PARTY'S OVER."
Janssen stopped and looked up at the rest of them. "Even I know that one," she said. "That's Talking Heads, 'Burning Down the House'."
"Burning Down the House-well, that seems fitting," Caruso said, turning and looking at the trails of wispy smoke drifting lazily into the sky from the wreckage behind them.
"And that would explain the lighter thing in her hands, too," McTavish added.
"Is there another coded message at the bottom?" Wallace asked, leaning down next to Janssen.
"Yes, paired sets of digits, just like the others," she replied. Wallace pulled out his notepad and quickly jotted down the numbers.
Wilson and Johannson arrived a few minutes later, with DiCicco and Harris pulling in a minute or two after that. Janssen and Singleton kept busy examining the body, looking at the ropes that bound her as well as the lighting device in her hand. Wallace retreated to his van to work on trying to decode the message.
"Inspector," Chin said, "we talked about the possibility that if Drummond's our guy, he might have a place other than his house where he could take these girls. Do you think this might have been it?"
"I already thought of that. I've talked with the fire guys. Once this thing is put down and they've got everything under control, we're going to check it out." Caruso turned to Harris. "Harris, are there any missing person's reports that matches this girl's description?"
"No sir. I checked on the way out."
"Hmm, looks like we've got us a Jane Doe," Caruso said, taking off his glasses and rubbing his burning eyes. "Goddamned smoke."
"Inspector, there's something in the pocket of her jeans," Janssen said, her gloved hand pressing on the girl's upper thigh. The team members moved closer as she took her forceps and reached into the girl's pocket. She drew out a white card-shaped piece of plastic. "It looks like your Jane Doe has a name after all." She stood and held the card between her fingertips for the Inspector to see.
"It's a Western student card," he said. "Nicole Marie Fletcher."
The team members all looked back at the girl. At that moment a ray of sunshine pierced the early-morning clouds and illuminated her face, like a blessing from God. It stunned them to see her looking so placid in death, the beam of sunlight making her face glow like an angel.
Pepper looked at the girl and felt a tugging at his heart. They now knew who she was, and putting a name to that serene young face made it sadder than he thought possible. It made him want to scream-or cry-he didn't know what he wanted to do. He just wished there was something he could have done to have stopped this from happening.
Every Breath You Take Page 60
