“Nothing you probably haven’t already guessed. Looks like strangulation.” He held up one of Lin’s hands. “Your perp knows a little about forensics. She has soap under her fingernails. He definitely cleaned them. I’d guess that means she scratched him. This is definitely a dump scene. She was killed somewhere else.”
Tom saw Marty staring at him. “What?”
“You’ve got that look in your eye.”
“Yeah, well, I want this bastard. Look at the poor girl. She barely had time to get her life started.”
Marty didn’t respond.
“She took a big chance, leaving her home country to come to America. She deserved a chance to make it.”
“You’re right, Sarge. Burt don’t they all?” Marty asked.
“Yeah, but we’re gonna do something about this.” Tom turned back to the doctor. “You got a time of death?”
“Based on body temperature, I’m saying she’s been dead about eight hours. That would put it at around nine o’clock last night. I’ll get you a better number when I get her back to the lab.”
“Nine p.m. on the Fourth of July. Got it.” Tom wrote that down in his notebook.
“So we’re looking for a guy with a scratch.” Marty folded his notebook and stuffed it into the inside pocket of his leather jacket. “That’s not much to go on.”
“Be patient, grasshopper.” The small doctor stood. “Wait and see what the CSI boys find for you. I’m betting that there’s lots of hair, fibers and skin cells rolled up in that rug. Maybe some of them will point you in the right direction.”
“Thanks, Doc.” Tom turned to Marty. “Let’s head back to the shop.” He ducked under the crime scene tape.
“Looks like this one really bothered the Sarge,” the coroner said to Marty.
“Yeah. You know Bremen, he wants to solve ALL of his cases. This one’s going to be a bitch.”
About the Author
Pendelton Wallace is the author of Blue Water & Me, Tall Tales of Adventures With My Father, Christmas Inc, the Ted Higuera Series and the Catrina Flaherty Mysteries.
If Chevy Chase had played Indiana Jones, he would be Penn Wallace. Penn has a thirst for adventure, but nothing ever seems to go exactly as planned.
Penn graduated from the University of Oregon (Go Ducks!) and has had three careers. He owned and operated two restaurants and worked for several major chains. In 1990, he went back to school, got his MBA in Information Systems and embarked on a new life.
After his wife died in 2010, Penn lost all interest in work. He left his career as a software engineer and bought a big old sail boat. He spent the next two and a half years restoring the vessel.
In the fall of 2012 he set sail for the warm blue waters of Baja California in his 56-foot sailboat, the Victory. You may read an account of this adventure on his blog at www.pennwallace.com. This is when Penn started his third career, as a writer.
Penn currently resides in Bocas del Toro, Panama, but expect him to pull up anchor and set sail back to the good ol’ U.S. of A. soon.
You may contact Penn at http://www.pennwallace.com/contact-penn.html and visit his web site at www.pennwallace.com.
The Cartel Strikes Back: The Ted Higuera Series, Book 5 Page 32
