Under Ice

Chapter 8

When Riley awoke the next day, she was exhasted despite more than 10 hours of sleep. They hadn't found the b&b until almost gone midnight, and then she had poured over papers until 2am, trying to get her head around this troubling case. When she finally awoke at almost 1pm, she was bleary eyed and tired, having to drag herself out of bed in order to be at the autopsy by 4.

They had had to drive back into Casper for the autopsy, as Aminta police station had no real M.E's office. When they finally arrived at the morgue, the other detectives were waiting for them as they joined them by the body.

"Have you ID-ed her yet?" Green asked Willis, before Riley could.

"Yep," Said Green reached for a file. "She's Mary-anne Perkins, age 30. Works as a nurse at a care home and has lived in Wyoming all her life,"

"Nothing mildly suspicious?" Quizzed Riley. "Nothing that would make her a target?"

"I don't think so. I'll send you all copies later on," Willis put his own back on the table beside him. "Now, let's begin, shall we?"

They all watched silently as Dr. Willis made the Y inscision and talked them through what he was doing. The Wyoming detectives were turning varying shades of green having never witnessed or heard a report on something so gruesome before, but Riley listened with half an ear having witnessed dozens of autopsies before. Her mind was more focused on the victims head. The now dry hair was matted at the back, and a familiar dark red colour tinted the long brown strands. As the doctor finished sewing the victim's chest back up, Riley interupted.

"Doctor Willis, have you examined the vic's head yet?"

He looked at the womans face before nodding.

"I haven't looked at it, but I did notice the blood. I propped her head up in order not to disturb the laceration while I did the Y inscision," He looked to Bishop. "Would you mind helping me roll her over?"

Bishop promptly reached over and together they rolled the victim onto her front, revealing her bloodied head. Riley heard Scully gag behind her, but she ignored it, her gaze fixed on the head.

Dr. Willis measured the broken skull with a ruler before writing down the measurements. "8 centimeters wide," He remarked.

"Any idea what it was done with?" Quizzed Fallow, already anticipating the answer.

"Not really. It would be to difficult to collect any fibres because of all the hair. My best guess is something long, round and heavy,"

"So say... A branch or stick?" Suggested Riley.

"Quite possibly, though it would have to be done with a lot of force,"

Riley thought of all the birch trees in that park, imagning how easy it would be to pick up a fallen branch and end someones life with it. She imagined the killer picking up the dying woman and chaining the blocks to her, eventually dropping her into the pond as the concrete tumbles after her. So far everything was a parallel with Arthur Stuart.

"Sounding like your case back in New York?" Asked Green.

"Yes," Fallow replied. "Stuart was hit in the head with something long and cylindrical. We found nothing out of the ordinary at the crime scene, so a branch sounds some what plausible,"

"Unless the killer took the weapon with him," added Riley.

"So your certain it's the same killer?" Asked Scully.

"Pretty much," Riley replied, though she sounded some what uncertain.

"What is it, Brooke?" Said Bishop, sensing something was wrong.

"I want to check her background," She answered simply.

"Well here's the report," Willis raised an eyebrow handing it to her, watching as she skimmed through the thin file.

"That's garbage," She dropped it on the table. "3 full pages of her adult life. But what about her childhood?"

"Well I..." Willis trailed off, clearly wondering what she was going on about.

"Do you guys have an IDB here?" Fallow asked, referring to the database he and Riley had used to research Arthur Stuart.

"Of course," Replied Scully. "Over here," He beckoned them towards Doctor Willis' computer.

Tapping in the details of Mary-anne, one file came up. Clicking on it up came the details Riley had already read in the report.

"Go back to 1999," She instructed.

Scully let out a 'hmph' and complied, flicking back through the years. When they reached 1999, a familiar sight met Riley's eyes. The page was blank.

"What?" Muttered Green.

"This is exactly what we got when we looked into Stuart's history," Said Fallow.

"What, so there's no record of either of our vic's from before 1999?" Exclaimed Scully.

"That's the link," Said Riley.

"Still doesn't give us a motive," Said Bishop.

"We need to talk to someone who knew Mary-anne. Someone has to know who she once was," Riley said.

Again, Willis glanced down at his file. "It says she has a mother in Aminta,"

"Then she's our lead," Riley picked up her jacket, pulling it on. She turned to the rest of them. "You coming then? We've got a phone call to make,"