The Face Behind The Mask

17

Patrice Orion climbed the hill in long strides. Her partner, Detective Lloyd couldn't keep up. He moved the way you'd expect a heavy man in his late forties to move in short bursts, needing a minute or two to stop and catch his breath.

Before she reached the crest of the hill, Patrice saw the forensics photographer on his knee six feet from the corpse. Behind him stood Lan, the Assistant Medical Examiner, and a half dozen uniformed Allegheny County police officers milling about. The officers, several with kids of their own, diverted their eyes from the deceased.

The upside of discovering a corpse in a remote location was the absence of bystanders, onlookers, and pain-in-the-ass gawkers taking pictures and videos with their phones. The downside was the corpse typically took longer to find. In either case, reducing the remains of a human being to forensic evidence, was an undignified and clinical way to end a life.

"Who found her?" Patrice asked, rubbing her hands together. The morning chill made her wish she'd grabbed a heavier jacket on her way out the door.

One of the uniformed cops approached and opened a pocket tablet. "A young couple walking their dog. I got their contact info."

Patrice walked the perimeter of the scene, studying the body from a distance. The girl wore cotton panties but no shirt or bra. Her face and neck were bruised in various shades of purple and blue. Orion observed the blood beneath the head of the deceased that had spattered the surrounding field grass.

Red-faced and out of breath, Detective Lloyd joined his partner. "Is that her, Treece?"

Patrice nodded. Though barely recognizable, beneath the bruised, swollen skin, and her tortured expression was one of the pretty blonde teens from the detective's abduction case file.

Lan looked up from her tablet.

"Thanks for the call," said Patrice. The county property was well outside of Pittsburgh Police jurisdiction, but given the open case on the abducted girls, Lan extended the courtesy.

"The body was most likely dumped here. Patches of dried blood on the body makes me think–"

Patrice finished her sentence. "She was wrapped in a bedsheet or plastic. Any other physical evidence?"

"Not yet."

Orion's head swiveled, her eyes surveying the scene. "Find any usable footprints?"

Lan shook her head. "Mostly from the couple and their dog."

Lloyd looked down toward their parked car at the base of the slope, across the vacant field, and then glanced at the small congregation of county police officers. None of them spoke. They ambled around with hands in their pockets or rubbing their red noses.

Patrice squatted, doing a closer examination of the corpse.

"Somebody struck her forcefully with a bat or a similar object," said Lan. "The back of her skull is split wide open."

Orion said, "And yet that hair band stayed in her hair."

"If that fatal blow had happened here, " said Lan, "there'd be a lot more blood."

"I see defensive bruises on her hands and arms," Lloyd said.

Lan pointed with her pen. "I see petechiae here on her neck, face, and eyes."

Lloyd said, "Petechiae?"

"Broken blood vessels, usually as a result of strangulation."

Orion leaned in a little closer to the body. "What's that? Right there on her ribcage?"

Lan said, "Looks like a tiny tattoo."

"A little bird?" Orion squinted, careful not to touch the body.

"She looks kinda young for a tattoo," said Lloyd. "Just sayin'."

........

The Volvo's navigation system notified Skyden that a car accident a few blocks ahead had traffic at a standstill. She made a left turn at the traffic light, following the suggested alternate route.

"We'll probably be a few minutes late," she said to anyone who cared. Kelsey obviously didn't, her eyes out the window. Skyden glanced into the rearview mirror and called to her son. "Brick... Brick." She gestured for him to remove the earbuds.

"What?"

"You haven't told anyone about the police coming to our house, did you?"

"No. Well, maybe I mighta said something to Jonas."

"Everybody at school doesn't need to know our business."

"Who said anything about everyone at school?"

"Well, you know what I mean."

He stuffed the earbud back into his ear.

She glanced over at her daughter in the passenger seat who offered nothing but the back of her head, her forehead against the window. Skyden resisted the impulse to offer empathetic momisms.

I know how hard this is for you and I'm really sorry it needs to be this way. But it's a temporary measure. We'll get through this together. Pretty soon we won't even remember anything about it.

In her mind, it sounded like a reasonable, compassionate thing to say but it remained locked in her head. Kelsey was inconsolable.

Before the car came to a complete stop, Kelsey rammed her shoulder against the passenger door. "Stupid thing," she grumbled.

"The door won't open while the car's still moving."

"Stupid." She shoved open the door.

Skyden grabbed the strap of her bookbag. "Six o'clock. Right here," she said.

"Okay!"

"And if practice ends sooner, you call me."

Kelsey yanked her backpack free and darted into the building.

"See you later, Mom," Brick said, exiting the car.

"Skyden! Skyden!" Alexa's mom waved from the sidewalk. Skyden lowered the window. "How have you been?"

Gritting her teeth, she said, "My daughter is the most miserable girl on the planet."

"I can pick them up after practice. No problem."

Across the parking lot, she noticed Jonathan Bowman emerging from his truck, a toolbox in hand. He offered an enthusiastic wave and an oversized smile. She waved back half-heartedly but couldn't hold a smile.

"Skyden," said Alexa's mom. "Do you have a side piece in the maintenance department?"

"Side piece?"

"Gotta love a man who's good with his hands," Alexa's mom teased. "Am I right?"

"I can't do dirty fingernails. I have standards."

Alexa's mom laughed.