Merciless by Mary Burton

wasn’t on the stage she was trying to get on the stage. She’d walk over broken glass barefoot to get the right part. She wantedBroadway, and she wanted Hollywood. She craved fame like a drug.” He shook his head. “I knew that about her, even sensed that I was a temporary fix, and I still married her.”
    “Those blank spots in the wall have her picture in them?”
    “I just took those down about a month ago. I guess until then I was holding on to something. But she drove the final nail in the coffin so I threw them in the trash.”
    “What was that nail?”
    “She called my dad and told him she’d been pregnant with our child and that I’d forced her to have an abortion.”
    “Any truth?”
    “Hell, no. It was hard for Dad to hear it. I always knew she was selfish but never evil.”
    “Did she hit the bars?”
    “Not a lot. She didn’t drink or smoke for fear it would ruin her figure and face. Vain could have been her middle name. And she didn’t go out unless it benefited her career.”
    “Family?”
    “None to speak of. Distant cousins. Parents dead and no siblings.”
    Malcolm pulled a card from his pocket and laid it on Humphrey’s desk. “If you think of anything else, you’ll call me?”
    “Sure.” He picked up the card and flicked the edge with his fingertip. “When do you think you’ll know if the body is Sierra?”
    “Day or two.”
    “I’d lay odds it’s her.”
    “Why?”
    “I’ve not heard from her since Thursday a week ago.She takes great pride in driving me nuts with her calls and notes.”
    “We’ll let you know.”
    “Figures I’d be left holding the bag.”
    “What’s that mean?”
    “If she’d had the decency to sign the damn divorce papers, the state would have had to bury her. Now I’ll have to do it.”
    Minutes later in the car, Malcolm started the engine. “You have to wonder what those two saw in each other.”
    Garrison settled in the passenger’s side as he checked his phone for messages or missed calls. “It doesn’t take a genius. They both are lookers. Made a handsome couple.”
    “Oh, I bet the wedding album was a work of art.”
    Garrison flipped open his phone and hit three on his speed dial. It was the number for the Alexandria Homicide department.
    “This is Sinclair.” Detective Jennifer Sinclair was a member of the city’s four-person homicide team. Standing at five-foot-eleven with brown hair and a toned body, Jennifer conjured images of Amazons.
    The other member of the team was Detective Daniel Rokov. His dark hair and olive skin testified to his Russian gypsy roots.
    Kier had put both Rokov and Sinclair on notice this morning when they’d found the body. This case would hit the media sooner than later, and the fact that the body had been reduced to bones would garner big headlines. He wanted answers for the press and the community as soon as possible.
    “It’s Garrison. I have the name of a dentist I need for you and Rokov to visit. He should have dental records on our possible Jane Doe.” He rattled off the name.
    “Will do. I also plugged this case into the ViCAP system.” ViCAP was a national database dedicated to tracking violent crimes. Not all cases made it into the system, but it was always worth a try.
    “Great. Maybe we’ll get lucky.”
    The Other listened to the police scanner, tapping his fingers against his thigh, waiting for any mention of the bones. There’d been none. But he knew the cops had found his precious gift because he’d driven by Angel Park and seen the police activity.
    The cops had been careful to keep their chatter off the radios, no doubt because they were worried about the media. His bones would make a great story.
    Now as he sat in the dimly lighted room and stared down at the delicate white carving, he had an unexpected moment of panic so acute, it sent adrenaline slicing through his body. He set down the carving and flexed his fingers, working the ache and stiffness from his joints.
    “It’s