The Killers Amongst Us: Chimera Dawn Chronicles by Declan Conner Page A

body to us in a refrigerated vehicle?”
    “We don’t have one.”
    “Sorry, nothing we can do at weekend, only put it in the
schedule for collection.” Shaw pressed the OFF button. “Damn.”
    “What’s the problem?” Frank asked.
    “We need to get the body to LA for autopsy, but we don’t
have a refrigerated vehicle.”
    Frank scrunched his lips to his nose. “I might be able to
help you there if you can spare me for fifteen minutes.”
    “Okay, Jim’s here to help, but hurry back.” Shaw fished in
his pocket and tossed Frank the office keys. “On your way back, pick up a body
bag from the storeroom.”
    Frank tipped the brim of his hat in salute, then scurried to
his vehicle as the hardware van pulled up. Shaw escorted Mike to the front
door. He expected him to work his magic on the cylinder lock with a pick and
some jiggling. Instead, he pulled a Bosch grinder from his case, cut through
the brass latch, and opened the door.
    “I’ll fit a new lock and send you the bill.” Mike stowed the
grinder back in its case, and tossed Shaw a new set of keys.
    Shaw frowned, but it was too late. He could have smashed the
glass. It would have been cheaper.
    “Do you have any sheets of plastic at the store? Only I need
to cover the paving around back. Oh, and some white chalk.”
    “Sure do, I’ll go and get both.”
    Shaw took booties from his overall pocket and slipped them
over his shoes. He entered and walked through reception to the surgery. Nothing
looked out of place. He walked through to the cage holding room. There were no
caged animals, but the large holding cage at the end of the row was open. The
aluminum door was twisted out of shape. It looked as though something had
forced its way out. There was a collapsed gurney on the floor of the cage. Shaw
wondered if whatever was in the cage had been under anesthetic when she put the
animal inside. Next to the gurney, he saw a muzzle on the floor with the
plastic fastener snapped.
    The
door to the corridor was fully open as he passed through. He glanced in the
direction of the body. That’s when he saw a bunch of keys hanging, with one
inserted in the cylinder. He cursed at the expense of a new lock. A scenario
fermented. If the cage had held a dog and it had smashed its way out, he
imagined her coming down to investigate. She could have opened the cage room
door, seen the dog in an aggressive state without its muzzle, not having time
to close the door again, then ran to open the front door. Then it attacked her,
before she could get outside and close the door.
    He wondered if someone was with her, perhaps the vet thought
it was simply the animal coming around from surgery and she didn’t need help.
Then, maybe whoever was in the bedroom heard her scream, but it was too late to
do anything and the dog had gone. They could have panicked if there was good
reason for them not to be there. They could be married. He stepped back inside
the holding room and took a photo of the cage.
    He shrugged his shoulders, shivered, then walked down the
corridor, arriving at the door to the garage. Inside, her van’s back doors were
open. He could see blood smears on the floor inside the van. He snapped a photo,
then returned to the corridor. Shaw grabbed the rail and climbed the stairway.
A bedroom door was open and he walked inside. There were two pillows, one on
top of the other in the center of the bed. The duvet was pulled to one side. He
took a photo. Shaw lifted the duvet. There were no semen stains. It didn’t look
like a shared bed, unless they’d been in a tryst at the time.
    He looked in the trash basket, but it was empty. A cell
phone was on the nightstand with a purse. Shaw picked up the cell phone. It was
in sleep mode and the screen sprung to life at the touch of a key. He scrolled
through the menu and picked up incoming calls. His eyes widened. At 10:30 p.m.
Thursday, the name Ed Grimes popped up on the screen as the last call. He
sucked on his bottom lip. She