“Yep. I see it, Doc. I don’t want to, but you seem insistent on showing me. I’m starting to think you take pleasure in making me uncomfortable.”
“Hardly.”
“Is this some sort of pathologist’s foreplay? I’m not turned on.”
Dominique chuckled inwardly, like the sound wasn’t meant to be shared or he was embarrassed to express it. “I assure you. It’s not.”
“Thank god. I knew you could do better.”
“Should I stop?”
“Nope. Keep going.” I blew out my cheeks.
“In both instances,” Domnique continued, glancing at me, likely to ensure I was paying attention, “the spike was inserted in the corona”—he pointed—“and exited the frenulum.” He tapped another picture.
“I see it. It hurts, but I see it. Please explain why this is important.”
“I don’t know that it’s important, but it is identical. On both victims, the measurements are the same.”
“So you’re saying it was deliberate?”
“I’m saying the placement is anatomically precise on both victims, which makes me believe the piercing of the heart was less by chance or luck and more by design. There are no signs of hesitation. Often, false starts are apparent. Not in these cases. Every piercing was made intentionally and not carelessly. The spikes are made of fragile plastic, and if not employed correctly and cautiously, they could easily break, or we might see stress fractures.”
My discomfort vanished, and I drew both Jesse Vargas’s and Ford Carrigan’s autopsy reports forward. They hadn’t just been stabbed through the penis. They had been stabbed through the exact same part of the penis is what Dominique was saying. No hesitation. Was it important? Did it mean something?
“So, our unsub didn’t get lucky with Navid. They knew precisely what they were doing.”
“It’s possible. Although I’m not sure how much it helps your case. This isn’t like using a knife or a metal object. The precision is noteworthy and deliberate… in my opinion.”
I rolled the information around, examining its implications. We’d briefly suspected our unsub might have medical training, but the evidence wasn’t concrete enough to use as a basis for elimination. It still wasn’t. Not really. But the plausibility was growing.
Navid was a doctor. He worked in the hospital and taught at the university, meaning he was surrounded by medical professionals on both sides. On the other hand, victims two and three were students taking technical engineering and accounting. Jesse’s girlfriend had been in the medical program, but otherwise, where was the connection?
Did it matter?
Dominique’s observation, although interesting, didn’t seem to change anything.
“Question. Suppose an everyday citizen with no medical training wanted to do this. How hard would it be for them to read up on anatomy to ensure their message was clearly sent without errors?”
“Not hard at all.”
I deflated. “That’s what I figured.” I tapped the reports. “Did you find anything else?”
“No. I wish I could tell you more, but I can’t.”
I continued to page through Ford Carrigan’s report, framing and reframing the information we’d gathered. My mind drifted to the arguments I’d had with Rue, the unfiled report made by Yates three years ago, the perfume and flower, the spikes and messages. We were missing something.
A feathery touch to my hair pulled me from my thoughts, and I returned to the present to find Dominique had shifted on the couch to face me, one knee folded between us. He moved the hair off my forehead with the faintest brush of his fingers and tucked it behind my ear.
“Hey.” I softly smiled. “Sorry. I drifted.”
“It’s all right.” Our eyes locked, and Dominique traced the curve of my face with the backs of his fingers. “You seemed troubled.”
“I was thinking about the case. Not the evidence, per se, but the motive. The reason behind all these deaths.”
Dominique withdrew his hand and curled his fingers under his chin, propping his head up, elbow resting on the back of the couch. “Talk it out. I don’t mind listening. I’m intrigued.”
I wanted him to touch me again. I wanted to leave work alone and see where the night might otherwise lead, but I was making a conscious effort not to scare Dominique off and push him into something he wasn’t ready for, so I talked instead.
