Cold by Drew Hayden Taylor

Author:Drew Hayden Taylor [Taylor, Drew Hayden]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-01-09T00:00:00+00:00

Gii-Mji-Nakmigad Maa

(Evil Was Here)

When it came to Paul North, first impressions told the detective the man did not have the classic indications of a homicidal nature. Birch could tell when someone was a liar—it helped with the promotion—unless of course they were really good and seriously believed the lie they were telling. But this Paul North; she doubted he was lying. He was nervous but not scared. But still, it was too early in the investigation. Yes, the man’s fingerprints were on the vehicle, but so were a bunch of others.

But the brutal fact was that Paul North had been in town the night the woman died. Coincidence? Possibly. In a city the size of Toronto, a lot of people were in town the night Katie Fiddler was killed. Several million in fact. But Birch knew he may have been one of the last to see her alive. That was more than a coincidence. She would keep him on her short list of subjects and wait for forensics to get back with whatever else they might find.

Now, Detective Sergeant Ruby Birch stood at the top of the wrecked stairs of the Dominion Real Estate Agency. She and her men had had a tough time getting up to the second floor, as practically everything on the first floor leading up to one second floor office had effectively been torn apart. As had the woman who she presumed worked there. It was easy to conclude this murder was connected to the Katie Fiddler case—as most of the body was missing, and what was left was scattered around what remained of the office.

It would easily take a half-dozen men to do this amount of damage. Or a handful of very big, very strong, and very agitated men. Things were bent, crushed, scratched, and thrown. Katie Fiddler had been caught outside. But this woman—the ID in a purse under an overturned desk gave the name Sarah Trent—had been caught here. A dozen people surrounded her, some taking pictures, others dusting for clues, the rest looking for potential forensic evidence. Coming up the stairs, Constable Wilson emerged into the second-floor hell. Birch heard him gasp when he saw the carnage.

“The bathroom’s over there, Constable.”

“Thanks, Ma’am, but I don’t need it.” She could tell he was trying to be tough. The second loss of a meal in such a short time would have branded him for sure. “It looks a lot like—the Fiddler case, from a couple nights ago.”

“You noticed that too.” Sizing up the room, Birch looked down and saw a lovely red pump on the floor, near Wilson’s foot. It took her a moment to realize there was a foot inside the shoe, and only a foot. It seemed to have been overlooked by the crime scene investigators. For a brief second, she debated telling the young constable what literally lay at his feet, but instead she walked across the room to a more senior officer. No need to deliberately embarrass the man.

“Uh, Carl, there’s a human foot over there by Wilson.

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