The move had become so natural, in the same casual way he held her hand or put his arm around her when they were off-duty. The closeness they had often confused Jenna. The slow pace he wanted was nothing she’d experienced before but if friendship was all he had to give her right now, she could wait. She ignored the strange fluttering in her stomach and snorted. “Oh really?”
“Yes, really.” He gave her a puzzled look. “Is that a problem?”
They all took a few hours from work each week to go down to the range to practice shooting and he had been going more often than usual between cases. “No, of course not, but you’ve never mentioned it before. So all those visits to the rifle range were really visits to the dojo?”
“Oh, I went to the range.” Kane cleared his throat. “I know if my eye is in after a few shots. I don’t need to use a box of ammo to correct my aim so I decided to use the time to improve my other skills. I’ve been worried about my agility since my knee surgery. You want me in top shape, don’t you?”
“I sure do.” Jenna pushed to her feet and offered him her hand. “I need to be in shape too and I could do with a few new moves. Teach me.”
After breakfast they headed into the office. Jenna wiped the condensation off the frost covered window and took in the landscape. The spray from the snowplow had created a wall of gray glistening ice alongside the highway. All around, trees bent under the weight of the continuous snowfalls. The houses too had become white lumps in the scenery, with smoking chimneys and lacy gutters. Icicles hung from everything, signposts and mailboxes had transformed overnight and blended into the sidewalk. She frowned at the sight. Snow had come early this year and arrived with unprecedented force. She looked at Kane, who was humming along to a tune on the radio. “As Deputy Walters came up empty from the hotline calls about chainsaws and we have zip on the tattoos, I’m going to follow Carter’s suggestion and show the photographs of the tattoos around the homeless shelters and soup kitchen today. If Rowley had hunted down a vehicle on the CCTV footage, we’d have had something to work with but from what he said, the snowfall was so dense, he had trouble making out anything at all. Without any leads, we really have no other place to start. I could put out another media report and see what happens.”
“Yeah, some people wouldn’t have seen the news and others wouldn’t want to get involved.” Kane pulled into his parking space outside the sheriff’s department.
Jenna nodded. “I guess.” She looked at Duke hiding under his blanket. “Duke doesn’t look too keen to be out today.”
“I think I’ll leave him with Maggie.” Kane frowned. “He was shivering so bad this morning when I was clearing the driveway his teeth were chattering.”
“That new coat should be warm enough, maybe he needs boots?” Jenna chuckled at his aghast expression and followed him up the front steps and after giving Maggie a wave, hurried into the warmth of her office. Her phone chimed as she sat down at her desk. It was Wolfe. “Morning. Do you have an update on the snowman?”
“No. I’ll do an autopsy tomorrow. It takes time to thaw out a corpse. I can’t use heat or the body will desiccate. Before you ask, it’s covered with a wet sheet to avoid that problem and it also must be kept in a sterile environment or I won’t be able to trust the trace evidence.”
Jenna stared at the wall, thinking. “I don’t like your chances after finding it in the park. What about the limbs, any results at all?”
“It was fortunate it was covered by snow, that would’ve helped.” Wolfe tapped at his keyboard. “Yeah, I do have a few results for you. The snowman, as you call the victim, is female and I noticed a small hole under the hair at the base of the neck. It may or may not be a bullet wound but it’s possible as there is a matching one just above the clavicle. It might be a through and through from a rifle, perhaps but I can’t be sure until I’ve autopsied the body. If it is, it’s likely the cause of death.”
Jenna made notes. “Dave was saying about how killers often freeze their victims to confuse the time of death. Is this the case with these victims?”
“It’s doubtful I’ll be able to determine TOD at all. Although—” Wolfe brightened “—I do have some information gathered from the limbs. We know we have two different women but we also know they died at different times by the rate of decomposition in their cells. The samples I’ve taken indicate the killer froze them soon after death and thawed them at least once before he froze them again. The decomposition during the period of defrosting isn’t the same. The cell damage isn’t the same either. These women could have died at least a year apart.”
Seventeen
The sound of a woman’s laughter in the hallway dragged Jenna away from making notes on the whiteboard. Since the first snow, the usual stream of people visiting the front counter had slowed to a trickle and rarely any of them laughed. Inquisitive, she walked into the main office and took in the scene. Kim Strickland, the woman Kane had rescued from the kidnappers, tossed her long red hair and looked up at Kane through her eyelashes. She had one hand resting on his forearm, and leaned toward him in an attitude of possession. Kane had his back against the counter with his arms crossed but gave the impression he was listening with interest to the woman’s constant babbling. So, this is the woman, Susie told me was hanging all over Kane at Aunt Betty’s? Jenna turned her attention to Rowley, who stood behind the counter, mouth open and watching the interaction between the pair goggle-eyed. Jenna frowned. Rowley had taken the woman’s statement on the night of the incident and as far as she and the DA were concerned the case was in the hands of the court. Why is she here?
As she moved closer, she noticed a large gift basket on the counter and Maggie staring at it with distaste as if it contained poison. She ignored the couple and walked to the other end of the counter. “Where did this come from, Maggie?”
“Her.” Maggie tipped her head toward Kim. “Said she’d sit right down here and wait until Deputy Kane would see her.” She lowered her voice. “I told her, we don’t allow none of the deputies to accept gifts but would she listen? No, she wouldn’t. When she seen him coming out your office, she told me if I didn’t go get him, she’d march right down and get him herself.”
Astonished, Jenna patted Maggie’s hand. “Next time come get me.”
Jenna picked up the basket and walked toward Kane. In her periphery, she noticed Rowley move down the desk toward Maggie and busy himself with some paperwork. She plastered a smile on her face and looked at Kane’s bemused expression. “Ah, Miss Strickland?” She held out the basket. “I believe this belongs to you?”
“No.” Kim gave Jenna an exasperated glare, and not taking her hand from Kane’s arm, turned to face her. “That’s a little gift for Dave. He was so brave, fighting six men to save me. I owe him my life.”
Dave? Jenna pushed the basket toward her. “That’s very kind of you but I’m sure Deputy Kane has explained to you he isn’t allowed to accept gifts for doing his job. That’s what we pay him to do, Miss Strickland.” She ignored the woman’s haughty expression and turned to Kane. “My office, now!”