I won’t be able to tell you. But before any of you ask, yes, at first glance I’m going to suggest it might be the same killer—or a killer working in tandem with whoever killed your last victim. Axel, you weren’t here for that one, but I’m assuming that you were already in the area and that’s why you were able to get here so fast. You’re usually still with the feds up in the capital area, right?”
“I’m still a fed,” Axel said. “And yes, I was already here.”
He’d been sent down when Andrew and Nigel had gotten together and quietly communicated with Axel’s superior, Jackson Crow. He knew they wished the vocation he had chosen was nearer but they were also aware the Krewe of Hunters was a different and special unit, and probably right where Axel needed to be.
While Andrew was a Miccosukee and had grown up on tribal land, Nigel’s background was an odd mix that would defy any ancestry chart to determine. He had grown up just east of the Miccosukee lands—his family had owned a farm in unincorporated Miami-Dade County.
Axel had been the one to come and go between both worlds. Two of his grandparents were both Native American. Axel knew he’d been a lucky kid because they were still alive when he was young, ready to tell him tales—some truth, some exaggerated—about his forefathers. The sides of his family had blended easily, so he’d been encouraged to enjoy his relations with both societies.
Thus, as kids, with their parents all friends, Nigel, Andrew and Axel had become fast friends, as well.
They all knew Dr. Warner, too. While Axel had never been with the police for either the county or the tribe, he’d come down on an invitation before as a federal investigator on a drug case that had crossed state lines.
The police photographer was still snapping pictures.
“Okay, so let me try to get this straight. Nigel, you were first informed about the victim because a woman called the police department and claimed she’d seen a woman out here in the Everglades? She said off Tamiami Trail and described exactly where?”
“Yes, that’s it. They’re holding her now,” Nigel said. “You see where we are, unless someone got an urge to stop right here and crawl through the wild grass to the canal, there was no way to have seen this victim. And she told us just how far east from the Hawk and O’Reilly Tour Company, and west from the Miccosukee Resort and Gaming Casino, she could be found. The caller had to know something about the murder or been involved with the murder to know with such precision.”
“Okay, so she called in and—”
“And my captain called me,” Nigel said. “I called Andrew and he had one of his men who was out patrolling come, too.”
“And you said the Miami-Dade force picked her up?” Axel said.
“Yes, no problem. She didn’t lie. They didn’t have to search for her. She gave them her address. I’m not sure if she’s brash and overconfident or totally idiotic or insane. They’re getting a bunch of gibberish out of her.”
“Where was she address-wise?” Axel asked.
“South Miami, not far from the hospital off US 1,” Nigel said. “That means nothing. From her area, you could just hop on the highway, hop onto the Trail, be here and back in an hour or less. Of course, around here, it could also take way more time depending on traffic. But Doc will tell us if we’re right. We’re pretty sure the victim was killed sometime late last night. Her remains are cold as ice.” He winced. “Fluids are congealed. There was a tour bus out here yesterday and the driver made a stop here or near here for pictures and old Jimmy Bob was out fishing right around here, too. No body, then. He likes late-night fishing. There’s never been a gator or a snake to scare him off. He started fishing the area about the same time he could crawl.”
“Okay, then,” Axel said, and he looked at Nigel. Miami-Dade had the lead on the homicide. “I’m still an assist out here. What I want to do first is talk to this woman. Can you make that happen for me? I want to talk to her alone. Can you arrange that?”
“If you can stop whoever is killing women and dumping them like this in the Everglades, I’ll see you get ice cream with cherries on top, too,” Nigel told him.