hand with this other one. This woman must have weighed a ton before she was dead, I can’t imagine what she weighs now.”
Cory took a deep breath and put the note inside of a drawer where she‘d stashed the other note. Eventually she’d share the evidence with the others, there wouldn’t be a way around it, but the fear of someone possibly coming after her had her wanting to take things slowly. What if the killer was someone close to her? She wondered briefly, in a ditch effort to relieve her anxiety, if the notes were meant for her or for Dr. Willis, if she was a psychotic serial killer offing random women, Willis would be the first spot on her hit list.
She turned from the slide table and inspiration struck her like a club being wielded by an invisible hand. The first victim had been killed at Pete’s grocery and she’d been a counter clerk. Before she’d gone off to med school, right out of high school, she’d worked at Pete’s for a stint to have some cash at her disposal. For another coincidence, the location of where the other two were found, the very apartment where Heather and the nameless woman were found, was the same apartment her mother had rented while they were looking for a new home in her senior year of high school. In fact, Cory had remarked to Heather the first time she’d met her that the woman was a far better housekeeper than her mother had been.
Cory put a hand to her mouth, now certain that the killer, whoever they were, was someone who knew her and had known her for some tim e at least as far back as high school.
“ Now , Dr. Lance.”
Cory made herself move to where Dr. Willis was standing with the second victim. He’d already gone over the body with the woman on her back, and as he’d insensitively commented, the woman had been on the heavy side while she was alive. She wouldn’t have called the woman “fat” since that was not what she was. Thick, was a better word, and possibly the term ‘curvaceous” was more flattering, Cory didn’t know, but she did see that death had not been kind. With surgical gloves, she placed her hands to the woman’s shoulders and with Willis, they were able to lift her on her side.
As with Heather, this woman had died sitting up, the blood settling on the underside of her body. Cory had the image that both women had been lined up on the wall they’d died against and then were shot execution style. Again, as with Heather, and because Cory’s eyes were scouring the unidentified woman’s flesh as if she had laser scanners for eyes, there was the pencil eraser sized hole on her right shoulder.
“What is with these wounds?” Willis mused as he dug another plastic pill out of the victim’s flesh with tweezers. Willis handed the removed sample to Cory as she helped him set the woman once again down on her back.
“I am going to let you finish up here, think that you are equipped to handle that much?”
Cory nodded, not bothered at the moment by Willis’ sniping. She was more concerned with what the third message was going to say. Willis left the room his concern not directed at Cory or what she was going to do once she was gone but more with what he was going to do once he was at home.
“Probably sit on his lonely ass and stare at a wall until he slips into a coma if I’m lucky,” Cory mumbled to herself as she again returned to the slide table. The snarky sarcasm she realized, was the effects of the effort her mind was attempting to keep her from coming unraveled.
“Is there something I can help you with, Dr. Lance?”
Cory set the plastic cylinder on the table and wheeled around at the sound of
Cory took a deep breath and put the note inside of a drawer where she‘d stashed the other note. Eventually she’d share the evidence with the others, there wouldn’t be a way around it, but the fear of someone possibly coming after her had her wanting to take things slowly. What if the killer was someone close to her? She wondered briefly, in a ditch effort to relieve her anxiety, if the notes were meant for her or for Dr. Willis, if she was a psychotic serial killer offing random women, Willis would be the first spot on her hit list.
She turned from the slide table and inspiration struck her like a club being wielded by an invisible hand. The first victim had been killed at Pete’s grocery and she’d been a counter clerk. Before she’d gone off to med school, right out of high school, she’d worked at Pete’s for a stint to have some cash at her disposal. For another coincidence, the location of where the other two were found, the very apartment where Heather and the nameless woman were found, was the same apartment her mother had rented while they were looking for a new home in her senior year of high school. In fact, Cory had remarked to Heather the first time she’d met her that the woman was a far better housekeeper than her mother had been.
Cory put a hand to her mouth, now certain that the killer, whoever they were, was someone who knew her and had known her for some tim e at least as far back as high school.
“ Now , Dr. Lance.”
Cory made herself move to where Dr. Willis was standing with the second victim. He’d already gone over the body with the woman on her back, and as he’d insensitively commented, the woman had been on the heavy side while she was alive. She wouldn’t have called the woman “fat” since that was not what she was. Thick, was a better word, and possibly the term ‘curvaceous” was more flattering, Cory didn’t know, but she did see that death had not been kind. With surgical gloves, she placed her hands to the woman’s shoulders and with Willis, they were able to lift her on her side.
As with Heather, this woman had died sitting up, the blood settling on the underside of her body. Cory had the image that both women had been lined up on the wall they’d died against and then were shot execution style. Again, as with Heather, and because Cory’s eyes were scouring the unidentified woman’s flesh as if she had laser scanners for eyes, there was the pencil eraser sized hole on her right shoulder.
“What is with these wounds?” Willis mused as he dug another plastic pill out of the victim’s flesh with tweezers. Willis handed the removed sample to Cory as she helped him set the woman once again down on her back.
“I am going to let you finish up here, think that you are equipped to handle that much?”
Cory nodded, not bothered at the moment by Willis’ sniping. She was more concerned with what the third message was going to say. Willis left the room his concern not directed at Cory or what she was going to do once she was gone but more with what he was going to do once he was at home.
“Probably sit on his lonely ass and stare at a wall until he slips into a coma if I’m lucky,” Cory mumbled to herself as she again returned to the slide table. The snarky sarcasm she realized, was the effects of the effort her mind was attempting to keep her from coming unraveled.
“Is there something I can help you with, Dr. Lance?”
Cory set the plastic cylinder on the table and wheeled around at the sound of