The Girls in the Snow (Nikki Hunt #1) - Stacy Green Page 0,74

intimidated some, Nikki appreciated it.

“My fault,” Nikki said. “I’m sorry.”

Blanchard raised an eyebrow. “You run into a door?”

“Something like that.”

“Right,” Blanchard said. “First, Janelle Gomez. Her family wants to give her a proper Catholic funeral, so I’ve released the body. She was hit with a blunt round object. The lamp you found at the motel is the likely culprit.”

“Did she die instantly?”

“No, given the level of frostbite on her body, I think she was alive for at least a couple of hours after she was dumped,” Blanchard said. “X-rays show a lot of healed breaks, so she’s definitely been battered. But no sign of sexual assault and nothing to suggest she had sex prior to her death.”

Nikki felt a surge of relief that Janelle hadn’t been sexually assaulted. The way she’d died, alone and in the freezing cold, was bad enough. “If her ex did this, I would expect signs of a beating. What did the Eau Claire police say?” Nikki asked Liam.

“Still looking for him as of late last night,” Liam said. “I planned to call for an update after we finished here. Dr. Blanchard, when do you expect the toxicology report?” Liam asked.

“I’ve asked the lab to rush it, but you know how that goes. As for Madison and Kaylee, you need to see the bodies.”

Blanchard unlocked the suite and Nikki tried not to recoil at the potent aroma of formaldehyde. Madison and Kaylee’s bodies lay on the steel gurneys, covered by a sheet. Their clothes had been carefully removed, the pictures taken, the autopsy performed.

Blanchard pulled Kaylee’s sheet down to her chest. Her blue, pasty skin had lost much of its elasticity. Large purple bruises covered her neck. “Kaylee died first.”

“Strangled?”

Blanchard nodded. “After what appears to be consensual sex. A condom was used, and there’s no tearing or damage; we sometimes see that with assault. She was alive when it happened. It also appears she remained on her back for a while, because lividity set in, as you can see. However, being frozen can mess that up, so it’s not an absolute. What is definite, however, is that Kaylee was coming out of rigor mortis when she was frozen.”

Nikki must have heard wrong. “Excuse me?”

“Both her knee and hips joints have clear postmortem tears,” Blanchard said. “The lower extremities stay in rigor the longest. Kaylee wasn’t completely out of rigor when she was forced into the fetal position.”

“Which means she’d been dead, what, eight to twelve hours?” Liam asked.

“On average, yes.”

“This sounds ignorant,” Nikki asked, “but there’s no way these tears could come from being partially frozen first and then secured into the fetal position?”

“It’s unlikely. A partially frozen limb would be harder to move than one coming out of rigor.”

The killer hadn’t known what to do with the bodies initially. They’d been hidden somewhere. “What about Madison?”

“The girls had pizza before departing the Bankses’ home, and that’s what I found in Kaylee’s stomach. Madison’s was empty. Her bowel, however, is full,” Blanchard said.

“So, six to eight hours to digest,” Liam said. “Usually a bowel movement within a day or two?”

“Usually, but it could be a bit longer.” Blanchard removed Madison’s sheet.

Nikki and Liam both gasped. Her frozen clothes had hidden the litany of bruises on her body. Her arms and feet had clear ligature marks.

“No sign of sexual assault, but her fingernails are broken, along with a couple of fingers.”

“She fought like hell.” Nikki jammed her hands at her waist. She’d learned a long time ago to never put herself in the victim’s shoes, but as a mother, seeing the horror Madison had endured made her want to leave the room.

“She has a couple of bruises here”—Blanchard pointed to Madison’s right arm—“that are lighter and have just enough yellow to make me think the healing process had started.”

“How did she die?” Nikki asked.

“That brings me to the worst part.”

“There’s something worse?” Liam asked.

“Lividity showed she died in the fetal position, tied up. She experienced both liver failure and kidney failure. Her heart was compromised as well.” Blanchard moved the sheet so they could see Madison’s hands.

“Frostbite,” Liam said.

“Jesus Christ. She froze to death?”

“She had internal bleeding. The back of her skull is broken from blunt force trauma. Her brain bled and swelled, which means she didn’t die immediately. She may not have been fully conscious, but the frostbite proves that she was alive when she was tied up and put into the freezer.”

“And Kaylee had been dead for several hours, if not longer.” Liam looked at