Hidden ( CSI Reilly Steel #3) by CASEY HILL Read Free Book Online

Chris Delaney to be an honest and decent guy, someone to trust with her life. Now she knew he wasn’t as upstanding or truthful as she’d believed.
    And the realisation had hit her much harder than she’d expected.
    ‘So what news from on high?’ Kennedy asked Chris.
    ‘We’ve got the go ahead,’ he said, nodded a brief greeting to Reilly. ‘We’ll put out a standard press release to all the local and national media, say it’s a hit and run, ask for help in identifying the girl, and appeal for possible witnesses.’
    ‘What about the tattoo?’
    ‘We should keep that to ourselves for now,’ replied Chris quickly, and Reilly could tell by his tone that this was a point of argument between them. ‘O’Brien agrees.’
    Kennedy scowled.  ‘For Christ’s  sake … it’s so distinctive – if you’d ever seen it you wouldn’t forget it. I’m telling you, we have to use it.’
    ‘I agree with Chris actually,’ Reilly said tentatively. ‘If we can get an ID without revealing it, well, it’s a pretty personal thing…’
    ‘And if we mention it too soon but don’t get an ID, it’s the kind of thing the press will be all over,’ Chris pointed out. ‘Before we know it we’ll have another hyped-up circus on our hands like we did with the Dante thing last year.’
    ‘Still…’
    ‘We’ll know soon enough anyway,’ he continued. ‘Press release is scheduled to go out soon, so it’ll be on the lunchtime news.’ He picked up Reilly’s preliminary evidence report and scanned it. ‘I’ll pass the information about the Ford along to the locals. There are lots of farms, workshops, all sorts out there where someone might have a Transit van – we’ll just have to hope something shows up.  We’ll add the details to the press release too.’
    ‘That will just tip the guy off,’ Kennedy grumbled.
    ‘Maybe, but we’re damned if we do, damned if we don’t.’
    ‘Your call,’ his partner retorted grumpily, burying his face in his coffee cup.
    Reilly glanced at Chris, wondering again what was up with Kennedy, but he was concertedly avoiding her gaze. ‘So what direction do you want to take with this lake information?’ she asked after a beat. ‘It seems strange that—’
    He cut her off. ‘There are lakes, ponds and bogs for miles around in that particular area. It may not be that significant.’
    ‘Fine,’ Reilly said, feeling wounded by his attitude.  He was normally so receptive to her findings and willing to discuss options that the stone-walling made her feel like she was back at day one on the job, hoping to prove her worth to a suspicious, mostly hostile police force.
    Back then Chris had been her biggest champion – why now had everything changed?
     
     
     
     

     

     
     
    Chapter 6
     
State Pathologist
DATE and HOUR AUTOPSY PERFORMED : 
 15/03/2012; 8:30 A.M. by Karen Thompson, Chief Medical Examine r 

Assistant : 
 Victoria O’Neill, MD
    Full Autopsy Performed
SUMMARY REPORT OF AUTOPSY
Name : 
  Jane Doe
Coroner's Case # : 
  1398-277
Date of Birth : 
  N/A
Age : 
  N/A
Race : 
  White
Sex : 
  Female
Date of Death : 
  14/03/2012
Body Identified by : 
  N/A
Case # 
  001294-23E-2012
Investigative Agency : 
  GFU
EVIDENCE OF TREATMENT:
     
      N/A
    EXTERNAL EXAMINATION:
    The autopsy is begun at 8:30 A.M. on March 15, 2012. The body is presented in a black cadaver pouch. The victim is wearing a white cotton dress.
    The body is that of a normally developed white female measuring 67 inches and weighing 118 pounds, and appearing generally consistent with that of an individual in their late teens or early twenties. The body is cold and unembalmed. Lividity is fixed in the distal portions of the limbs. The eyes are open. The irises are blue/green and corneas are cloudy. Petechial hemorrhaging is present in the conjunctival surfaces of the eyes. The pupils measure 0.3 cm. The hair is red, untreated and approximately 26 inches in length at the