The Girls in the Snow (Nikki Hunt #1) - Stacy Green Page 0,52
you were stuck in traffic.”
“It was Hardin’s call, anyway. I can’t fault him for wanting to get her out of here. What do you guys have so far?”
“Hispanic female, approximately five foot seven, about one-hundred thirty, one-hundred forty pounds. Frostbite means blood still flowing, so she was left out here alive.” Liam handed her his phone, and she scrolled through the pictures he’d taken of the body.
At first glance, it was easy to see why someone without intimate knowledge of Frost’s methods would think the victim belonged to him. She lay flat on her back, arms and legs spread like a snow angel. The true position of Frost’s girls—flat on their backs, arms folded over their midsection—had never been made public. Her dark hair had been pulled to the side and tied with a red silk ribbon. But Frost’s ribbons were red velvet—another detail they’d kept out of the media.
“We might be able to get a fingerprint from the ribbon,” Courtney said. “I think we all know it won’t match Frost’s.”
The victim had been wearing makeup, including false eyelashes. Her skimpy dress and heels suggested she hadn’t intended to be in the cold for more than a few minutes. The fishnets she wore certainly weren’t going to keep her legs warm.
“Every finger is significantly frostbitten,” Nikki said. “What did the medical examiner say about getting prints?”
“It doesn’t look like her fingers got to the point of splitting open, so she’s hoping they can warm her up and peel the skin off with tweezers to get prints.”
Close-up photos of the back of the woman’s head showed possible blunt force trauma. Blood caked her dark hair. The fishnets had been torn in the front, exposing both thighs, which also had black patches of frostbite. A small bird tattoo on her left ankle might be their quickest way to identify her.
“Something hit her hard in the head,” Nikki said. “Had her bleeding been stopped before she came out here?”
“The medical examiner thinks so,” Liam said. “Which means she was hit and then left to die hours later. We won’t know without the autopsy.”
“The medical examiner was able to move her limbs,” Courtney said. “She doesn’t think she was out here for more than a few hours. But Frost’s victim’s being frozen solid isn’t public knowledge.”
Bits of red dotted the area where the body had been. “Frost’s girls never bleed. Did the wind blow very hard this morning?”
“Nope,” Courtney said. “I checked as soon as we got here. The wind was light, and the snow looks like it’s been rolled around in.”
“That means whoever dumped her waited and came back to stage her body.”
“Exactly.” Courtney pointed to the impressions in the snow. “She was dragged out here. And whoever left her tried to cover their tracks. No good impressions of the footwear. Looks like they basically shuffled. It’s impossible to tell if they made more than one trip, but I can’t rule it out, either.”
“From a parked car, or was she attacked walking down the street?”
“I found a fairly fresh oil spot along the street, but I can’t say for sure when it was left.”
“I canvassed that side of the park,” Miller said. “No one saw anything, and no one has security cameras with the right angle. I’ve got a deputy going to door-to-door to make sure we cover every side of the park.”
“At least we can rule out her passing out drunk and freezing to death.” Nikki went back to the first picture of the woman. “We’ve let the public believe that Frost is still a suspect in Madison and Kaylee’s murders. And this is a pretty clear attempt at copying his methods.”
“But Madison and Kaylee were too frozen to be manipulated into a specific position,” Liam said. “And why weren’t there red ribbons on their bodies?”
“Because I don’t think the killer initially meant for them to be considered Frost victims,” Nikki said. “Remember, that field is remote. He meant for them to be found in the spring. But fate intervenes and our public statement is that we aren’t ruling Frost out yet. So, when he dumps this woman, he makes an attempt at Frost’s methods, but he doesn’t get the body position right.”
Courtney’s eyes widened. “Meaning he thinks that adding another body to the mix will push you further toward Frost and farther away from him? But a basic internet search should have told him enough about Frost to realize you’d never buy it.”