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Jones rolled the victim away while Marquez and Garon spoke with the M.E.
I ll send this downstairs to the crime lab, he told them, indicating the evidence bags. Unless you want
to do it?
Garon shook his head. I ve initialed all the vials that have swabs. Marquez can pick them up when you
finish and put them in his property room at San Antonio P.D. for safekeeping.
Marquez nodded. We ll take good care of everything.
Just make sure somebody signs for it.
You d better believe it, he said. If we catch the miserable excuse for a human being who did this, I
don t want him to walk on a breach of the chain of evidence.
When will you know something about the DNA? Garon asked the M.E.
Get Jones to sweet talk the evidence technicians downstairs, the M.E. suggested. She has pull.
I bribe them, she remarked, overhearing them. I can make éclairs. The head tech is crazy about them.
I used to work with him. I know his weaknesses!
They laughed. It was a nice break from the somber atmosphere of the autopsy. Humor was how they
coped with the horrible sights they carried home with them. It kept them from giving in to the pain. They
were the victims advocates. They had to be able to do the job.
I ll get this report written up sometime tomorrow, Peters told the men. You can call and make sure
it s ready. But I can tell you, based on what I ve seen, that the child died of asphyxiation. The knife
wounds would have been fatal, but they weren t the primary cause of death.
You re sure she was asphyxiated? Marquez asked.
The M.E. pulled away the cloth over the child s face and lifted one of her eyelids. The eye under it was
blue. Probably it had been a soft blue, full of hope&
See these little hemorrhages? Peters asked, indicating the small red dots in the white of the eye. There
were more in the skin of her face. They re capillaries that ruptured due to sudden, drastic pressure on
the neck. We call the condition petechial hemorrhages. They re a hallmark of strangulation. I m guessing,
due to the amount of skin tissue I found under her nails, that she fought for her life. Her attacker will have
scratches all over his hands from her attempt to free herself.
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Marquez nodded, knowing that it was unlikely they d find a suspect before those scratches healed and
faded away. We use similar techniques in law enforcement to subdue dangerous perpetrators; the bar
arm hold and the carotid hold.
I know, the M.E. replied. They collapse the carotid artery and induce unconsciousness. I get a victim
of it occasionally. Usually kids practicing wrestling moves on each other without supervision. If it isn t
done right, it can be fatal.
Don t remind me, Marquez sighed. We try everything else first, to subdue a lawbreaker. But
sometimes everything else doesn t work, and our own lives are in danger.
I hope you can find the person who did this, Peters said, indicating the child.
We ve got to find him, Garon said simply. He ll do it again.
GRACE INSISTED on going home the next morning. Thanks to the quick treatment Garon had given
her sprain, she was walking with barely a limp. She had to go to work or she wouldn t be able to pay her
bills. She didn t want to tell him that. He wouldn t understand her sort of poverty. From what she d
heard people say about his brother Cash, she knew the family was wealthy.
Garon looked oddly relieved when she asked him to drop her by her house. He was having second
thoughts. He d spent a long, sleepless night thinking about how sweet it was to kiss Grace, and it had left
him irritable. He wasn t going to risk getting involved with her. Never again, he told himself.
She was oddly disappointed that he took it so easily, even smiling as they finished breakfast. Maybe he
would have kissed any woman he d brought home. Or maybe he just felt sorry for her. He d guessed a
little of her past. He probably thought he was helping her adjust to men.
Her own thoughts were confusing her. She got into the car with him without a word, waving at Miss
Turner. All the way to her house, she stared out the window without speaking.
He let her out at her front door. Don t chase coyotes, he said firmly through the window.
She gave him an indignant look. Are you a wildlife advocate? I won t hurt him unless he hurts my cat.
He laughed in spite of himself. If you need us, call.
You can do the same, she told him pertly, and grinned.
That grin made him feel warm inside. He hated it. That ll be the day, he muttered, throwing up a hand
as he pulled out of the driveway.
She watched him drive off with a sinking feeling. Things would never be the same again. He shouldn t
have touched her.
He was thinking the same thing. Which was why he phoned Jaqui Jones, Mrs. Tabor s niece, and told
her he d be at the party the next night, which was Friday.
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AS CASH HAD HINTED, the founding families of Jacobsville weren t in attendance at the party. Only
a few obvious outsiders turned up. Garon felt oddly out of place with these people. Especially with Jaqui,
who rubbed against him at every opportunity, almost panting with desire. He didn t like public displays of
affection, and it showed in his face.
She laughed breathily. You re an odd one, she told him as they sipped cocktails beside the buffet
table. Don t you find me desirable?
You must know you re beautiful, he said easily. He smiled. But I work at a conservative job, and I m
uncomfortable with blatant invitations.
Her eyebrows went up. And I took you for an unconventional free spirit, she purred.
Looks deceive, he said, lifting his glass to toast her.
Yes, well, don t sell yourself short, she added. And don t think I ll give up. I get what I want,
eventually.
Do you? he smiled. Why don t you introduce me to your aunt?
HE LEFT EARLY, despite Jaqui s protests. Surely you don t work Saturdays? she asked irritably.
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