“Evening, Sam.”

“Hey, Doc.” Detective Rosen’s eyes found Maggie without even noticing the corpse. He held up a couple of evidence bags with what looked like dirt in them. “Agent O’Dell, I think we found something kinda interesting.”

After Dr. Holmes’s comment, she wondered if Sam had really discovered something at the scene or if he would try to pass off dirt as evidence in order to justify his stop. She was being ridiculous. Maybe Greg had been right about that, too. She didn’t trust anyone.

He handed her one of the Ziploc bags over the table. This time he glanced down at the body. It didn’t seem to bother him. She guessed that Detective Rosen had seen his share of autopsies, which meant he hadn’t always belonged to the Stafford County Sheriff’s Department.

She took and inspected the bag of dirt and immediately recognized it. She held the bag up to the light. Yes, there were bits of silver and yellow that sparkled under the bright fluorescent.

“Where did you find this?”

“On the side of the trash bin closest to the chain-link fence. There’s actually some metal rails, sorta like steps. We found muddy prints from shoes or boots. That’s probably how he was able to climb up and toss in her body. It faces away from the parking lot. No one would see him there.”

Rosen seemed excited with the discovery, and she wondered why. “Did you show this to Agent Tully?”

“Nope, not yet. But I figure this has gotta be a big break. It should lead us to where this guy has been hiding out.”

Maggie waited for the detective to explain. Now he seemed to be distracted by Dr. Holmes, or rather the bloody glob in the take-out container that Dr. Holmes was examining.

“Detective Rosen,” Maggie waited for his attention. “Why do think this will lead us anywhere?”

“For one thing, it’s mud.” He stated the obvious as though he had uncovered a secret. When he realized she didn’t see the significance, he continued, “Well, it hasn’t rained for quite a while. It’s looked like it several times, but nothing. Not around here anyway. Always offshore.”

She drummed her fingers on the counter, waiting for something more than this weather report. He noticed her impatience, quickly opened one of the bags and pinched some of the dirt between his fingers, bringing it out and showing her.

“It’s a thick, sticky clay. Even smells a bit moldy. Again, nothing like we have around here.”

She could put an end to all of this by simply admitting she had seen the stuff before, that they had actually analyzed and broken it down. Instead, she let him go on.

“A couple of the guys who’ve lived here all their lives said they haven’t seen anything like this stuff before. Take a close look. It’s unusual, with bits of reddish rock, and that yellow and silvery crap is pretty weird…maybe even man-made.”

Finally, she confessed, “We have found similar dirt at two other crime scenes, Detective Rosen, but—”

“Sam.”

“Excuse me?”

“Call me Sam.”

Maggie brushed annoying, damp strands off her forehead. Had Dr. Holmes been right about Detective…Sam? Was he really only here to flirt and try to impress her?

“Sam, we have analyzed this stuff. It may be from a closed-down industrial site. We do have several people trying to find a possible location.”

“Well, I think I can save you some time.”

She stared at him, growing more impatient with his cocky smile. He was wasting their time with this grandstanding.

“I think I know where this came from,” he said, pleased with himself despite Maggie’s look of skepticism. “I went fishing a couple of weekends ago. A little spot about fifty miles from here on the other side of the toll bridge. I was supposed to meet a buddy, but I still don’t know this area very well. I ended up getting lost in this isolated wooded area. When I got home I noticed this sticky mud covering my boots. Took me almost two hours to clean them. The mud looked just like this crap. Couldn’t figure out what the hell that silver dust was.”

Now he had Maggie’s full attention. She could feel her pulse begin to race. The area sounded exactly like someplace Stucky would hole up. Detective Rosen was right. This could be their big break.

“Well, I hope this pans out,” Dr. Holmes interrupted, only now looking up from the contents of the plastic container. “This guy is one sick bastard. I think this woman may have confessed to him, tried appealing to him, hoping he had one ounce of human dignity in him.”

“What are you talking about?” Maggie watched the medical examiner wipe his forehead, suddenly not caring that he smeared blood from his gloves to his face. The calm, experienced professional seemed visibly shaken by his discovery.

“What is it?” she tried again.

“Might not be a coincidence that he chose to extract her uterus.” He stepped back from the table and shook his head. “This woman was pregnant.”

CHAPTER 56

Maggie watched from across the metal table as Dr. Holmes sliced into the woman’s chest, making a precise Y incision that curved under the woman’s breasts. Though she had gowned up, her gloved hands ready, she restrained herself from taking part. Instead, she waited for his permission, participating only when asked, trying to confine her impatience when things took too long. She reminded herself that she should be grateful the medical examiner had agreed to do the autopsy on a Saturday night rather than waiting for Monday morning.

He had allowed her to do the busywork; helping insert the body block, scraping behind the woman’s nails, taking the external mea-surements and then the samples of hair, saliva and body fluids. Maggie couldn’t stop thinking that Hannah had put up the fight of her life. Bruises covered her body, the one to her hip and thigh suggesting she had fallen down some stairs in the process.

Now, as Maggie watched Dr. Holmes, she found herself going through the woman’s brutal murder, step by step, from the telltale signs her body telegraphed. Hannah had scratched and clawed as Jessica had, only Hannah managed to get pieces of Stucky under her nails. Why had her death not been simple and swift? Why wasn’t he able to tie her up, rape her and slit her throat as he had with Jessica and Rita? Had Stucky not been prepared for this challenge?

Maggie wanted to shove her sleeves up. The plastic apron was making her sweat. God, it was hot. Why wasn’t there better ventilation?

The county morgue was larger than she had expected, with dingy gray walls and the overpowering scent of Lysol. The counters were a dull yellow Formica rather than stainless steel. The overhead fluorescent lighting unit hung low over the table, almost brushing the tops of their heads when they stood up straight. Dr. Holmes was not much taller than Maggie, but she noticed he had grown accustomed to the light fixture, ducking automatically each time he came underneath it.

Her forensic and premed background had allowed her to perform many autopsies on her own and assist in plenty of others. Maybe it was her exhaustion or perhaps it was simply the stress of this case, but for some reason she was having difficulty disconnecting from the body on the metal table in front of her. Her face felt hot from the hovering light. The windowless room was threatening to suffocate her, though a hidden fan circulated the stale air in the room. She resisted the urge to swipe at the strands of hair that stuck to her damp forehead. The tension in her neck had spread to her shoulders, and was now knotting its way down to take control of her lower back.

Ever since she had recognized the woman, Maggie couldn’t help feeling responsible for her death. Had she simply not asked for help in choosing a bottle of wine, the woman would still be alive. Maggie knew the thoughts were counterproductive. They were exactly what Stucky wanted her to be thinking, to be feeling. But she couldn’t shut them off. She couldn’t stop the growing hysteria that gnawed at her insides, the exploding anger that whispered promises of revenge. She couldn’t control the brewing desire of wanting to put a bullet between Albert Stucky’s eyes. This anger, this need for revenge was beginning to scare her more than anything Albert Stucky could do to her.