Along with 90 percent of the population. But Quinn was right again.

“Was she drugged?”

“There are no defensive wounds, and I’ve sent blood and tissue samples to our lab. It’ll take a couple of days to process.”

This was where the MRT crime lab would come in handy. They could process evidence far quicker because they would only be working on one case at a time. Jim Esteban would be here tonight and Matt was going to have him sweet-talk the crime lab into access and quicker results.

“What about a blow to the head? Any other external injuries?”

“No excessive bruising, no blunt force trauma. There were bindings on her wrists and ankles—but she didn’t struggle against them, so that suggests she was tied up while unconscious.”

Matt would work with CSI on expediting the reports, but he was almost positive she had been drugged. But how? She hadn’t fought back. He also wanted any trace evidence from the restraints.

“Sexual assault?” Matt asked.

“No,” the ME said. “A small blessing.”

Hardly a blessing when Victoria Manners was still dead.

“If I send you the autopsy files of six other victims we believe are the work of the same killer, would you be able to review them and give your expert opinion as to whether they are the same, different, or indeterminate?”

“I would.”

“You’ll have them before the end of today.” He quickly sent Ryder a message to expedite delivering the reports to Reynolds.

If this was the same killer—and Matt was 99 percent positive it was—then he would kill someone else on Saturday. Less than thirty-nine hours from now. Man, woman, black, white, didn’t matter—it was random.

Appeared random, he told himself. Because to the killer, Matt was certain there was a reason he chose each victim. The dates were important to him—perhaps the only thing that was important—but it stood to reason he chose his victims as carefully as the dates of their murders. Just because they couldn’t see the connection didn’t mean there wasn’t one.

“Is it possible to give us specs on the weapon?” Matt asked.

“I need to do some research on that. The blade was at least four inches and double-edged. That’s all I can determine without taking additional measurements and running them through the computer.”

“Fair enough.” All the other victims were killed with a double-sided blade.

“I did notice something else,” Reynolds said.

Matt stepped forward. Victoria’s body was still open; Reynolds would sew her up and store her until her family claimed the remains. Anger hit Matt, as it often did when he saw an innocent victim. But he swallowed it. He was the calm one, the reasoned, methodical cop. It’s why he did his job so damn well.

Didn’t mean he wasn’t pissed off.

Reynolds said, “One of her shoes was missing when she was brought in, and according to the CSI report, it wasn’t at the crime scene. I don’t know if the killer takes souvenirs, or he tossed it in the lake, or what.”