Each step closer to the perimeter set up by the first responders increased the heavy scent of death that lingered in the air. Mixed with that was the unmistakable odor of unbathed bodies. It was a sad fact that a large number of homeless individuals congregated in this area despite the various nearby shelters. Alyssa did her best to breathe through her mouth and not her nose.

She ducked under the crime scene tape into the building. Being careful where she stepped, she moved over to the body, trying not to feel guilty at the relief that flooded her when she realized it was neither Rachel Otis nor Jersey Andrews. Still, the girl was someone’s daughter, sister, aunt, and the sadness of that registered heavy in Alyssa’s heart.

The red-headed girl on the ground wasn’t nude, but she might as well have been for what she was wearing. A pair of burgundy short shorts that would have barely covered her buttocks were ripped open, exposing her pubis area, and revealing she wore nothing beneath them. The top she wore was a see-through mesh material and exposed more than a bikini top would. As Officer Vogler had indicated, the girl was young, but since she was covered all over in deep scratches and open wounds, it was difficult to gauge her actual age.

Her open eyes stared vacantly at the building across the street to the north. Strange ligature marks around the girl’s ankles and wrists had Alyssa squatting down for a closer look. Almost immediately she noted an odd mark on the girl’s left hip. ‘What’s that?’ Without taking her eyes off the body, she asked, ‘Anyone have a light?’ Immediately, four hands holding flashlight apps on their phones extended her way. She grabbed the one closest to her, shaking her head. She could’ve used her own phone. Whatever happened to a good old-fashioned flashlight?

She shined the light over the area on the girl’s hip, a memory tickling the back of her mind. Something about that mark was familiar. She twisted her neck to ask Cord what he thought, but as she did, her eyes landed on the girl’s hands. ‘Holy Christ! What the hell happened to her fingers?’ Where there should’ve been fingernails, the tips of the victim’s fingers revealed only red and raw skin.

Very little shocked Alyssa anymore, but somehow this atrocity managed to. Standing, she handed the borrowed phone to Cord so he could take a look himself, but he waved it away, using his own instead. Like her, he squatted down and leaned in for a better look. His head shook back and forth twice, and then he brought himself back up to his full height. ‘Hard to say what that marking is.’ Something in his voice made Alyssa tilt her head up to study her partner’s face, but his expression was closed-off.

An officer, about five-foot-seven with pitch black hair, walked up. ‘I’m Officer Vogler. I called you.’ He tipped his head forward. ‘Are you finished with my phone?’