‘What about the girl’s fingers?’

‘Are you referring to the fingernail avulsion?’

‘Fingernail what?’

‘Fingernail avulsion… complete removal of the finger or toenail… I’ve never experienced it, but as a form of torture, this could be quite effective, which is why it’s used, I imagine. Which, I suppose, is my answer to your question. Anyway, back to the ligature marks, I was able to pull a small bit of fiber from a couple of the wounds, and I’ll get those sent off to the lab asap. Later today, I’ll be running a toxicology report, and I’ll get back with you as soon as the results are in. I was also able to retrieve several hair follicles in the folds of Jane Doe’s neck. I hate to use this phrase, but we’re in luck because it appears the root is attached, which of course means we have a much higher likelihood of retrieving DNA.’

‘Thanks for this, Lynn. I appreciate it.’

‘There’s more. Alyssa,’ Lynn’s lips vibrated noisily as she exhaled through her mouth, ‘I discovered probably ten bite marks, and I don’t mean gentle love nips, either. I’m talking chomping down, breaking through skin and tissue bites. In addition, there are a number of small puncture wounds consistent with an ice pick or something of a similar nature on Jane Doe’s backside, around her buttocks, thighs, and lower back.’

All color slipped from Cord’s face, and his head snapped back as if he’d been slapped. Shoving back from the table, he paced back and forth between the door and the table. By the third trip, the veins in his temple bulged, and a dangerous shade of red had returned to his face.

Anger turned Alyssa’s vision into a blurry haze. ‘Christ.’ She’d once read a forensic study about how some killers subdued their victims by utilizing ice picks to control them. The wounds would be extremely painful, but not necessarily deadly, though of course, they could be. Her gaze followed her team’s reaction to this news. Hal sagged deeper into his chair, and Joe ran fingers through his hair, shaking his head, doing his best, she imagined, to rid himself of the image placed there by Lynn Sharp’s description. Tony wiped both hands down the front of his face, muttering the same thing Alyssa had.

‘I’m fairly certain Christ had nothing to do with this,’ Lynn remarked, reminding Alyssa the woman was a devout agnostic.

‘Thank you, Lynn,’ she said. ‘I appreciate you taking the time to call us with this.’

‘Good luck, Detective.’

The room was unnaturally quiet, save for the deeply controlled breaths of everyone present as they each processed the news in their own heads. A few seconds after the call ended, a light tap at the door preceded Ruby poking her head in, her eyes sweeping across the room until she spotted Alyssa.

‘There’s a Sergeant Boudreaux from Santa Fe on line two. He says he thinks he recognizes your Jane Doe.’

Alyssa thanked Ruby as she rushed over to the blinking light and pressed the button, once again placing the person on the other end on speaker as the entire team moved in closer to the phone. ‘This is Detective Wyatt.’