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'Again,he says no. I'm inclined to believe him.'
'Isthe body near a plot?' Jessica asked.
'Righton top of one,' Bontrager said.
'AnyID on the victim?'
'No,'Bontrager said. 'Not yet, anyway. I haven't done a full search of the area.'
Byrnetook another look around. 'Is this our bad guy, Josh?'
'Ohyeah. This is our bad guy,' Bontrager replied. 'No doubt about it.'
'Allright,' Byrne said. 'Let's go look at a dead body in a cemetery.'
Thethree of them walked onto the grounds, down a narrow weed- grown path betweenheadstones that dated from the mid-1800s. Every tenth site or so had beentended to some degree, with the grass trimmed around the stone, plastic flowersplaced. Most of the grave sites were criminally unkempt.
When theyreached the top of the rise Jessica glanced over her shoulder. The place wasbegi
Thethree detectives gathered around the site. Josh Bontrager looked at Jessica,then at Byrne. He crouched down next to the body. Jessica nodded. Bontragerdrew back the sheet.
'Ah,Christ,' Byrne said. He spoke for everyone.
Aswith the previous victim, the middle-aged female's body was nude, shaved cleanof all hair, as was her head. Jessica immediately noticed the bruises aroundher ankles. She had been shackled.
Wrappedaround the victim's head was a white paper band, identical to the one that theyhad found wrapped around Ke
Ifthese were the similarities to the condition in which Ke
'ME'sbeen here?' Byrne asked.
'Notyet.'
'Picturestaken?'
Bontragernodded, pointed to the CSU officer who was leaning against a nearby tree andsmoking a cigarette. 'Video, too.'
Jessicalooked at the headstone. The victim's right leg extended toward the gravemarker, which was half covered in debris and dead grass. The foot resteddirectly over the center.
'Kevin.Give me a hand here.'
Bothdetectives snapped on latex gloves. They knelt on either side of the body andgently lifted the victim's right leg, moving it just a few inches, beingcareful not to disturb any of the area next to the grave. They lowered thevictim's leg gently. Jessica looked at the grave marker. It was not nearly asold as the ones that surrounded it, looking as though it had been positioned nomore than a few years earlier. A shift in the ground had lowered it a fewinches so that the marker's engraving was now covered in dirt.
Byrnemotioned to the CSU officer standing nearby, who tossed away his cigarette,walked over and took a number of additional pictures. When he was finished,Byrne took out a pocket knife and began to scrape away the mud. The first thingto be revealed was a carving, one with which Jessica was not familiar. It didnot appear to be a Catholic or Christian symbol - praying hands, an angel, acrucifix. As they cleared away more dirt, Jessica thought the symbol wasbegi
Byrnebrushed away the last of the mud and revealed that it wasn't a flower at allbut rather a Chinese character. Beneath it, ru
A fewminutes later they had the bottom of the headstone cleared of dirt, and sawwhat they were looking for. The person interred in this space had died on March21, 2002.
Hername was Antoinette Chan.
Jessicalooked at Byrne, a bolt of electricity passing between them.
Acrosstown, a man had been found murdered, his head wrapped in a band of white paper.A man named Ke
Murdered,it is believed, by Ke
'Let'scheck her hands,' Byrne said.
Byrnelifted the victim's right hand, checked it. Nothing. He circled the body,gently lifted her left hand. There, on the index finger, was a small tattoo.Instead of a lion, this time it was a rooster.
Jessicatook a few photographs, her heart starting to race. She glanced over at Byrne.He wore an expression she had come to know well over the years, one that barelycontained a cold rage.
Byrnesquatted next to the body and began to undo the paper that wrapped the victim'shead.
'Kevin,the ME's office is on the way,' Jessica said. 'You should wait.'
'Yeah,well, I should be living in Cazumel with the Corr sisters, too,' Byrne said. 'Idon't see either of these things happening.'
Byrnegently unwrapped the victim's head, carefully removing the wax seal first anddropping it into a small evidence bag. The first thing that Jessica noticedwhen the paper was removed was that the laceration across the forehead, and thepuncture wound, were in almost the same places as they'd been with the firstvictim.
Thesecond thing Jessica noticed was that the dead woman was Sharon Beckman.
Chapter 20
Thefeelings coursed through Byrne, sensations that grew exponentially. He pacedlike an animal.
Hestepped behind a tree as the feeling surged, filling his head like an onrush ofwater from a broken dam. It was followed by a moment of vertigo. He steadiedhimself, tried to wait it out, trying not to notice as...
. . .the man walks across the cemetery in darkness... he is strong. . . the deadweight of Sharon Beckman's body is nothing to him ... he does not search forthe grave site, he knows where it is. He is familiar with this cemetery, allcemeteries. He places her on the ground, steels himself. He is not quitefinished. He leaps into the air, and bears down with great force, breaking thedead woman's leg, positioning it back because it means something to him and. . .
Byrneopened his eyes, got his bearings. He had forgotten where he was, what he wasdoing. This was getting bad.
Thecrime scene swarmed with people. Byrne glanced at his watch. It had only beenten seconds. It felt like an hour.
Hewalked back to the grave site. Information had trickled in about the secondbody. This had been found in a Dumpster behind a building at Second and Poplar.According to the initial report the victim, a middle-aged male, had been foundnude, his forehead wrapped in white paper, his body clean of all hair.
Threebodies in two days. This case was about to break wide open. Wall-to-wall TV andprint news, perhaps even national attention. There was a ghoul on the streetsof Philadelphia, a monster who was strangling people, shaving their bodies andmarking their flesh. When they had found Ke
Byrneapproached Jessica. 'I have that MRI. I have to go.'