What Have You Done(11)

“Still, you could’ve said something.”

“Sorry.”

The two techs slipped the victim into a black body bag that was spread out on the stained carpet as Jane gathered the slack from the cord she’d been holding and stuffed it in the bag with the victim. The makeshift noose remained tied around the girl’s neck. No one was to remove it until the transporting team was in the autopsy room with the medical examiner in case there was additional evidence to be found.

Sean walked toward the body bag and bent down.

Liam was right. She was barely recognizable. Her hair had been cut short and then shaved sloppily, clumps in some sections, shaved down to the scalp in others. It was just like his mother had done to herself that day. His stomach seized, and he could feel his face growing hot. He reached out to pull the edge of the bag farther from her face but noticed his hand trembling, so he stopped and put it in his pocket.

“What was the name again?”

“Kerri Miller.”

“No. Don’t know her.” Sean stood back up and cleared his throat. He turned toward Keenan, his head swimming in the vision of the girl in the body bag. “Have you found anything yet?”

“You trying to come in on my case?”

“Relax, I’m just asking.”

Keenan glanced at his notebook. “Owner’s name is Francis Guzio. He was running the window last night. Says he always runs the window and remembers the woman coming in slumped over a male. The male paid cash for the night, and that’s pretty much it. He didn’t notice anyone leave, and one of his maintenance guys discovered the girl’s body this morning. A Raul Montenez. We took a statement and let him go. Jane lifted a few prints and took some pictures. Teddy took some hair samples off the carpet and some fiber samples for testing. We found half a boot print in the blood. Between all that and the autopsy, we should come up with something.”

“You get anything on the camera over the front door?”

“Owner said it hasn’t worked for years.”

“How about a name on the registry?”

“He signed in as Johnny Cash, so, no, we don’t have a name. The owner says he didn’t think there was much screaming or carrying on during the murder because he had the other two rooms on either side booked all night, and no one complained or mentioned anything.”

“They were probably too busy to notice.”

“Yeah, probably.”

Sean walked to the bed and picked up the evidence bag that held the paper flowers. He worked to steady his hands as he turned the bag over a few times. “You get anywhere with these flowers?”

“Nope. Seems like normal tissue paper to me. We’ll send it out and see if we come up with anything. I’ll do some digging on the significance. Could be nothing. Could be something. Who knows?”

“Where’s she going?”

“Saint Martin’s for the autopsy,” Jane replied. “Liam, will you be there?”

Liam shook his head. “No. I’m going to take the prints back to the lab and start the reports. You guys go on to Saint Martin’s, and we’ll compare notes when you get back.”

Teddy and Rob each took an end of the body bag and lifted it off the floor. The others in the room stepped aside as the men shuffled out into the hall. When the body was removed, Keenan grabbed the evidence bag from Sean. “I gotta go process this. We’ll catch up later. I heard you had a nice get-together with Cutter Washington this morning.”

Sean nodded. “Yeah, we got him.”

“The kid gonna be okay?”

“Touch and go right now.”

Keenan made his way out into the hall. When he was at the top of the stairs, he stopped and turned back. “Yo, Sean.”

“What?”

“For what it’s worth, I’m glad you didn’t know her.”

“Thanks.”

The two brothers watched as Keenan followed the procession to the first floor. When they were alone in the silence of the empty hotel room, Sean started looking around, kneeling to search under the bed, crawling around the bloodstains that soaked the dirty carpet. He stood up and snapped his gloves off. “What do you want me to do here?” he asked. “The case has already been assigned. I can’t get involved.”

“I know.”

“I can’t step on toes, Liam. Even with something like this. You saw Keenan get pissy just from me showing up. If I start interfering, he’s going to go crazy. I’d feel the same way if the situation was reversed.”

“I said, I know. I’m not trying to jam you up. I just needed you here.”

Sean sighed, looking up at the pipe in the ceiling Kerri had been hanged from. “I’ll stop by Kerri’s apartment and make sure anything relating to you is gone. That’s the best I can do for now.”

“You sure I shouldn’t just come clean about me and Kerri? If we don’t say anything and they find out, it could look suspicious.”

Sean shook his head. “Did you see her? This isn’t a drive-by or a home invasion gone bad. She was strung up, hanged, and cut. Someone needs to pay for this. Heckle and Keenan will need to clear this case. The lieutenant won’t let this one go away quietly. Whether you tell them about your affair with Kerri now or they find out later, you’re going to be a suspect. Hell, I could be too. The paper flowers and the head shaving tie us even closer to it. Better to just lay low and see where this thing goes. If they nail a suspect in the next few days, no one has to know anything about your affair. If we have to come clean, we will. Just not yet.”