“My techs will run an analysis once Dr. Thum opens the glass,” Barry said. “If it’s a match or at least similar, that could help us ID the killer.”
‘Or determine if we’re dealing with some form of black magic… again,’Bel thought to herself. “Thank you,” she added out loud.
“So you’ve seen something like this before?” Lina asked. “Because I haven’t. Normal embalming techniques don’t preserve bodies this flawlessly.”
“We have,” Bel and Barry answered in unison.
“We still don’t understand how Dr. Charles Blaubart manufactured his preservation fluids,” Barry said, “but that this has presented itself a second time concerns me.”
“Me too,” Bel agreed because, unlike her FBI colleague, she knew how the plastic surgeon had perfectly preserved his murdered wives. He’d sold his soul to achieve it.
“Well, hopefully we can figure it out,” Lina said.
“You have the entire support of the FBI,” Barry said. “Normally, when we’re called to a scene like this, we take overthe case, but I don’t think Detective Isobel Emerson needs me getting in her way.”
“I don’t.” Bel smirked at him even though he couldn’t see her mouth.
“But we’ll still work closely with you,” Barry promised. “You’ll have all the help you need, including aid with the autopsies.”
“Thank you,” Lina said. “I will gladly take you up on that offer, but I want to do this first autopsy myself. I’ve never seen preservation like this.”
“Even with specialized embalming fluid, which it seems you believe this is,” Olivia said, “the killer most likely has embalming experience. Between that and the tattoos, we have good, if not unusual, places to start.”
“Funeral homes and tattoo shops,” Bel said. “There’s a funeral home in town, but is there a tattoo shop?”
“I don’t know.” Olivia shrugged. “But I’m sure there’s a studio somewhere nearby… not that these businesses have anything remotely in common.”
“They don’t,” Lina agreed. “But maybe our Jane Doe here can help us bridge the divide between them, so if everyone’s ready, I’ll begin the exam.”
The trio voiced their agreement, and Thum began meticulously photographing the glass.
“How did he fill the sculpture with fluid?” Barry asked. “Under these lights, you can see the clear plastic seal and the glass latches that disappear into the design, but the mermaid looks like its halves open on a hinge. He would’ve had to fill the extra space after he sealed her inside, but there are no other points of entry besides the hinges.”
“Probably submerged both her and the sculpture into the liquid and closed it while underwater,” Bel said, the memory of the floating Anne Blaubart rushing to the forefront of her mind.
“These deaths are overly complicated,” Barry said. “The killer would’ve needed a lot of time and space to work.”
“And someplace private,” Olivia added. “He wouldn’t have risked witnesses.”
“What I want to know is where he got these mermaids,” Bel said. “I don’t think there are any glassblowing studios in the area, and we’ve already theorized that our killer learned to tattoo these girls himself. He probably embalmed them himself as well, unless he had an accomplice. Are we really going to believe this man also has glass blowing experience?”
“Creating glass sculptures isn’t something you pick up as a casual hobby and perform in your house like tattooing,” Olivia added. “It’s dangerous if you don’t know what you’re doing. The heat alone could kill you. Not to mention how massive the furnace would need to be. This isn’t a DIY project. I’ve heard of people learning to tattoo by watching internet videos, but glass blowing?”
“The furnaces can get up to two thousand degrees Fahrenheit,” Lina said. “I agree with Olivia. Tattoos and embalming can be researched at home, but people don’t just install furnaces capable of that heat in their houses.”
“Do any artists work in the area?” Barry asked.
“No,” Lina said. “Brett Lumen was the closest thing here… well, Ewan Orso too. They’re furniture designers, and they use glass, but I don’t think they make it themselves. They order it.”
“We should talk to Violet,” Bel addressed her comment to Olivia. “Get the name of the company she orders from. I would guess our killer is someone familiar with Bajka, since he knew about the lake's restricted area, so he’d be aware of Lumen’s Customs. All it would take is a convenient lie for the killer to learn Violet’s glass supplier.”
“It makes more sense that he ordered these mermaids instead of creating them himself,” Olivia said. “And this isn’texactly a standard order. The company that shipped these will remember, and it should lead us right to our killer.”
“In a perfect world, it’ll be that easy,” Lina said, pressing her palms against the sculpture. “But for now, let’s crack her open.”
“Thank you. I appreciate your time.”Bel hung up the phone and shared a disheartened glance with her partner. They’d left the morgue with a promise that Lina would contact them with the cause of death, and Bel had called their friend while they drove to the Bajka funeral home. Violet gave the detectives her glass manufacturer’s number, and both officers knew not to get their hopes up, yet it didn’t appease their disappointment when the company confirmed they only made basic panels and shapes for businesses like Lumen’s Customs. They provided raw materials to builders, artists, and designers, not human-sized mythical creatures to unstable serial killers.
“We knew it was a long shot,” Olivia said as they pulled into the funeral home’s parking lot. “Our killer stayed hidden long enough to create over a dozen mermaids. He wouldn’t use an obvious choice of glass supplier.”
