Cut and Run(83)

“I did,” Nancy said. “It was taken as soon as she arrived here. The temp was seventy-eight degrees, which almost matches the air temp at the crime scene. Her body was burned so that might throw off my estimate, but best guess, she’s been dead less than twenty-six to thirty-five hours,” Nancy said.

Faith inspected her charred skin. “The burns occurred after death.”

“We think the same person killed Sullivan, Garnet, and Crow,” Hayden said. “In Crow’s case, he used a hammer before the man suffered a heart attack and died. With Garnet the killer used a hammer first and then sliced his throat.”

“He didn’t use a hammer on Heather,” Faith said.

“Maybe she was frightened enough and talked before he had to.”

Faith continued her external exam, cataloging scars and any signs of old injuries. She found nothing else that might hint that there’d been trouble in this woman’s life.

She reached for the scalpel, made her incisions, and removed the rib cage. She took out and weighed each organ.

The uterus showed no sign of pregnancy, but there was significant scarring. “I doubt she could have had children. I believe she may have had a botched abortion or a miscarriage that wasn’t treated properly.”

She removed, weighed, and cataloged all the organs and then repacked them back into the abdomen. She opened up the throat and noted the damaged jugular.

As she tipped the head back and studied the throat, she saw what looked like a white piece of paper. She adjusted the headlamp hanging above, picked up tweezers, and used them to pull out the card.

Both Hayden and Nancy watched as she carefully unfolded it. It was the queen of hearts.

“A card. Just like with the Crows and Garnet,” Hayden said.



Macy felt the warm embrace of the long fingers that reminded her of her mother’s. There was a calming voice hovering over her, and she could make out sporadic words now. “Getting better. Sleep is best. Vitals good. I never knew about you. I wish I had. It would have all been different.”

She couldn’t nail down who was speaking, but she felt calm when the person was close. As much as she wanted to tell this person she was alive and only trapped in her body, she couldn’t get her eyes to open, regardless of how hard she tried.

Macy’s frustration grew with this broken body of hers that refused to cooperate. If she could just open her eyes, she would see all the answers that were so close.



As Faith returned to her office after visiting Macy, she pulled the rubber band from her hair and rubbed her scalp. She drew in a breath and rolled her shoulders, trying to chase away the tension. With a solid identification in hand, she called Detective Lana Franklin in Austin’s Homicide Unit.

Franklin picked up on the second ring. “Franklin.”

“Dr. McIntyre at the medical examiner’s office. We have a positive identification on the third victim. It’s Kathy Saunders.”

Franklin shoved out a sigh. “Good. We at least have a confirmation.”

“I’d like to talk to the family. What was the contact information for Saunders?”

Papers rustled in the background. “After we met, I tried to update the info on family members. As luck would have it, Kathy’s sister is still in Austin. Her name is Diane Saunders and she lives in the Hyde Park neighborhood.”

Faith jotted down the address. “This is perfect. Thank you. I’ll let you know when we have more on the other two victims.”

“After all these years.”

“The girls are finally going home,” Faith said.

“Thanks, Doc.”

Faith hung up, changed, and within fifteen minutes was driving to a neighborhood that had been originally built in the 1890s. The homes were modest, but the area’s proximity to the university made it desirable, and many of the older homes were being purchased at a premium and renovated. Diane Saunders’s address was a bungalow tucked back on a wooded lot.

She parked and got out of her car, noting the modest red car in the driveway. She hurried to the front door and knocked. Inside she heard violin music and a small barking dog. The music turned down as a woman shushed the dog. The woman who appeared had gray hair pulled up into a loose bun. She wore glasses, and the deep lines around her mouth and eyes suggested she either laughed or worried a lot. Maybe both.

“Diane Saunders?” Faith pulled out her medical examiner’s badge.

“That’s right.”

“I’m Dr. Faith McIntyre, medical examiner. I’m here about your sister, Kathy Saunders.”

“Kathy has been gone for almost thirty years.”

“I know.” A car drove behind her, and she hated that she was having this conversation on the porch. “Do you mind if I come inside?”

Those lines around her eyes and mouth deepened. “It can’t be good if the medical examiner is here.”

“It’s not good news.”

An old dog wobbled up to Diane, stared up at Faith, and then barked. Diane snatched the dog up. “I’m sorry. She’s protective.”

“It’s okay.”

Diane and her dog stepped aside, allowing Faith inside a house that couldn’t have been more than a thousand square feet. There was a main living room with an overstuffed couch, a flat-panel screen mounted on the wall, and several bookcases that hugged every spare square inch of wall space.