Hidden - Laura Griffin Page 0,11

Red Bull and took a swig.

“We need to get the basics,” Jacob said. “No ID at the crime scene, so that’s priority one.”

Nielsen cleared his throat. “Caucasian female. Sixty-four inches tall, one hundred sixteen pounds. Age twenty to twenty-five, I’d say, and I can narrow that down after I study her X-rays.” He flipped open the file. “We printed her yesterday.”

“She’s not in the system,” Jacob said.

“You try DPS?” he asked. Texas drivers were required to submit both thumbprints.

“No hits,” Kendra said.

“Missing-person report?” he asked.

“Nothing that comes close to that description,” Jacob said.

Nielsen flipped a page in the file. “Manner of death, homicide. Cause of death, sharp force trauma.” He turned the file folder 180 degrees and slid it toward Jacob and Kendra, showing them a black-and-white diagram of a female body, front and back views. Handwritten notes surrounded the diagram.

“She had a wound measuring one point two inches in her upper back.”

Kendra gave a low whistle as she took out her notepad.

“The wound is just left of the vertebral column if the assailant is positioned behind the victim.” He pointed to several vertebrae. “The wound is between T-five and T-six.”

“One point two inches is a wide blade,” Jacob said.

The doctor nodded. “I understand there was no weapon recovered at the crime scene?”

“That’s right,” Kendra said as she jotted notes.

“What are these marks here?” Jacob asked, zeroing in on some cryptic notations beside the wound.

“Anterior fractures, eighth and ninth rib. In addition, she had multiple abrasions around her mouth, as well as a laceration inside her mouth near the left lateral incisor. Looks like she bit her lip.” He looked at Jacob. “You want my take on what happened?”

“Yes.”

“It looks like the assailant tackled her from behind, landed on her with his knees, and clamped a hand over her mouth during the struggle.”

“So, he broke her ribs?” Kendra asked.

“Her injuries would be consistent with that, yes.”

“Any defensive wounds?” Jacob asked.

“No parry wounds, no knuckle abrasions, no torn fingernails.”

Kendra looked at Jacob. “Sounds like he ambushed her.”

“Or she could have been chased,” Nielsen said. “She had scratches on her forearms consistent with someone running through some brush.”

“What about sexual assault?” Jacob asked.

Nielsen shook his head. “No sign of that in terms of contusions or abrasions. We did a rape kit, but I don’t expect that to be conclusive because she was partially submerged.”

Kendra leaned forward, frowning. “But her clothes were all torn. It looked like—”

“That happened after she was stabbed.” Nielsen pivoted to his computer. He tapped a few keys and brought up his email screen. He clicked open a file and scrolled through a series of grisly images, all showing the victim on a stainless-steel autopsy table, still wearing her ripped clothing. He paused on an image of the victim facedown on the table. She wore black running shorts and a form-fitting white tank top made of stretchy synthetic material. Jacob had gotten a glimpse of the clothing at the scene, but leaves and debris from the lake had made it hard to see the details.

“We lined up her clothing with the wound. See here?” Nielsen used his mechanical pencil to point out a tear in the white shirt. The fabric around the tear was tinged brown from blood. “I measured the cuts, and the blade went through the fabric.” He scrolled to another picture. Clothing had been removed, and the photo showed a close-up of the wound with a metal ruler positioned beside it.

“So . . . you’re saying he tackled her from behind, landed on her back, breaking her ribs, then muffled her screams while he stabbed her, and then tore her clothing?” Kendra asked.

“That scenario is consistent with what I found.”

“But no sexual assault?” Kendra sounded skeptical.

“No obvious evidence of that, like I said.” Nielsen looked at Jacob. “But we don’t have the lab results yet.”

“Anything suggest that she was moved from another location?” Jacob asked, thinking about the cell phone in the field behind the juice bar.

“If you’re asking if she was killed elsewhere and transported to the trail, I’d say no, not based on her livor patterns. But it looks like she was moved a short distance. Abrasions on her knees suggest she was dragged facedown, possibly by her underarms, and deposited in shallow water. That’s where she was spotted by the jogger, correct?”

“That’s right,” Kendra said. “The caller first thought it was a drowning, then thought she’d been shot. Called 911 in a panic.”

“What about time of death?” Jacob asked.

Nielsen smiled thinly. “Determining postmortem