But Not For Lust by BJ Bourg (comprehension books .txt) 📕

“That’s right.”

“But I’m still following you everywhere you go until these killers are safely behind bars.”

I laughed and nodded in resignation. “Okay, I’m happy to have you along.”

  CHAPTER 40

After lunch, Susan and I walked back to the police department and then drove to the morgue in Susan’s Tahoe. Dr. Wong and her assistant had already removed Ty’s body from the freezer and placed him on the autopsy table.

Dr. Wong, whose brown hair was tucked under a hairnet, had a somber expression on her face. Her assistant, on the other hand, wore one of complete shock. I also noticed a healthy glob of Vicks Vaporub shoved into the assistant’s nostrils. The smell of decaying flesh was strong—to put it mildly—so I didn’t blame the young assistant.

“In all my years,” Dr. Wong said, “I’ve never seen a body that had been mutilated like this before. It’s a bit disconcerting. Whoever did this is crazy—and dangerous.”

I nodded and explained everything we’d found at the scene. “We didn’t locate a weapon and we don’t have any solid suspects, so anything you can tell us will be helpful.”

“I’ll do what I can.” She indicated Ty’s hands. “You can print him before I start if you like.”

I thanked her and placed the cadaver fingerprinting kit I’d brought with me on a nearby table. With Susan’s help, I rolled each of Ty’s fingers and both palms as best I could. Some of the skin had slipped so badly in places that I had to remove them and place them over my own gloved finger to get a good copy.

Once I was done, I moved across the room and set the cards out to dry while Dr. Wong began examining Ty’s body, beginning with his head.

As she worked, I told her that I had recovered a hammer from Logan Pitre and submitted it to the crime lab. “I’ll need a sample of Ty’s DNA for comparison,” I said. “If that hammer turns out to be the murder weapon, I’ll have what I need to put Logan behind bars.”

“It’s not the murder weapon,” she said immediately.

My shoulders drooped. “Really?”

“You’re looking for a blunt object that doesn’t have sharp edges,” she explained. “Think baseball bats, metal pipes—things like that.”

I nodded, trying to remember if I’d seen anything like that around Logan’s house. What if Logan told me about the hammer to throw the scent off of the real weapon? That would’ve been a slick move on his part.

“It’s difficult to see because of the state of decomposition,” Dr. Wong said, “but this was a brutal and prolonged attack. This man suffered extensively before he died.”

I frowned and glanced at Susan, who was staring right back, a troubled expression on her face. I didn’t know what I could do or say to reassure her that I wouldn’t hurt the people who did this to Ty, so I simply looked away.

“So, Dr. Wong,” I began suddenly, a thought starting to form in my mind, “there’s no way the killer or killers could’ve done this without getting Ty’s blood on their clothes, right?”

“That’s correct. They would’ve been covered in blood.”

I opened my mouth to say something more, but my phone buzzed in my pocket. I pulled it out to see who was calling. It was the police department and it might be important. I quickly stepped out into the hallway and answered.

“Hey, Clint, it’s Lindsey. I’ve got Mike Bell on the other line. He said his local police just notified him about Ty’s death.”

Right then, I remembered had contacted the Baton Rouge Police Department earlier and asked them to make an in-person death notification to Ty’s uncle. I wasn’t sure how the man would take the news, so I figured it would be better to follow protocol and get the locals in his area to do an in-person contact. I thanked her and asked her to put him through.

“Detective Wolf?” Mike’s voice sounded heavy, but resigned. “I heard you found him.”

“Just call me Clint.”

“Okay then, Clint it is,” he said. “What happened? All the police officer would say was that Ty was found dead. I mean, I don’t understand. First my sister and now Ty? What in the hell is going on down there?”

“It gets worse, I’m afraid.” I took a breath and exhaled it. “He’s been murdered.”

“Murdered?” Mike echoed. “Are you serious? Who would want to murder Ty? He’s never hurt anyone in his life.”

“I don’t know, but I’m working on it.”

“But I don’t understand.” His voice betrayed his confusion. “Does this mean someone also murdered my sister?”

“In light of what we’ve now learned, I believe your sister heard some noise in the shed—it could’ve been someone fighting with Ty—and she went to investigate. I think she found somebody trying to kidnap Ty and that’s when she was knocked to the ground. At this point, I don’t know if she was knocked around during a struggle or if she was intentionally pushed down, but I’m guessing she was already dead by the time the suspects took Ty away. I don’t think they would’ve left behind an eye witness.”

“Did you say kidnap?”

“Yeah, someone tied him up and carried him away.” I told him about the extension cord that was used to bind Ty’s legs and hands. “I believe the extension cord came from the shed, and I believe your sister entered the shed just as they were tying him up.”

There was a long silence on the other end. The only reason I knew Mike was still there was because of his heavy breathing. When he spoke again, he sounded lost.

“I have no clue who would want to kill my sister and Ty. I mean, I’m not around there a lot, but I think Carol would’ve told me if she was having problems with someone. This is a complete