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Four

On the way to the back gate, Madison ducked into the shed to see if Richards had anything to share. Cynthia and Mark were still kicking around, and Milo was next to Richards.

“I’d say she was stabbed.” Richards laughed at his wise-guy answer to Madison’s question about cause of death.

Madison shook her head. “I figured that much out myself. I was hoping for more details. How many stab wounds for instance?”

“Three, and given the angle, I’d say it is impossible she inflicted the injuries on herself.”

It might seem ridiculous to think someone would stab themselves, but she’d come across it before. When she was a new detective, a man had been stabbed several times. The case was approached as attempted murder, but when the man woke from surgery, he’d admitted the entire thing had been a suicide attempt.

“Any idea what kind of instrument was used?” Madison stepped forward, and Richards looked at her as if to say step back. She stopped where she was but didn’t retreat.

“That’s where it’s a little tricky. Of the three wounds, two look similar. They’re more ragged than the third.”

“You think different weapons were used?” Terry asked.

Richards met Terry’s gaze. “It’s possible. I’ll know more once I get her back to the morgue.”

“Don’t even want to hazard a guess?” Madison smiled at the ME, but he wasn’t one for spewing hypotheticals.

“Not this time, but nice try, Knight. I’d say her wounds are quite deep, though. Do you know where she was attacked?”

“Not yet,” Madison said. “We think she might have come here on foot. Maybe from downtown.”

Richards seemed to consider Madison’s words, probably bringing up a map of the area in his head. “As I said, the stabs appear deep, but given their point of impact, it’s possible the victim would have been alive for some time afterward.”

“Giving her time to walk from point A—wherever that is—to here,” Madison stated. “How long would she have had…after she was stabbed?” Her stomach roiled at the thought.

Richards glanced at the body. “I wouldn’t say too long, but there’s no absolute way of knowing. The mind and sheer will can be powerful.”

It had obviously been long enough to get inside the shed and write GB in her blood. “Depending on where she came from, she probably didn’t have much time to reach out for help.” She looked at Terry. Still, one would think she would have tried, and it didn’t explain why she came here. She kept circling back to thinking she had a connection to the Bernsteins.

“What’s time of death looking like?” Terry asked Richards.

“Based on rigor, definitely over twelve hours ago.” He held an open palm to Milo, and he dropped a thermometer in his hand. Richards pierced Doe’s liver with it, and time ticked off on clocks the world over. After what felt like forever, Richards scribbled in a notebook and asked Milo for the temperature in the shed and for the averages in the past twenty-four hours. Eventually, Richards concluded, “She died between twelve and seventeen hours ago.”

“Terry?” Let her partner calculate the math since he was so good at it.

“Between nine last night and two this morning,” Terry kicked out.

Richards didn’t say anything to Terry’s conclusion, which meant it was right. Now they just needed to figure out what had brought Jane Doe out during that time. Was it a date, business, or something else? Was she targeted, or was she simply in the wrong place at the wrong time? And what made her settle here, in this shed? Had it just been convenient and possibly on her way to her true destination? And where the hell had the stabbing happened?

Madison had one idea, and it was time to follow her gut.