Where the Blame Lies(36)

“The same as Aria Glazer.”

“This guy learned from his predecessor as far as the importance of protection.”

“Either that or he’s just smarter in general.”

They were both silent for a moment, looking at the extinguished life in front of them, the obviously young woman who’d had her future stolen by a demented monster.

There was a metal pan off to the side with some congealed sludge at the bottom and Zach gestured to it. “Something like that was taken into evidence at the first crime scene too,” he said. “And Josie was supplied with a similar makeshift toilet by Marshall Landish.”

Jimmy made a rough noise in the back of his throat. “Why bother with the small bit of dignity?” he muttered. Zach didn’t answer. He didn’t have one.

“The carving in the leg?” Zach asked after a minute. “Can we see it?”

Dolores lifted up the girl’s skirt, showing the top of her thigh where the words casus belli were carved. “Premortem?” Jimmy asked.

“Definitely,” Dolores answered. “It appears as if the wounds were just beginning to heal over at the time of death.”

Zach nodded, standing, Jimmy following suit. “I’m sure Cathlyn will expedite the exam on this one. I’ll give her a call and tell her to let us know as soon as she has anything.”

They said goodbye to Dolores who gave them a small wave, not lifting her head from her work, and walked up the wooden stairs. Outside the house, the night was cool and clear. Rainswept. It felt like an entirely different world than where they’d just been. He wondered if Josie had experienced that sensation too when she’d fled the warehouse room where she’d been held captive and emerged into that crisp winter day, but he pushed that particular thought away. He needed to focus on the girl they’d just found.

“One of the missing persons I pulled when we were looking to ID Aria Glazer was that UC student who was reported missing six weeks ago.”

“The one all over the news last month. Harley and Aymes are on that investigation, right?” Zach nodded and Jimmy ran a hand over his jaw, pulling out his phone. He stepped off the path that led from the house to the curb, turning so no one coming or going from the house could see what he was doing. Zach followed. After typing something into what looked like a browser, Jimmy stared at the screen, his lips thinning as he turned it toward Zach. The body in the basement was in the beginning stages of decomposition, but damn if the girl he was looking at didn’t appear to be the same as the one they’d just left with criminalists. “Yeah, this could very well be her. Fuck me. Isn’t her father some city council member or something?”

“Yeah. We need to let Sergeant Woods know about the possibility.” Zach thought back to Aria’s roommate Tessa telling him about Aria taking classes at UC. Fuck, if this was in fact the UC student, it’d be the second one found in the same manner in less than a week that had ties to the university. Aria Glazer hadn’t been a full-time student. She’d been taking night classes. But she’d still been at the campus regularly.

Plus, Josie had been a UC student when she’d been abducted. Did that tie in too?

Shit. People were going to freak. This would have to be managed very carefully.

Jimmy and Zach got in their vehicles just as a news van rounded the corner.

**********

Sergeant Woods sat back in his chair, digesting the news that Zach had just delivered. The daughter of the city council member, twenty-year-old Miriam Bellanger, could very well be the girl that had just been found in the basement of an abandoned house in Clifton, shackled, sexually assaulted, tortured, and starved.

“Cathlyn’s at the lab now, waiting for the body. Miriam’s parents have been notified of the possibility that this is their daughter. They’re having dental records forwarded in the morning.” Jimmy blew out a breath. “Can’t imagine anyone in that house will sleep tonight. We wanted to spare them the purgatory, but the news arrived as we were leaving, and we didn’t want them to hear about this on TV either.”

“It was the right call. Holy shit.” He shook his head. “If it does turn out to be her, and along with the news that the other victim found in the same manner took classes at UC too, the whole campus is going to go berserk. We need to tell the chief so he can prepare a statement, because the news will be all over this department like white on rice as soon as the story breaks.” He paused. “What’s the update on the burglary at Josie Stratton’s house?”

Zach updated him on his meeting with the cousin. “I heard from the lab on my way to tonight’s crime scene. No fingerprints on that knife. The lab hasn’t found anything that would tie him or anyone else to the break in.”

“The cousin called to complain about you earlier today,” Sergeant Woods said, eyeing Zach. “Said you threatened him. I squashed it but sounds like he’s hired a lawyer. Threw some woman’s name around. He won’t talk anymore unless we have something concrete.” Well, that’s that, Zach thought. And again, what a prick.

“Someone printed up an old article about Josie’s escape and hung it up around town,” Jimmy said quietly.

Zach’s spine stiffened. “What?”

“Yeah, I was going to mention it when you got to Josie’s. She was in the other room when I talked to you earlier. Then the crime scene and—”