Have You Seen Me? by Kate White

Author:Kate White
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2020-03-02T00:00:00+00:00

19

Is it significant?” I ask, hating how weak my voice sounds. Of course it’s significant. But I need Corbet to tell me how much.

“Hard like what?” she asks, ignoring my question.

“Uh, like something frozen maybe.”

“Are you sure you’re remembering correctly after all this time?”

“Yes, I’m positive.”

“Do you recall if you told the police this years ago?”

“No, not in those words. I’m pretty sure I related the same thing I said to you earlier—that at first I thought I’d come across a doll. But I probably didn’t explain that was partly because her leg was so hard. . . . Is this something that could really matter?”

“We’ll have to present this to the coroner and factor it in with other details from the case.” Her face is a blank now, giving nothing away. “But I’m glad you shared this with us, Ms. Linden. Was there anything else you recall?”

“No, nothing,” I tell her. I’m so mentally drained right now it’s hard to imagine summoning another thought even if I had one.

She turns to Nowak. “Chief, do you have any additional questions?”

“No, I think we’ve covered everything. I want to thank Ms. Linden for coming in. It’s much appreciated.”

Corbet concurs, capping her pen and wearing her sympathetic face again.

Nowak shows me out, and when I reach the foyer, I’m dismayed to see that the only one there is the secretary, murmuring into the office phone. With a hand over the mouthpiece, she informs me that Roger has stepped outside. I find him leaning against the building, chin in hand.

“Hey, sorry, I needed some— What’s the matter?” He’s clearly reading the distress in my eyes. “Didn’t it go well?”

“I fucked up big-time,” I say.

“In the interview?”

“No, years ago—by not admitting when I found the body.”

“Hold on,” he says, glancing around, “let’s jump in the car first.”

As soon as we’re seated, I tell him about Jaycee’s leg, how her body must have been in rigor mortis when I stumbled upon it.

“Okay, I’m not quite following,” Roger says. “I know the term rigor mortis, but not how it actually works.”

“When you die, your body stiffens after a certain period of time, and then eventually—at least as I understand it—the stiffness goes away.” I stuff my hand into my purse and produce my phone. “Why don’t you drive—I need to get out of here—and I’ll google it.”

While Roger fires up the engine and pulls the car away from the curb, I summon the info on my phone, twice misspelling the term in my haste.

“Okay, here it is: ‘Rigor is a result of chemical changes in the muscles following death, which cause the limbs to stiffen. It starts in the small muscles right after a person dies, and within twelve to twenty-four hours the body is completely stiff. . . . And then at about twenty-four hours from death, the limbs gradually soften up again. . . .’ Uh, it says if the air is cold, rigor can take longer to form. But I don’t recall it being chilly out that day.

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