suspected he was a minor cog in a much bigger operation.

She stifled a yawn with the back of her gloved hand. Last night, Ryder had fallen asleep after the pizza and beer. She was worried about him. He didn’t seem himself. Grace had helped her make him comfortable, then Maggie left them.

She spent the rest of the evening packaging the samples she’d taken from Libby Holmes’ bedroom. She found and drove to an overnight courier just before the last pickup deadline. Then she went over all the information they had on Freddie Mason.

Now she checked her watch. She’d already gotten a text from Agent Alonzo at Quantico. Her team was processing the items.

She wanted to rub her eyes, but that would take stripping off her gloves. Instead, she shoved the plastic goggles to the top of her head and swiped the back of her arm across her face.

“You okay?” Lucy asked.