CHAPTER 8

The second girl was harder to identify. She had no arrest record so she was not in the Criminal Data Bank. She didn’t work in the military, at a casino, for the school system or in any other business that records fingerprints. This girl was a mystery. Darrell looked up photos of missing girls, but none matched the girl they had found earlier. Darrell decided to take a chance and see if Dr. A. had any ideas.

When Darrell walked into the Morgue, Dr. A. was deep into the autopsy on the second girl. Darrell knew better than to interrupt so he stood back and listened to Dr. Aspinall give his itemized account.

“…the lungs, heart, spleen, kidneys, ovaries and liver are all of normal size and weight. The uterus has been excised cleanly and is not in the body cavity. The intestines, bowels and colon are all normal. There is a tattoo on her right hip. It’s a large butterfly and a dragon fly, with the initials L.E.D underneath it. Her skin is dry and feet and ankles are bruised. Her left ankle is sprained and the toes are swollen.”

When it looked like Dr. A was finished Darrell walked over to the table and watched Dr. A. while he attended to the girl on the table. Darrell waited until Dr. A. acknowledged him.

“Detective, what can I do for you?” Darrell looked at the doctor and smiled.

“A picture of that tattoo would be a great help and perhaps a close up of her face? How old do you suppose she is?”

“Yes Detective. I can give you photos and I will send them via email. And I do believe that your victim is in her mid 20’s, no older than 25.

“Oh, ummm, email? Sorry Doc, I’m not so good with technology.” Darrell smiled sheepishly at the doctor.

“Fine, fine, stay right here and I will print you out the copies right now.”

Dr. Aspinall cringed as he walked over to the computer, slipped in the data card, punched a few buttons and printed the two pictures Darrell requested. He handed the photos to Darrell. “Here you are Detective.”

“Thanks again Doc!” As Darrell walked out of the Morgue he heard Dr. A. muttering something under his breath.