Key West Gone into the Night by Elizabeth Hilleren (universal ebook reader .TXT) 📕

“That’s fantastic, Harris. You deserve a good woman.”

“Thanks. Not sure about the deserving part, but I think I’ve got a good one.”

Sharkey pulled onto Government Road and soon saw an officer directing traffic, or at least keeping people away from the crime scene.  They were the only car in sight.

Jenny Springfield was putting up privacy barriers.  “Hey, Sharkey,” Jenny said with a grin.

“Jenny, glad to have you back on board. I’ve heard lots of amazing things about you. Can’t wait to hear all about it from you.”

“I’ll buy a beer and we can catch up soon. Now we have a young woman kicked under the chin and pulled off into the weeds and underbrush. It’s this way.” She led them over to the body.

“She can’t be much over twenty-four or five,” Harris said. “What a shame.”

Frank Demonte and his assistant Becky climbed out of the Medical Examiner’s van.

“I sure had a good time last night,” Becky said.

“So did I,” Frank said, smiling over at her. The sun was shining on her golden-brown hair and her hazel eyes were behind a pair of Ray Ban aviator sunglasses. She smiled over at Frank showing teeth that were only slightly out of alignment. She used to be self-conscious about them, but with Frank she knew it didn’t matter.

“Next time let’s go on the dinner cruise. I’ve heard that it’s really good.”

“I’d like that.”

“You have any plans for next weekend?” Frank asked.

“No.”

“I was thinking of parasailing. They can take you up and you never even get wet.”

“I’d love it. That really sounds like fun. We’re good together.”

He checked the temperature of the body.

“Becky, help me straighten her out. Rigor hasn’t taken over completely. I’d say she was killed somewhere between four and six hours ago. Look at her knees. They’re all scratched up.  Let’s check the palms of her hands. Ah, as I thought.  She was probably on her hands and knees when…”  He bent down and examined her throat again. “She was most likely kicked in the throat.” He felt the back of her neck.  “Neck is broken.  Okay let’s get her to the office. Any personal items?   I want her clothes handled carefully.”

Looking up at McCabe, Becky asked, “You find anything in the surrounding area? A purse, phone, clothing?”

“Nothing,” McCabe said. “We checked the area for a handbag. We’ll have forensics check the area again. There are some tire marks in the loose coral rock and sand. Somebody turned and headed back for town. The rain out here lasted long enough to wipe off most of the details.”

“Okay, let’s get her in the van and I’ll start right away. We’ll set her up as a Jane Doe. I’ll do prints and check DNA. But I’m betting a tourist and not the kind we’ll find in the system.”

Sharkey and Harris headed for their car and were met by Mckenzie. “Anything for me?”

“Nothing exciting yet.  We have the body of a young Caucasian woman twenty something, who we are listing as a Jane Doe. I’ll let you know when we figure out who she is.”

“Okay…mind if Connor takes some more pictures?”

“Forensics has just arrived and will be upset if you trample their crime scene. You’ll have to wait for them to open the area up. Until we have an ID and next of kin identified and informed, I’ll have nothing else to say. Enjoy the beautiful day.”

Sharkey turned and joined Harris in the car.  Harris was mumbling to himself. “Man, what a shame…such a pretty lady…I’ll never understand it.”

“I know. I sometimes shudder at the thought of how soon my little girl will be all grown up and looking for her first boyfriend.  How do you protect them?”  Sharkey asked.

“Don’t know. I’m not the one to give advice, but you’re a great dad.  Don’t you ever forget that. Those kids of yours are great.”

Sharkey smiled. “Yeah, they are. Why don’t you and Amy come to dinner next week so we can celebrate your engagement. Camie won’t stand for anything less.”

Harris grinned for the first time this morning. “Yeah, we’d love that.”

“I’ll have Camie make it happen.”

“Yeah, like you could stop it.”

Back at station Sharkey fixed a pot of his Cuban coffee and pulled out a coffee cake that Camie had sent for them.

Harris said, taking a piece of cake, “I’ll check the missing persons update. Somebody must miss her by now. I’ll also check fingerprints for a match to anyone in our system.”

“Okay, I’m headed to the ME’s office. He has something that he wants me to see.”

“Webber coming in?”

“No, he has classes all next week so he and Gloria and the little one are going to visit her parents in Miami.”

“Cool. I’ll get started here,” Harris said.

*    *    *

Back at the scene, Connor took pictures of the area and the working forensics team.

“He was more than usually tight lipped,” Mckenzie said.

“Maybe it’s because it’s a Jane Doe.  An attractive, unknown, young woman killed out here, and nobody knows anything, and the hard rain washed away a lot of the clues,” Connor offered. “Frustration could account for a lot of that.”

“I want to stay on top of this one.  Something tells me there’s a lot more to this story. Just a hunch. Barney will love it. It has all the elements of a good story.”

“Agreed,” Connor said, looking at Mckenzie and smiling.  The sun was catching the colors of her red hair to give her a warm aura around her face.

“What?”

“You just get more beautiful every day. You’re glowing in the morning sunlight.”

She smiled. “Must be your influence on me. I’ve never had that happen before. You make me happy. I can’t remember being this happy before I met