Dead Wrong Read Online Free PDF Page A

of less than an hour. For a moment the room was totally silent. Gathering herself, Joanna was the first to speak.
    “What actually killed him, then, and when?”
    “The doc says he’d been dead for a good twenty-four hours and maybe more before he was found, and that he was killed somewhere else and brought to the dump site much later. There are some signs of defensive wounds—bruising and that kind of thing—that would indicate some kind of struggle.”
    “Any trace evidence from the perpetrator?”
    “Doc Winthrop collected some hair and fiber from the body. I brought that and the bloody tarp back here to the lab. Dave is starting to go over it now—looking for prints, blood smears, and so forth. The bloodstains we saw on the tarp were due to leakage from the wounds to his fingers.”
    “Any ID found on the body?” Joanna asked.
    “None at all,” Ernie said. “Doc estimates John Doe to be in his mid- to late fifties. Lots of dental work, done on the cheap, that would help identify him if we end up having to use dental records. Other than that, the only distinguishing mark is a tattoo—a homegrown, do-it-yourself job—that says ‘One day at a time.’”
    “What does removal of the fingers tell us?” Joanna asked.
    “My guess would be that the victim’s prints must be in the system somewhere,” Jaime offered. “The killer is betting that if we don’t have fingerprints, we won’t be able to identify him.”
    Joanna considered that suggestion. “So it’s possible we’re talking about a guy who has been in jail at least once at some time in the past, and he’s also been involved in AA.”
    “Doesn’t narrow the field much,” Frank said. “Lots of ex-cons have issues with drugs and alcohol. The big problem with Alcoholics Anonymous is just that—they’re anonymous. We’re not going to get any help from them in making our ID.”
    “But that’s exactly what we have to do—figure out who he is,” Joanna said. “Until we take that first step, there’s no way to trace his movements leading up to the homicide. Have we checked out missing-persons reports?”
    “Yes, ma’am,” Jaime Carbajal replied. “Already done. I’ve got MP info from Arizona, New Mexico, California, and Nevada. So far there’s nothing that’s even close.”
    “What are the chances,” Joanna asked, “that we’re dealing with someone who was locked up for a long time? Maybe he decided to make trouble for someone—maybe someone who helped put him away—as soon as he got out. Let’s check and see if we have any recent parolees who have suddenly dropped off their probation officers’ radar.”
    “Don’t expect me to work overtime on this one,” Ernie grumbled sourly.
    Joanna studied her detective. Ernie had a tendency to be grumpy on occasion, but throughout the briefing his attitude had been one notch under surly.
    “What do you mean, Detective Carpenter?” she asked. “Do you have a problem with this case?”
    “Damn right I’ve got a problem with it!” Ernie growled. “We’ve got no crime scene. No suspects. So with nothing to go on, why the hell should we be out busting our balls to find out who knocked off some drunken ex-con?”
    “I believe it’s called equal protection,” Joanna said evenly. “Just because someone’s been in prison doesn’t give someone else the right to murder them. Somebody killed this man and mutilated his body. It’s up to us to find out who did it and why.”
    Recrossing his arms, Ernie shut his mouth and subsided into his chair. Joanna turned her attention to Jaime Carbajal. “Do you have any ideas?”
    “Not right off. In addition to the missing-persons reports we should also keep an eye out for reports on any abandoned vehicles. The victim sure as hell didn’t drive himself out to Border Road. If he left his car somewhere or if someone else abandoned it for him, chances are it’s parked somewhere it doesn’t belong. Eventually someone will get tired of seeing