Crime Scene at Cardwell Ranch - B.J. Daniels [21]
He pulled over into one of the wide spots along the river. "Savage here."
The dispatcher in Bozeman, an elderly woman named Lorraine, announced she was patching through a call.
"Marshal Savage?" asked a voice he didn't recognize. "This is Dr. Gerald Cross with the crime lab in Missoula."
"Yes." Hud wondered why it wasn't Rupert calling.
"I have information on the evidence you sent us that I thought you'd want to hear about right away." There was the fluttering sound of papers, then the doctor's voice again. "We got lucky. Normally something like this takes weeks if not months, but your coroner was so insistent that we run the tests ASAP…The bullet lodged in the skull of the victim matches a bullet used in a shooting in your area."
Hud blinked in confusion. "What shooting?"
Another shuffle of papers. "A Judge Raymond Randolph. He was murdered in his home. An apparent robbery?"
Hud felt the air rush from his lungs. Judge Randolph. And the night Hud had been trying to forget for the past five years.
He cleared his throat. "You're saying the same gun that killed the Jane Doe from the well was used in the Randolph case?"
"The striations match. No doubt about it. Same gun used for both murders," the doctor said.
"The Randolph case was only five years ago. Hasn't this body been down in the well longer than that? The coroner estimated about fifteen years."
"Our preliminary findings support that time period," Dr. Cross said.
Hud tried to take it in: two murders, years apart, but the same gun was used for both?
"We found further evidence in the dirt that was recovered around the body," the doctor was saying. "An emerald ring. The good news is that it was custom-made by a jeweler in your area. Should be easy to track."
Hud felt hopeful. "Can you fax me the information on the ring along with digital photos?"
"I'll have that done right away," the doctor said. "Also, three fingers on her left hand were broken, the ring finger in two places. Broken in the fall, I would assume, unless she tried to fight off her assailant.
"But what also might be helpful in identifying the woman is the prior break in the Jane Doe's radius, right wrist," the doctor continued. "It appears it was broken and healed shortly before her death. The break had been set, indicating she sought medical attention. She would have been wearing a cast in the weeks prior to her death."
A woman with a broken wrist in a cast.
"I've sent the information to both the dentists and doctors in your area," Dr. Cross said. "All her teeth were intact and she'd had dental work done on several molars not long before her death, as well. You got lucky on this one."
Lucky? Hud didn't feel lucky. Again he wondered why Rupert hadn't made the call. "Is Dr. Milligan still there? I wanted to ask him something."
"Sorry, but Rupert left some time ago. He said he had an appointment."
Hud thanked him and hung up the radio, wondering what was going on with Rupert. Why hadn't he been the one to call? It wasn't like him. Especially since he'd been right about everything. He would have called if for nothing else than to say, "Good thing you didn't bet me."
Because, Hud thought, Rupert wanted to get the information to someone else first? For instance, his friend the former marshal, Brick Savage?
Hud stared out at the falling snow. The night was bright, the scene past the windshield a tableau of varying shades of white and gray. Next to him the Gallatin River ran under a thick layer of ice. He couldn't remember ever feeling this cold.
He reached over and kicked up the heat, letting the vent blow into his face.
The same gun used to murder the woman in a red dress was used during what had appeared to be a robbery of Judge Randolph's residence. The Judge had been shot and killed—the two incidents years apart.
Hud rubbed his hand over his face. No, he didn't feel lucky in the least. Judge Randolph had been one of Brick Savage's most outspoken opponents. Hud had never known what had spurred the judge's hatred of Marshal Brick Savage. The two had butted heads