Robert Walker - Grave Instinct

“ The cutting open of the skull, the manner in which it's been done here… this is no amateur at work. He's highly skilled with a scalpel and bone saw.”

Jessica let them know she agreed with J.T. “Scalpel, bone saw, forceps. The killer had all the right tools for his ends.”

“ Forceps?” asked Combs.

“ He had to have used forceps to snatch hold of the brain and remove it through the front like this,” Jessica explained. “It's as if he's trained to do it or has seen it done. It only happens on autopsies. Brain implants or brain surgery usually leaves only an oval in the affected area.”

“ But this guy wants the entire brain,” said Combs.

“ Why?” asked Sheay, handkerchief covering his nostrils and mouth.

“ To eat it, to weigh it, to dissect it?” asked Special Agent Henry Cutter. “We don't pretend to know why, Chief. Even the FBI's never seen this kind of thing before.”

“ If we knew why, it might help us find him,” said J.T. “But we honestly can only guess at his motives.”

Jessica added, “Our earlier examinations have shown that he uses a surgical saw, rotary style from the findings we've seen. Makes clear striations against the bone. If we could locate this guy and his saw, we could nail him on the saw markings to the skulls alone.”

“ How do the other victims compare to this one? Physically, I mean,” asked Cutter, stepping closer, wincing at the wound.

“ Approximate size and shape, hair color difference, color of eyes no match.” Jessica bent down and stared into the eyes to determine an answer to her own question. “Blue. The others had brown and hazel eyes.”

“ So he isn't too picky. Not in search of a specific type with blue eyes, brunette hair, size, weight?” pressed the hawk-nosed Cutter.

“ It appears his only interest is what lies inside their skulls,” replied Jessica. “None of the previous victims were raped either. Tests are likely to show the same here, I suspect.” She examined the eyes more closely for any telltale signs of strangulation-the minuscule red dots of hemorrhaging in the eyes. She found none. She next felt about the exterior of the throat for any damage there, and other than the now-familiar restraint marks at the throat and temples, where the head had been held in place by some elaborate restraint, she found nothing of particular note, certainly no merciful sign of strangulation. “J.T., that medical head strap you brought,” she said, hand out. J.T. obliged, handing the strap to her.

She fitted it about the neck and head of the deceased. It matched perfectly against the head restraint marks left on the girl. “That tears it. This guy knows medical supplies, John.”

“ And no signs of strangulation?” asked J.T.

“ None.”

“ Like the others.”

The two M.E. s knew that this indicated a death that came with the shock of having one's skull split open by a bone cutter.

Agent Cutter asked, “Any sign of drug use in your earlier victims?”

“ The only significant amount found in either was the drug Demoral.”

“ Demoral?”

“ Used mainly as a sedative and muscle relaxant,” said J.T.

“ Found in both prior victims, and no apparent injury to any other part of the body. We've determined that they all died while alive-while under this madman's scalpel and saw.”

“ That's what the autopsies show?” Combs's obvious empathy for the victims showed in her eyes now.

“ Afraid so. This guy works methodically. We've found residue of red marker. He maps out the cut just after shaving the hair away from the crown and eyebrows. His first incision is with the scalpel, after which he brings the bone saw to bear along the scalpel lines. We've determined that he is left-handed from the angle of the pressure he brings to bear on the marker.”

“ And he'll strike again?”

“ If he can, yes.”

Combs hesitated. “Strange, all so strange..

The case was indeed strange, Jessica thought. “It fits no pattern I've ever seen in all my years as a forensic scientist.”

Jessica examined the bruised wrists and ankles, noting that they appeared to have been caused by handcuffs. J.T. concurred.

“ Well then… if her head and limbs were restrained…” Combs's light brown eyes grew dim.

“ Then we know the killer has mapped out his every move,” said J.T.

Jessica said, “Be clear on one thing, people. It's not enough that the bastard kill her. He wanted her to know what he was doing, wanted her conscious. He wanted her brain still palpitating when he got to it.”

“ So if he's eating it, he wants it fresh and warm,” added J.T.

“ And he's into torture as well as murder.” Combs almost choked on her deep sigh. “You have no doubt of that?”

“ None.”

A policeman escorted a well-dressed couple to the crime scene. They were in search of their missing daughter. The couple clung to one another as if for breath and life. Supporting one another like a pair of beams that had fallen over, the father introduced himself and his wife as the Mannings. He looked as shattered and fearful as she.

Finally, they mustered the courage to come close enough for a look. The sight of the victim caused her to faint, and he fell to his knees holding her. “It's Amanda… It's our little girl!” moaned the tearful father. “My God, what have they done to her?”

Combs got the parents up and off the boat with the help of uniformed officers. The sad processional going from wharf to street level was heartrending to watch. Like two children in the dark, the parents stumbled the entire way.

“ Jane Doe has a name now,” said J.T.

“ Amanda… Amanda Manning,” replied Jessica, who stepped away from the body long enough to breathe in the air coming over the river.

“ They'll want the body released as soon as possible, Dr. Coran,” said Combs upon her return.

“ Yes, certainly. We'll do all we can to accommodate Amanda's parents.”

Jessica and J.T. returned to the body and began the work of gathering microscopic data in vials and on slides. Jessica studied the fine features of a young woman barely out of her teens, a dimpled cheek and a lovely curvature to the face and eyes, accentuated by a slim nose. All of it and the girl's life marred by the missing forehead and empty skull, marred by a madman's twisted and awful designs.

Just then a shaft of sunlight illuminated the dark cavity of Amanda's empty cranium, and Jessica stared into that well, as if studying it might release some answer to the mystery.

“ Well… let's get the morgue involved,” said J. T, about to wave on the attendants.

Combs agreed, adding, “Amanda will be waiting for you at the FDLE morgue, Dr. Coran.”

“ Wait… There's something else here,” Jessica said, her eyes widening as the other two started away. “Something inside her skull.”

J.T. and Combs got down close to see what Jessica referred to. J.T. fully expected Jessica had found some small crustacean had taken up residence inside the empty skull. “What is it?” he asked, his nose bristling with the odor of dead fish ground into the boards of the old boat.

“ It's etched inside the back wall of the cranium… some sort of mark or… or symbol, I think,” said Jessica. “Must be something the killer intentionally left behind. He's trying to tell us something.”

J.T. crouched in closer and his knees popped as he looked into the space of the empty skull and at the back wall. Seeing the mark, he added, “Definitely not of nature's doing.”

Combs bent even closer in over the body. “What is it?”

“ A… a circle sitting atop a cross.” Jessica drew the sign on a small yellow pad fetched from her case. She held it up to them, and everyone studied the strange glyph.