Is that the medical examiner? she asked Cullen.
Yeah, let me introduce you to him. This is the Barnwell coroner, Corey Hammond.
Riley crouched down beside the man. She sensed that, in contrast to Cullen, Hammond was still struggling to contain his shock. His breathing was coming in gasps partly due to his weight, but also, she suspected, from revulsion and horror. Hed surely never seen anything like this in his jurisdiction.
What can you tell us so far? Riley asked the coroner.
No sign of sexual assault that I can see, Hammond said. Thats consistent with the other coroners autopsy of the victim four days ago, over near Allardt.
Hammond pointed to mangled pieces of wide silvery tape around the womans neck and shoulders.
The killer bound her hand and foot, then taped her neck onto the rail and immobilized her shoulders. She must have struggled like mad trying to get loose. But she didnt stand a chance.
Riley turned toward Cullen and asked, Her mouth wasnt gagged. Would anybody have heard her screaming?
We dont think so, Cullen said, pointing toward some trees. There are some houses through those woods, but theyre out of earshot. A couple of my guys went from door to door asking if anybody had heard anything or had any idea what had been happening at the time of the murder. No one did. They found out all about it on TV or on the Internet. Theyve been instructed to stay away from here. So far, we havent had any trouble with gawkers.
Bill asked, Did it look like anything was stolen from her?
Cullen shrugged.
We dont think so. We found her purse right here beside her, and she still had identification and money and credit cards. Oh, and a cell phone.
Riley studied the body, trying to imagine how the killer had managed to get the victim into this position. Sometimes she could get a powerful, even uncanny, feeling of the killer just by tuning in to her surroundings at a crime scene. Sometimes it almost seemed that she could get into his thoughts, know what was on his mind as he committed the murder.
But not right now.
Things were too jangled here, with all these people milling about.
She said, He must have subdued her somehow before he bound her up like this. What about the other corpse, the victim that was killed earlier? Did the local coroner find any drugs in her system?
There was flunitrazepam in her bloodstream, Coroner Hammond said.
Riley glanced at her colleagues. She knew what flunitrazepam was, and she knew that Jenn and Bill did as well. Its trade name was Rohypnol, and it was commonly known as the date rape drug or as roofies. It was illegal, but all too easy to buy on the streets.
And it certainly would have subdued the victim, rendering her helpless although possibly not fully unconscious. Riley knew that flunitrazepam had an amnesiac effect once it wore off. She shuddered to realize
It might well have worn off right here just before she died.
If so, the poor woman would have had no idea how or why such a terrible thing had happened to her.
Bill scratched his chin as he looked down at the body.
He said, So maybe this started off date-rape style, with the killer slipping the drug into her drink at a bar or a party or something.
The coroner shook his head.
Apparently not, he said. There wasnt a trace of the drug in the other victims stomach. It must have been given to her as an injection.
Jenn said, Thats odd.
Deputy Chief Bull Cullen looked at Jenn with interest.
Why so? he asked.
Jenn shrugged slightly.
She said, Its a little hard to imagine, thats all. Flunitrazepam doesnt take effect right away, no matter how its delivered. In a date-rape situation, that typically doesnt matter. The unsuspecting victim maybe has drinks with her soon-to-be assailant for a little while, starts feeling woozy without knowing quite why, and pretty soon she becomes helpless. But if our killer stabbed her with a needle, shed immediately know she was in trouble, and shed have had a few minutes to resist before the drug took effect. It just doesnt sound very efficient.
Cullen smiled at Jenn a little flirtatiously, Riley thought.
It makes sense to me, he said. Let me show you.
He walked behind Jenn, who was markedly shorter than he was. He started reaching around her neck from behind her. Jenn stepped away.
Hey, what are you doing? Jenn said.
Just demonstrating. Dont worry, Im not really going to hurt you.
Jenn scoffed and kept her distance from him.
Damn right, youre not, she said. And Im pretty sure I know what youve got in mind. Youre thinking the killer used some kind of choke hold.
Thats right, Cullen said, still smiling. Specifically, a so-called blood choke.
He twisted his arm to illustrate his point.
The killer approached her unexpectedly from behind, then crooked his arm like this around the front of her neck. The victim could still breathe, but her carotid arteries were shut off completely, cutting off the blood flow to the brain. The victim lost consciousness within seconds. Then it was easy for the killer to administer an injection that rendered her helpless for a longer period.
Riley easily sensed the friction between Cullen and Jenn. Cullen was obviously a classic mansplainer whose attitude toward Jenn was condescending as well as flirtatious.
Jenn clearly didnt like him one bit, and Riley felt the same. The man was shallow, all right, with a poor sense of appropriate behavior when it came to dealing with a female colleague and an even worse sense of how to behave at a murder scene.
Still, Riley had to admit that Cullens theory was sound.
He might be obnoxious, but he wasnt stupid.
In fact, he might be genuinely helpful to work with.
That is, if we can stand to be around him, Riley thought.
Cullen stepped off the tracks and down the slope and pointed at a space where the ground had been taped off.
He said, Weve got some tire tracks, from where he drove down here after turning off the main road back at the railroad crossing. Theyre big tracks obviously some kind of off-road vehicle. Here are some footprints too.
Riley said, Have your people take pictures of these. Well send them to Quantico and have our technicians run them through our database.
Cullen stood with his arms akimbo for a moment, taking in the scene with what seemed to Riley almost like a sense of satisfaction.
He said, Ive got to say, this is a new experience for me and my guys. Were used to investigating cargo theft, vandalism, collisions, and the like. Murders are few and far between. And something like this well, weve never seen anything like it before. Of course, I guess its nothing really special for you FBI folks. Youre used to it.
Cullen got no reply and he fell silent for a moment. Then he looked at Riley and her colleagues and said, Well, I dont want to take too much of your precious time. Just give us a profile, and my team will take it from here. You can fly back home today, unless you really want to spend the night.
Riley, Bill, and Jenn looked at each other with surprise.
Did he seriously think they could wrap up their work here that quickly?
Im not sure what you mean, Riley said.
Cullen shrugged and said, Im sure youve figured out something in the way of a profile by now. Thats what youre here for, after all. What can you tell me?