Karen Rose - Scream for Me

A LSO BY K AREN R OSE

Dont Tell

Have You Seen Her?

Im Watching You

Nothing to Fear

You Cant Hide

Count to Ten

Die for Me

Atlanta, Monday, January 29, 12:15 p.m.

D r. Felicity Berg looked up at Daniel through her goggles. She was standing on the other side of the autopsy table, bending over what remained of their Jane Doe. You want the good news or the bad news first?

Daniel had watched in silence as Felicity had taken Jane Doe apart with deliberate care. Hed watched her do autopsies more than a dozen times, but he never failed to wonder how she kept her hands so steady. The bad news, I guess.

The mask covering her face moved and he imagined her wry smile. Hed always liked Felicity Berg, even though she was called The Iceberg by most of the men. Hed never seen her as cold, just... careful. There was a difference, as Daniel well knew.

I cant definitively identify her. She was about twenty. She had no blood alcohol, and doesnt have any obvious diseases or defects. Cause of death was asphyxia.

And the blows to her face? Where they pre- or postmortem?

Post. As was this bruising around her mouth. She pointed to four fingertip-sized bruises.

Daniel frowned. Wouldnt those bruises be from the hand that killed her?

Her brows lifted. Thats what he wanted you to think. Remember the fibers I pointed out in her lungs and in the lining of her cheeks?

Cotton, Daniel said. From the handkerchief he shoved in her mouth.

Exactly. Im guessing he didnt want any of his own DNA in her teeth in the event she bit him. There are bruises on her nose that were put there before she was dead, you just cant see them because of the beating. But after she was dead, somebodys fingers were pressed to the side of her mouth. The distance between the finger bruises indicates it was a mans hand, small in size. He went to considerable trouble to make this happen, Daniel. He was careful when hitting her face to leave this area around her mouth untouched. Its almost like he wanted the finger bruises to show.

I wonder if Alicia Tremaine had finger bruising around her mouth.

Thats for you to find out. I can tell you this womans last meal was Italian, with sausage, pasta, and some kind of hard cheese.

Only about a million Italian restaurants in the city, he said glumly.

She picked up the womans left hand. She has thick calluses on her fingertips.

Daniel leaned closer to see. She played a musical instrument. Violin maybe?

Or something in the string family, something with a bow, I think. The other hand is soft, no calluses, so its probably not a harp or a guitar.

Was that the good news?

Her eyes glinted in mild amusement. No. The good news is that even if I cant tell you who she was, I think I can tell you where shed been twenty-four hours before she was killed. Come here, to this side of the table. Felicity ran a black light wand over the victims hand, revealing the remnants of a fluorescent stamp.

He looked up and met Felicitys satisfied eyes. Shed been to Fun-N-Sun, he said. The amusement park stamped the hands of anyone leaving and planning to return the same day. They get thousands of visitors every day, but maybe well get lucky.

Felicity placed the womans arm at her side with gentle care and respect, elevating her in Daniels regard. Or maybe someone will finally miss her, she said quietly.

Dr. Berg? One of her assistants came into the room, carrying a sheet of paper. This womans urine tox came back positive for flunitrazepam, one hundred micrograms.

Daniel frowned. Rohypnol? He used a date-rape drug? Thats not a lethal dose, is it?

Thats not even enough to knock her out. Its barely enough to show up on the test. Jackie, can you run the test again? If I get called before a grand jury, Im going to want a verification of your results. No offense.

Unperturbed, Jackie nodded. None taken. Ill do it right now.

He wanted us to find the drug, but he didnt want her completely incapacitated, Daniel mused. He wanted her awake and aware.

And he knows his pharmacology. It wouldnt have been simple to achieve that low level of flunitrazepam. Again, he went to some trouble.

So the presence of Rohypnol is one more thing I need to check on the murder of Alicia Tremaine. I need to get that police report. And so far, Dutton Sheriff Frank Loomis still hadnt called him back. So much for professional courtesy. Daniel was going to Dutton to get that report in person. Thanks, Felicity. As always, its been fun.

Daniel. Felicity had stepped back from the body and was pulling off her mask. I wanted to tell you that I was sorry to hear about your parents.

Daniel drew a breath. Thank you.

I wanted to go to the funeral, but... A self-deprecating smile bent her lips. I got to the church, but I couldnt go inside. Funerals make me queasy. Believe it or not.

He smiled at her. I believe you, Felicity. And I thank you for trying.

She nodded briskly. I had Malcolm request the autopsy report on Alicia Tremaine after Miss Fallon left. When we get it, Ill let you know.

Again, I appreciate it. And as he walked away, he felt her watch him go.

Atlanta, Monday, January 29, 1:15 p.m.

When Daniel got back to his office, Luke was sitting in one of his chairs, a laptop in his lap and his feet up on Daniels desk. He looked up, studied Daniels face, then shrugged. Youre making it damn hard for me to lie to my mama, Daniel. I can tell her youre all right all I want, but those dark circles under your eyes tell a different tale.

Daniel hung his jacket behind his door. Dont you have a job?

Hey, Im working. Luke held up the laptop. Im running a diagnostic on the chiefs machine. Its been running buggy. He quirked the air with his fingers, a smile on his face, but Daniel heard the tension in his friends voice.

He sat at his desk and did some studying of his own. There were no dark circles under Lukes eyes, but within them was a bleakness few got to see. Bad day?

Lukes smile disappeared, and closing his eyes, he swallowed audibly. Yeah. The single word was harsh and filled with a pain few truly understood. Luke was on the GBIs task force against Internet crime, and for the last year hed been focused on crime involving children. Daniel thought hed rather watch a thousand autopsies than look at the obscenities Luke was forced to view every day. Luke drew a breath and opened his eyes, control restored even if serenity was not.

Daniel wondered if any cop ever got to serenity.

I needed a break, Luke said simply, and Daniel nodded.

I just came from the morgue. My Jane Doe went to Fun-N-Sun on Thursday and plays the violin.

Well, the violin might narrow it down some. I brought you something. Luke pulled a thick stack of papers from his computer bag. I ran a deeper search on Alicia Tremaine and came up with all these articles. She had a twin sister.

I know, Daniel said wryly. Too bad you didnt tell me before she walked in here this morning and scared the ever-livin shit outta me.

Lukes dark brows shot up. She was here? Alexandra Tremaine?

She calls herself Fallon now. Alex Fallon. Shes an ER nurse from Cincinnati.

So she lived then, Luke said thoughtfully and Daniel frowned.

What do you mean?

Luke handed the stack of papers over the table. Well, the story didnt stop with Alicias murder. The day Alicias body was found, Kathy Tremaine, thats their mother, shot herself in the head. She was apparently discovered by her daughter Alexandra, who then took all the pills the doctor had prescribed for the mother, who was hysterical after having to identify her daughters body.

Daniel thought of Jane Doe on the table at the morgue and of a mother having to identify her child looking like that. Still, suicide was the cowards way out... and for Alex to have discovered her that way. My God, he murmured.