Birdeater

Chapter 8

"It's unlikely we will get a match." Abigail sounded as frustrated as Hugh felt. "But we will do our best."

"Tell me why." Hugh wanted to hear every detail of his failing.

"There wasn't an odontologist on the scene immediately." Abigail said. "That didn't help. There were no molds cast of the mark, which also didn't help. No one thought of that, huh?"

Hugh spread his hands.

"These photographs show two overlapping bitemarks. It looks like one because they are so close together. But compare it next to this one, can you see it now? It's almost impossible to distinguish the upper and lower arches. You combine all of that with the fact that it's useless unless we already have a suspect..."

"Have Prints run it through the database anyway." Hugh said, tired. "See if it picks up with anything that's already on file."

"They'll do what they can." Abigail reassured him.

"We can release to the press that we have a lead." Hugh said. "Maybe that will rattle his cage a little bit."

"Provoke him into more killing." Abigail held up her hands. "But that's your jurisdiction."

"There are two killers, now." Hugh said. "If we can put a rift between them, that works to our advantage."

"Ah. If one thinks the other has majorly screwed up...?"

"Exactly."

"I don't know if pitting them against each other is going to give you the results you want."

"It's the best we have. We are gasping at straws."

"I know."

"The bodies are piling up and we have almost nothing." Hugh wasn't very good at hiding his frustration. He needed coffee and some pain reliever. His head was pounding. "If we can force one of them out into the open, we've got them both."

"A lot of 'maybes'," Abigail said. "A lot of 'let's try and see'."

"Well, we don't have a lot to go on. No molds. No other impressions. No fingerprints."

"And these are only the bodies they've found." Abigail pointed out.

Hugh nodded his agreement. "There are so many caves along the mountainside that there may be bodies we will never find. Some of those openings are dead drops that just get smaller and smaller as they go down. If he did throw one down a tunnel like that, it'd be hell digging them out."

"So, the fact that you have found so many may mean that he wants to be seen." For someone who claimed to be lacking in the 'personality' department, Abigail had a lot of ideas about this one.

"And now he chooses to introduce a new variable. A second partner. Why?" Hugh stared at her, like her steel slab grey eyes would hold the answer.

She shrugged. "Shouldn't you ask Jackson these questions?"

Yeah. He should. Hugh glared down at the pictures of the bite mark spread over the counter.

"I want to stop the killing." He said. "Whatever it takes."

"We all want it to stop." Abigail reassured him. "You're doing your best."

"My best isn't good enough."

He sounded like his dad. And he knew it.

"Your best has been running on fumes. All you have to do is step outside and make a statement to someone. The press has been crawling around. You'll find a journalist in any bush." Abigail was already starting to move on towards her next project. She had cadavers more than she knew what to do with.