Catch the Girl by Melinda Woodhall

Author:Melinda Woodhall [Woodhall, Melinda]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Creative Magnolia
Published: 2019-07-23T16:00:00+00:00

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It was more than an hour before Iris led Nessa and Jankowski into her office. She placed a file full of autopsy notes on the desk and motioned for the detectives to sit across from her.

The postmortem on Ruth Culvert had been brutal on them all, revealing in horrifying detail the injuries the young woman had suffered leading up to her violent death.

“I’ll be listing the official cause of death as homicide by hanging,” Iris said, her voice subdued. “The cut marks to her forehead were superficial, but the blunt force trauma to the back of her head likely immobilized her long enough for the perpetrator to affix the noose and push her over the side of the bridge. The fall resulted in a cervical fracture, causing traumatic spinal cord injury.”

Jankowski looked up.

“What about the gashes on her arms?” Jankowski asked.

“Defensive wounds. A knife similar in size to the knife that was used to kill Candace Newbury. But those wounds are superficial. It looks like Ruth fought back.”

She gave the detectives a grimly satisfied smile.

“Lucky for us she did. The skin under her fingernails can be processed for DNA.”

Nessa banged a small fist on the desk, causing both Iris and Jankowski to jump.

“Getting DNA results back will take ages. We can’t wait that long to find out who did this.”

Iris put up a placating hand.

“I take it you haven’t heard the big news from the crime lab yet?”

Nessa raised an eyebrow at Iris.

“What big news?”

“A private foundation donated one of those new rapid DNA machines to the police department. It was a huge surprise, because the cost for one of these machines is outrageous. Willow Bay could never afford to buy one with the city’s little budget.”

Jankowski stood and leaned forward, both hands on the desk, visibly excited by the news. Iris had to force herself to look away as the thin material of his shirt strained over his broad shoulders.

You’d think I’d never seen a man before in my life.

She tried to concentrate on what Jankowski was saying.

“What foundation made the donation?”

“It was supposed to be anonymous,” Iris said, dropping her eyes.

“What do you mean, supposed to be?” Nessa asked. “You know who it is?”

Iris knew she shouldn’t tell anyone what she’d inadvertently discovered. If the anonymous donor knew they’d been outed, they might decide not to make further donations. But if you couldn’t tell the police a secret, who could you tell?

“A friend of mine works for the company that manufactures the machines. When she saw one had been shipped to Willow Bay she called me up to congratulate me. Not many small towns are so lucky. During the conversation she sort of let it slip out that a company called Giant Leap Data had paid for the machine.”

Nessa looked confused.

“Is that name supposed to mean something to me?”

Jankowski pulled himself to his full height, crossing his arms over his chest. He shook his head and smiled.

“I should have known it would be her.”

Nessa looked even more confused.

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