Shadow Fall (Tracers Series Book 9) by Laura Griffin Read Free Book Online Page B

Around here, skeletonized remains are often discovered by hunters in the autumn and winter. Nature helps, too. When leaves fall, that increases visibility in the brush. So November to February is our busy time, but right now we’re especially slammed because Walt’s on medical leave.”
    “In that case, thanks for getting to this so quickly.”
    “Of course.” She smiled. “Mia, our DNA specialist, said it’s top priority. I think Greenwood called her.”
    The doctor pulled an X-ray from the envelope and clipped it to a light panel, which she then switched on to illuminate the film. Tara relaxed a bit. She could look at X-rays all day long. Autopsies were tougher to stomach.
    “These are the dental records,” she said. Then she tapped a few keys on a notebook computer, and a digitized X-ray popped up on the screen. “And these are the films Greenwood sent me for comparison. As you can see, it’s a match.”
    A match.
    The mutilated body in the woods belonged to Catalina Reyes, forty-two, former candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives. She’d been a controversial figure from the start of her political career, and her FBI file included death threats made within the last eighteen months.
    The Bureau was officially involved now, even if it didn’t turn out to be a hate crime.
    Tara studied the skull X-ray and then the dental X-rays, looking for telltale similarities. But to her untrained eye, it could have been anyone.
    “Actually, I’m not seeing it,” Tara said. “You’re going to have to help me out here, Doctor.”
    “Call me Kelsey.” She pointed at the computer screen with her pen. “See the maxillary second molar here? It tilts inward, just as you see on this dental X-ray. Also note the slight malocclusion. She’d had orthodontic treatment, but either they didn’t correct it completely or maybe she didn’t wear her retainer.”
    Tara stared at the dental X-ray, thinking of Catalina—Catie to her friends, probably—as a teenager in braces. She studied the X-ray Dr. Greenwood had taken of the skull.
    “What’s that in her throat?” Tara asked.
    “A tooth.”
    Tara looked at her.
    “Her right first molar was knocked out around the time of death. Same with her second premolar. See here?” She pointed at a gap where a tooth should have been. “The molar she swallowed. The premolar’s still missing. It was the only tooth she had with a filling, which is a very distinguishing characteristic. So that might explain Dr. Greenwood’s reluctance to make a positive ID using dental records alone.”
    Anger tightened Tara’s shoulders as she gazed at the X-ray and imagined the extreme violence of the attack. “If she swallowed her tooth,” Tara said, “that suggests she was alive at the time she was struck, right?”
    “That’s what it looks like to me. Which would indicate she resisted her attacker, at least at first.” Kelsey tapped the keyboard and brought up another autopsy X-ray, this one showing a hand and arm. “Approximately half the bones in the human body are found in the hands and feet, and I always pay close attention to the hands. They tell a story. See her wrist here? Fractured scaphoid. Also, her fifth metacarpal is broken, an injury known as a boxer’s fracture. Another indication of a struggle.”
    So she’d fought hard. Good for her. “You think maybe she bit him?” Tara asked.
    “I hope.” Kelsey’s gaze met hers. “You’re thinking of DNA?”
    “Yes. Where’s the tooth she swallowed?”
    “At our DNA lab. I can tell you there was blood on it, but whether it belonged to the victim or her attacker, I couldn’t say. Our DNA specialist will have those results soon.”
    “I’ll have what soon?”
    They both looked up to see a woman standing in the doorway. Petite build, lab coat, strawberry blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail.
    “Mia. Speak of the devil.” Kelsey made introductions as Tara looked the woman over. The name embroidered on her lab coat said