Deadly Decisions by Reichs Kathy

Author:Reichs, Kathy [Reichs, Kathy]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 2000-11-14T05:00:00+00:00

• • •

The next morning I was going through Pelletier’s bones when Denis came into my lab.

“C’est la vedette!”

The star?

Oh no.

He opened a copy of Le Journal de Montréal and showed me a picture of myself at the Vipers’ clubhouse. Beside it was a short story recounting the recovery of Gately and Martineau, and identifying the mysterious third skeleton as that of sixteen-year-old Savannah Claire Osprey, according to the coroner, an American missing since 1984. The caption described me as a member of the Carcajou unit.

“C’est une promotion ou une réduction?”

I smiled, wondering if Quickwater and Claudel would see the error as a promotion or demotion, then resumed sorting. So far I was up to two lamb dinners, a pot roast, and more grilled chicken than I planned to count.

By ten I’d finished with the bones and written a detailed narrative saying that the remains were not human.

I took the report to the secretarial pool, then returned to my office and dialed Carcajou headquarters. Jacques Roy was in a meeting and wouldn’t be free until late afternoon. I left my name and number. I tried Claudel, left the same message. Charbonneau. Same name, same number. Please call. I thought of using pagers, decided the situation was not that urgent.

Frustrated, I swiveled my chair and surveyed the river.

I couldn’t examine the microstructure of the Myrtle Beach bones because the slides weren’t ready. God knew when I’d have DNA results, or if there would be anything there to sequence.

I thought of calling Kate Brophy, but didn’t want to pressure her. Besides, she was as concerned about the Osprey case as I was. More so. If she discovered anything she’d let me know.

Now what?

LaManche was downstairs performing an autopsy on Cherokee. I could drop in, maybe assuage my doubts about the killing.

Pass. I was not enthused at the thought of studying another biker spread out on a table.

I decided to organize the material Kate had given me. I’d left in such a rush that I hadn’t gone through it. We’d done a quick triage, packed everything into my briefcase, signed for possession, and raced to catch a flight.

I emptied the case onto my desk and stacked the photos to my left, the folders to my right. I picked a brown envelope, shook several five-by-sevens onto the blotter, and flipped one over. It was labeled on the back with a date, location, event, name, and several reference numbers.

I reversed the photo and stared into the face of Martin “Deluxe” DeLuccio, immortalized on July 23, 1992, during a run to Wilmington, North Carolina.

The subject’s eyes were hidden by dark lenses the size of quarters, and a twisted bandanna circled his head. His sleeveless denim jacket bore the grinning skull and crossed pistons of the Outlaws motorcycle club. The bottom rocker identified its owner as a member of the Lexington chapter.

The biker’s flesh appeared puffy, his jawline slack, and a large gut bulged below the jacket. The camera had caught him straddling a powerful hog, a Michelob in his left hand, a vacuous expression on his face.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.