Page 70 of Made of Steele
“And what about Forte?” Drew asked. “Any indication that he died the same way as Romo?”
“No sign of claw marks on the remaining flesh. Can’t say there weren’t any before decomp set in. And right before Arthur called me over, I located a bullet near the heart. Large caliber from a rifle. I assume it will be his cause of death.” She ripped off her gloves and returned to the first guy. “Let me get it out of there.”
She gloved up and dug in his chest. She removed a mangled bullet, turning it then dropping it in a metal tray. “I’ll get this over to the firearms unit at the state lab for analysis.”
Teagan stepped closer. “We’d like to take it to Grady Houston, the Veritas Center’s ballistics expert.”
Dr. Albertson gave a firm nod. “Great. He’ll work fast and give you the best results.”
“I’m sure he’ll make it a priority for us.” Teagan looked at Drew and waited for his nod of agreement. She should have consulted him first, but why wouldn’t he want an answer sooner?
“This is so odd,” she said to him. “We have death by a sword, bullet, and arrow, and marring with claws, and we have one more victim to go. Our killer obviously doesn’t have a favorite method. Will make him much harder to find.”
“Or worse. ” Drew’s eyes tightened. “We could be looking for more than one killer.”
More than one killer. Drew stripped out of his protective gear, hating the look on Teagan’s face when he’d let those words slip out. Her whole body tightened, and her face paled to the same level as when she’d first laid eyes on victim three’s body. All that said, they had to consider the possibility of multiple killers, but that really didn’t fit. Still, most serial killers chose one method to end their victim’s life and repeated that method for every victim. They felt comfortable with their choice, and by killing more than one person, they got better at committing the crime.
But this? Three different means of death? Maybe four? That was unusual for sure.
He tugged off his gloves, the latex clinging to his fingers like glue. “I need to go somewhere to list out the details we’ve learned, so I can analyze them and make a plan.”
“Wecan use the whiteboard at my house.” Teagan stuffed her suit into the biohazard bag. “I know you’re wanting to limit our time together, but we need to discuss this together.”
He wanted to argue, but she had a valid point. Discussing the information with someone very familiar with the investigation could lead to a breakthrough.
He looked at his watch. “We have enough time to do some research before you meet Oliver, so let’s head over to your place now.”
Teagan reached for the bullet evidence bag sitting on the bench. “I’ll text the photos of the victims’ driver’s licenses to Nick when I get to my car and drop the bullet at Veritas on the way home. Hopefully, he can run a quick background on the men, and we can find a connection between them and the Contis or Rossi.”
“Nick won’t have access to law enforcement databases, so can you email the pictures to Harris, too? She can work on pulling reports while we drive.”
“Sure.”
He shared Harris’s email address and stood. “You think Nick can have something to us by the time we get across town?”
“If he’s not too busy with something else, I would think we’ll get a preliminary report.”
“I could never bring this investigation to a close on time without their help.”
Teagan nodded and started down the hallway at a fast clip. Drew had to hurry to keep pace with her. At the front door, he checked the area for any threats. Confident no one lay in wait for them, he turned to her. “Be sure to be extra careful on the drive. Watch your six.”
She held his gaze. “You too.”
He opened her car door and waited for her to send her text and email, then get on the road. Her stop at Veritas would make her trip longer than his, giving him a bit of time to update Harris on the murders. He leaned against his car and dialed her burner phone dedicated to his calls.
“This isn’t good, Collier,” she said. “You think we’re looking for more than one killer?”
A question Drew expected. “I think it’s possible.”
“Or we have a very creative killer.” She let out a long breath. “I’ve never encountered anything like it. I’ll have someone search ViCAP for similar crimes.”
The FBI’s Violent Criminal Apprehension Program database was filled with solved and unsolved crimes from law enforcement across the country. The bureau created it so law enforcement officers could enter specifics of their investigations and search for similar ones.
“What else do you need from me?” she asked.
“The Veritas information specialist is already running background on these victims, but he doesn’t have access to law enforcement records. Could you have someone run down any missing person investigations on these men? Teagan Steele emailed the IDs to you a few minutes ago.”
“I’ll check for it as soon as we’re done talking and send the information to her email. What’s happening with Steele’s meetup with Oliver?”
