Not.
But Saint was also there, and he was watching the situation closely. Everyone on their team was aware, except for Chris. That he couldn’t read a room told her how tired he truly was.
“Anyway, there are twenty other cold cases scattered throughout the US. I had MATE run it with the parameters of hit and runs, overdoses, and then, triangulated the area. Utah is full of them. Now, will we be one hundred percent sure this is the same person? Not unless we exhume. I did find one case that did have an exhumation, but it was just by luck.”
She was curious.
“What happened?”
“The husband moved, and he was moving his wife’s grave to go with him. When they dug her up, the cemetery staff noticed that the casket had been tampered with. When they opened it, her head was missing.”
Yeah, they had the same MO. She didn’t doubt that. As for the rest, she wasn’t going to do an exhumation.
Not.
Yet.
Her phone chimed, and she received a report of all the cases that piqued MATE’S parameters and the information Chris used.
“Does this include that case?” Elizabeth asked. “The one you just told us about?”
Chris nodded.
“How far back are we talking?” she asked. “Our timeline for these skulls are two to three years.”
He shared.
“Close to two decades ago, around fifteen years.”
Well, shit.
This person had been doing this for a while, then.
“It’s safe to say that if we have a similar case over fifteen years ago, that this has been an ongoing thing, and this person has been able to hide it.”
Blackhawk interjected.
“And perfect it,” Ethan admitted. “That’s why when you found Steph’s remains last night, you definitely changed the trajectory. This person is accustomed to getting away with murder, and post-mortem assault. You were faster than most investigators who were suspicious, if there were any.”
Yeah, she saw that.
“Can I ask a question?” Alexi asked.
Chris glanced over.
“Sure.”
The man pointed at MATE.
“Why does she look like one of our detectives?” he inquired.
Elizabeth laughed.
“Yeah, don’t ask. She likes to play dress up. Chris, continue,” she said, controlling the narrative so nothing leakedout. MATE was a computer, and didn’t always know when not to offer up information.
She had diarrhea of the mouth, much like Tony.
Elizabeth considered what Chris had given her. If MATE matched up the details, there was definitely going to be more.
