Page 54 of Made of Steele
“No.” The deep anguish in her eyes cut into his heart, and he had to look away. He wanted to absorb all of her pain somehow. Take it on and set her free. Sadly, he had room for it. He was less distressed than he might’ve been a year ago. Sure, he hadn’t seen men killed in his year UC, but he’d seen the underbelly of society flourishing.
Had it left him too jaded to be shocked by anything? Even four potential murders? A serial killer?
God help me if it has.
Fearing for his mental health, he stormed toward the graves, trying to eliminate his other question. Had he also become too jaded to have a normal relationship with another person if he chose to do so? A relationship with a good, decent, and strong woman like Teagan?
His gut ached, and he fired a tight look at Kelsey that fairly demanded an update.Stop.She was doing a great job, and he was taking his own fears out on her. He softened his gaze. “What did you find?”
“We have another set of remains for sure.” She pointed at a fully revealed skull. “I’m reasonably certain it’s another male, so we are looking at four males. And I should have more information like race, age, and stature soon.”
“Any way you can estimate the time of death for a skeleton like this?” he asked, keeping his tone controlled.
“I can, and with newer tests available, the best choice will be to use his teeth.”
“Teeth?” Teagan blinked a few times. “Really?”
Kelsey nodded. “I can use aspartic acid racemization analysis of tooth crown dentin and radiocarbon dating of enamel to determine many things like date of birth, age of deceased, nutrition, diet, and even date of death.”
“Okay, I’m pretending I understand all of that.” Teagan gave a nervous chuckle.
“Sorry.” Kelsey wrinkled her nose. “I sometimes get wrapped up in forensic speak. But teeth are so fascinating. Maybe this will help. Twice a year tiny, distinct fibers anchor teeth to the gums. Depending on where you live, a bright line is laid in the spring or summer and a dark line in the fall or winter. I can count the bands and use the color and width of the outermost ring to estimate the person’s ageat death. It also narrows the time of death window too.”
“Fascinating.” He cast an approving look Kelsey’s direction. “I can’t thank you enough for helping with this investigation. We might not get such detailed information if someone else was doing the recovery.”
“You definitely wouldn’t,” Teagan said.
Kelsey offered a weak smile. “We try to stay on the cutting edge and are also often asked to test potential forensic breakthroughs.”
Drew might be pushing it, but he had to ask. “Any way to tell if this could be our missing guy, Smiley?”
“Not at the moment. DNA is the best way to confirm ID. Icansay that the skull is larger than a typical female, and the eye sockets have a slightly blunter surface, which is common in a male and how I made my early determination.” Kelsey brushed the back of her hand over her forehead, leaving a smear of dirt behind. “On average, males also have greater muscle development and more rugged muscle attachments. This skull says a lot already, but the best way to confirm gender is by looking at the pelvic bones, which are obviously not revealed yet.”
“Then we’ll wait for more,” Drew said.
“Now that you know the victims are all males, I wouldn’t wait for the other details if I were you. We’ll be at it all day and into the night before we unearth additional details. I can call or text you with any definitive information once I have it.”
“Is there anything we can do to help?” Teagan asked.
Kelsey looked at the sky. “Actually, there is. You could put up lights for us. That’ll let all of us continue to excavate as late as needed.”
“Of course,” Drew said. “Just point us to them.”
“In the back of my van. You won’t miss them. We have our own generator for once it gets dark.”
“You should eat too,” Teagan said. “Especially with you and Ainslie being pregnant.”
“We’ll go get some food,” Drew said. “Put some sandwiches and drinks in a cooler for later for you and your workers.”
“That would be perfect.” Kelsey aimed a bright smile at Drew. “You’re so thoughtful.”
Heat raced up his neck to his face under her praise. “We’ll get to the lights.”
Kelsey grinned. “I always think it’s so cute when big strapping law enforcement guys like you get embarrassed over a simple compliment.”
The heat intensified, and he wanted to bolt but planted his feet instead.
Teagan nodded. “I saw it often on the job.”
