noting everything, working the catalog into his brain, fighting the mixture of revulsion, hatred, and fear that was boiling in his gut. LaMastra tapped him on the shoulder, and jerked his head toward the far side of the clearing, where Chief Gus Bernhardt was standing next to a young man carrying an oversize medical bag. Gus waved him over and the two detectives circled back to them.
“Frank, this is Dr. Bob Colbert from Pinelands College,” Gus said, pointedly looking at Ferro rather than at what was behind him. “Bob teaches anatomy and forensics at the college and fills in for Saul Weinstock on ME work once in a while.” They were all wearing latex gloves, so they just nodded to one another as Gus introduced the detectives.
The doctor looked to be a young forty with black hair and a pronounced Gallic nose. “Saul couldn’t get out here,” he said in a thick northern Minnesota accent. “I’m, uh…kind of sorry I was available.”
“I heard that,” agreed LaMastra. “This is some of the sickest shit I ever saw.”
“I’ll pronounce them so you can get your lab team to work. I can only imagine how badly you want to get whoever did this.”
Ferro met his gaze. “You have no idea, doctor.” He ordered everyone out of the clearing except for the ME. The other cops moved back reluctantly, their faces white with shock and grim with frustrated anger. Chief Bernhardt turned a face to Ferro that was gray and sweaty. He tried to say something but it stuck in his throat. There were tears brimming in his eyes and he looked ten years old. Ferro just nodded to him and left him alone for the moment.
Ferro drifted along behind the ME, making the young doctor nervous by peering over his shoulder as he examined the wounds, palpated the flesh on the throats of each victim, and took temperature readings. As the doctor worked Ferro continued to read the scene himself, not liking what he was seeing for a hundred different reasons. “Well?” Ferro asked after the ME had finished his cursory examination.
“Well, I guess I have to officially say that they’re dead. They are. Boy are they.” The doctor’s face was as sweaty as Bernhardt’s.
“Cause of death?”
The doctor pursed his lips. “I’m going to let Saul Weinstock do the post, but I’ve lived in hunting country my whole life, and I’ve hunted bear in Potter County here in Pennsylvania and in Minnesota, where I grew up.”
Ferro frowned. “What are you saying? That a bear did this?”
“A bear? No, the bite radius doesn’t look big enough, but if I was to make a horseback guess here, Detective, I’d say that yeah, some kind of animal was involved.”
“You’re calling this an animal attack?”
“Detective, I’m not calling this anything but two dead guys. I mean, two dead officers. What I’m saying is that from a superficial analysis—lacking the specifics of a postmortem—the wounds appear to be bite marks, which suggests animal attack.”
Ferro stepped closer and dropped his voice. “Has Dr. Weinstock shared with you the nature of the wounds he identified on the victim found yesterday?”
“Tony Macchio? Yes. Among other things he was bitten.”
“It was Dr. Weinstock’s opinion that the bites were made by human teeth. He lifted impressions. No trace of animal attack, according to him.”
Colbert nodded. “Right, I know, but that’s not what I think we have here, and mind you, it is possible that an animal came upon the bodies after they’d already been killed, but what I see—what I think I see—are different kinds of bite marks. And before you ask, no, they are not human bites. No way. Human bites are nasty but the teeth are pretty blunt. The skin is bruised more because human teeth aren’t used to biting through living skin, there’s more blunt tearing and ripping than we have here. Plus, it’s generally easy to differentiate between human and animal bite patterns just from observation. Look at an apple that’s had a
“Frank, this is Dr. Bob Colbert from Pinelands College,” Gus said, pointedly looking at Ferro rather than at what was behind him. “Bob teaches anatomy and forensics at the college and fills in for Saul Weinstock on ME work once in a while.” They were all wearing latex gloves, so they just nodded to one another as Gus introduced the detectives.
The doctor looked to be a young forty with black hair and a pronounced Gallic nose. “Saul couldn’t get out here,” he said in a thick northern Minnesota accent. “I’m, uh…kind of sorry I was available.”
“I heard that,” agreed LaMastra. “This is some of the sickest shit I ever saw.”
“I’ll pronounce them so you can get your lab team to work. I can only imagine how badly you want to get whoever did this.”
Ferro met his gaze. “You have no idea, doctor.” He ordered everyone out of the clearing except for the ME. The other cops moved back reluctantly, their faces white with shock and grim with frustrated anger. Chief Bernhardt turned a face to Ferro that was gray and sweaty. He tried to say something but it stuck in his throat. There were tears brimming in his eyes and he looked ten years old. Ferro just nodded to him and left him alone for the moment.
Ferro drifted along behind the ME, making the young doctor nervous by peering over his shoulder as he examined the wounds, palpated the flesh on the throats of each victim, and took temperature readings. As the doctor worked Ferro continued to read the scene himself, not liking what he was seeing for a hundred different reasons. “Well?” Ferro asked after the ME had finished his cursory examination.
“Well, I guess I have to officially say that they’re dead. They are. Boy are they.” The doctor’s face was as sweaty as Bernhardt’s.
“Cause of death?”
The doctor pursed his lips. “I’m going to let Saul Weinstock do the post, but I’ve lived in hunting country my whole life, and I’ve hunted bear in Potter County here in Pennsylvania and in Minnesota, where I grew up.”
Ferro frowned. “What are you saying? That a bear did this?”
“A bear? No, the bite radius doesn’t look big enough, but if I was to make a horseback guess here, Detective, I’d say that yeah, some kind of animal was involved.”
“You’re calling this an animal attack?”
“Detective, I’m not calling this anything but two dead guys. I mean, two dead officers. What I’m saying is that from a superficial analysis—lacking the specifics of a postmortem—the wounds appear to be bite marks, which suggests animal attack.”
Ferro stepped closer and dropped his voice. “Has Dr. Weinstock shared with you the nature of the wounds he identified on the victim found yesterday?”
“Tony Macchio? Yes. Among other things he was bitten.”
“It was Dr. Weinstock’s opinion that the bites were made by human teeth. He lifted impressions. No trace of animal attack, according to him.”
Colbert nodded. “Right, I know, but that’s not what I think we have here, and mind you, it is possible that an animal came upon the bodies after they’d already been killed, but what I see—what I think I see—are different kinds of bite marks. And before you ask, no, they are not human bites. No way. Human bites are nasty but the teeth are pretty blunt. The skin is bruised more because human teeth aren’t used to biting through living skin, there’s more blunt tearing and ripping than we have here. Plus, it’s generally easy to differentiate between human and animal bite patterns just from observation. Look at an apple that’s had a
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