Alex Kava Bundle - Alex Kava [293]
Rosen seemed excited with the discovery, and she wondered why. “Did you show this to Agent Tully?”
“Nope, not yet. But I figure this has gotta be a big break. It should lead us to where this guy has been hiding out.”
Maggie waited for the detective to explain. Now he seemed to be distracted by Dr. Holmes, or rather the bloody glob in the take-out container that Dr. Holmes was examining.
“Detective Rosen,” Maggie waited for his attention. “Why do think this will lead us anywhere?”
“For one thing, it’s mud.” He stated the obvious as though he had uncovered a secret. When he realized she didn’t see the significance, he continued, “Well, it hasn’t rained for quite a while. It’s looked like it several times, but nothing. Not around here anyway. Always offshore.”
She drummed her fingers on the counter, waiting for something more than this weather report. He noticed her impatience, quickly opened one of the bags and pinched some of the dirt between his fingers, bringing it out and showing her.
“It’s a thick, sticky clay. Even smells a bit moldy. Again, nothing like we have around here.”
She could put an end to all of this by simply admitting she had seen the stuff before, that they had actually analyzed and broken it down. Instead, she let him go on.
“A couple of the guys who’ve lived here all their lives said they haven’t seen anything like this stuff before. Take a close look. It’s unusual, with bits of reddish rock, and that yellow and silvery crap is pretty weird…maybe even man-made.”
Finally, she confessed, “We have found similar dirt at two other crime scenes, Detective Rosen, but—”
“Sam.”
“Excuse me?”
“Call me Sam.”
Maggie brushed annoying, damp strands off her forehead. Had Dr. Holmes been right about Detective…Sam? Was he really only here to flirt and try to impress her?
“Sam, we have analyzed this stuff. It may be from a closed-down industrial site. We do have several people trying to find a possible location.”
“Well, I think I can save you some time.”
She stared at him, growing more impatient with his cocky smile. He was wasting their time with this grandstanding.
“I think I know where this came from,” he said, pleased with himself despite Maggie’s look of skepticism. “I went fishing a couple of weekends ago. A little spot about fifty miles from here on the other side of the toll bridge. I was supposed to meet a buddy, but I still don’t know this area very well. I ended up getting lost in this isolated wooded area. When I got home I noticed this sticky mud covering my boots. Took me almost two hours to clean them. The mud looked just like this crap. Couldn’t figure out what the hell that silver dust was.”
Now he had Maggie’s full attention. She could feel her pulse begin to race. The area sounded exactly like someplace Stucky would hole up. Detective Rosen was right. This could be their big break.
“Well, I hope this pans out,” Dr. Holmes interrupted, only now looking up from the contents of the plastic container. “This guy is one sick bastard. I think this woman may have confessed to him, tried appealing to him, hoping he had one ounce of human dignity in him.”
“What are you talking about?” Maggie watched the medical examiner wipe his forehead, suddenly not caring that he smeared blood from his gloves to his face. The calm, experienced professional seemed visibly shaken by his discovery.
“What is it?” she tried again.
“Might not be a coincidence that he chose to extract her uterus.” He stepped back from the table and shook his head. “This woman was pregnant.”
CHAPTER 57
Detective Rosen had called and filled in the Newburgh Heights Police Department when they realized Hannah Messinger may have been taken from the downtown liquor store. O’Dell had anxiously accompanied Dr. Holmes, and Rosen had stayed behind at the truck stop, gathering evidence,