A Merciful Silence (Mercy Kilpatrick #4)(46)

“It’s Corrine,” Mercy stated.

“Yes.”

“That poor family.” The photos from the home flashed in her memory. Alison, Amy . . . gone.

“We didn’t find any remains of shoes, or belts, or wallets,” Mercy mused out loud. “Does that mean they were put in the culvert naked? Or were they already skeletal remains when they were hidden there?”

“Did you see the soil report that was just finished?”

“Not yet.” She made a mental note to check her email.

“I read it. The soil tests indicate that the bones have been there the whole time.”

“Interesting.” Mercy tried to imagine the work involved in dumping an entire unclothed family in the culvert. “I wonder if he put them in the other end first. Maybe the bodies are what caused part of the backing up of the culvert to start with.”

“And the bones were eventually washed out the other end?” suggested Dr. Harper.

“Yes. They were really embedded in the debris backing up the culvert, weren’t they?”

“They were.” One side of Dr. Harper’s lips curved up. “Could be ironic that the way he disposed of the bodies is what caused them to be eventually found.”

“And it’s reasonable that the remains could have skeletonized since last summer?”

“Absolutely.”

“How will we figure out if the last skull is the brother-in-law?” Mercy asked. The brother-in-law could be the murder suspect she was searching for. But did he kill the Jorgensens too? “I still don’t know his name. I can’t find any records of Corrine’s family, and Richard’s uncle was no help.”

“There’s always DNA testing, but it will take time. We can compare the unknown skull’s DNA to Corrine’s. If they’re siblings, they should have about fifty percent matching DNA.”

“I plan to get that test rolling as soon as possible,” Dr. Victoria Peres said as she entered the room. “Nice to see you, Agent Kilpatrick. I’m glad we had some good news for you.” She frowned. “I guess it’s not good news, but helpful news.”

“Definitely helpful,” agreed Mercy, noticing Dr. Peres carried a skull. “Now we’re down to two mystery skulls instead of four.”

“Actually we’re down to one mystery skull.” The usually calm and collected woman spoke in a voice that was higher than normal.

Mercy’s skin tingled. “What did you find?”

Dr. Peres held up the skull, and Mercy recognized the different shape of the eye sockets. “That’s the Asian skull,” said Mercy.

“Yes.” The forensic anthropologist flipped it over and indicated the opening on the bottom. “Can you see in here?” She shone a penlight inside the skull.

Mercy leaned closer, wondering what the doctor expected her to see. She couldn’t read every bump and fossa the way Dr. Peres could.

“It’s always bothered me that the color of the skull was slightly different from the other five,” Dr. Peres said. “And it felt more brittle to me. I was about to run dating tests on it when I spotted something inside. I blame myself for not getting it fully cleaned out right away. Stubborn dirt and the awkward location kept me from seeing it.”

Mercy searched the inside of the skull. Her gaze stopped on some small scratches. “Is that a year?” Mercy took the penlight from the doctor and moved closer to the opening. “It says 1969. But what do the letters spell?” She squinted. Someone had awkwardly carved the numbers and letters inside the skull.

“I think they’re someone’s initials.”

“Someone put the identity inside?” Her mind raced. It must be a birth year and the victim’s initials.

“No. I think this is a war trophy from Vietnam.”

Mercy drew back, horrified at the thought. “Seriously?”

“It’s my theory. I’ve heard of soldiers smuggling back skulls or bones or clothing from wars. All the wars.”

“That’s sick.”

“There’s a market for it.”

“That’s even sicker.”

“Let me see it,” requested Dr. Harper. She opened a case and took out a pair of glasses with loupes attached to the lenses. Mercy’s dentist wore the same type. “The initials are HRR. I assume they belong to whoever originally brought home the skull?”

“Who knows?” asked Dr. Peres. “It could have had multiple owners over the last fifty years.”

“But why place it in the culvert? And was it put there at the same time as the Hartlages?” questioned Mercy, thinking out loud.

“I suspect you won’t know the answer to that until you make an arrest,” Dr. Peres said solemnly.

It wasn’t the answer Mercy wanted to hear, but she knew the forensic anthropologist was correct.





TWENTY-TWO

My father had a love of all things military.

I didn’t understand his fascination with these items because of his hatred of his time in the war. He condemned our government, which sent men to war, but would make special trips to see war memorabilia for sale. Mother looked upset every time he came home with a new purchase, but she never said anything about the money he spent. I suspect she knew better. Even I knew Father was in charge of the money. Mother had to ask several times when she needed to buy us clothes for school.