Back Alley Murder (Part 3)

When we got back to the lab, Jewels was hiding. I knew she was in there some where cause I could hear her humming. 1

Mike went to the computer, to run the DNA, I hope.2

"Lemme know when you get that done," I told him as I started to leave.3

"Where you goin?" he asked, turning to face me.4

"I'm gonna go to the morgue and see what they got for me."5

He nodded and went back to work.6

As I headed to the morgue, which was conveniently across the city, I started hoping that I had a Jane Doe who just found Hannah's keys. I knew that there was a long shot to that but, I knew that if I didn't at least hope, everything would be even worse then when I found that I was right on the ID.7

I knocked and Erica, our head coroner, said it was safe to come in. When I entered, my vic was on the table, already clean and ready for examination.8

"So, what you got so far," I asked as I got ready to observe.9

"Well, the COD was blunt force trauma. By the looks of it, someones fist," she said, pointing to her crushed face.10

"Oh, how you figure?"11

"Well, before I cleaned her, I searched the wounds for something, anything. There were no splinters, no rust, no transfer really, of any kind," she shrugged. "This was personal and I'm pretty sure that she was beaten with someones fist."12

"Damn, that couldn't have been any better news," I said smiling.13

"What? I tell you that she was beaten and you smile? What the hell is wrong with you?"14

I couldn't help but to continue smiling, "If this guy beat on her then, we could possibly get a fist imprint from her skull. You got any body mold around?"15

She nodded and pointed to a cabinet. I walked over and grabbed the mold and started mixing it up. Erica took from me at that point and started pouring it over the girls face.16

While we waited for it to set, I filled her in on what was found. "And I was wondering if there was enough skull left to get a face sketch."17

"Yeah, there should be. I might be able to do that after I get everything else done."18

After a moment of silence, we checked the mold and started pulling it off.19

"There you go," Erica said, "Here's a perfect fist."20

"Where? Which one?" I asked looking at the mold.21

Pulling out a permanent marker, she circled a lump, "This is a fist. Match it to someone and you have your killer."22

"Thanks. Hey, could you check if there's any.." she cut me off.23

"I already checked for any skin particles that didn't belong to her and there wasn't any."24

"Damn," I muttered, "Okay, thanks." 25

I headed out and went to get the fist processed.26

27

"Get anything good?" Mike asked when I walked in.28

"Yeah, a perfect fist." I said holding it up like a trophy.29

"A fist?" he asked, looking puzzled.30

"Yeah, blunt force trauma by fist. You get anything on the DNA?"31

He nodded, "Yeah, the DNA from our vic is a perfect match to Hannah Nicholas. But, and you'll love this, the stuff you got from under her nails, didn't belong to her. It was male."32

"Good, we have the killers fist and DNA but, no real suspects."33

"What about the husband?"34

"Yeah, I'm gonna get another mold of the fist and go back."35

"Sounds good, but this time we take a uniform with us."36

I nodded in agreement and started the process of getting an exterior mold of the fist. While I let that harden, I called over and requested an officer to meet me at the Nicholas residence.37

When I had the mold ready, I packed it up and headed out to the car with Mike in toe.38

The drive over was silent and when we arrived, our uniform was already waiting.39

We knocked and Steven answered, eyes red and puffy. 40

"We're so sorry to bother you again sir but, we have news. We've confirmed that it was indeed your wife, Hannah. We also know that her attacker had punched her many times."41

"Oh God!" he exasperated, tears coming out in rivers on his face.42

"May we come in?" I asked.43

He nodded and allowed us in. When we came into the living room, I turned to him and took a deep breath, "I hate asking you this but, I need you to put your fist in this please."44

"What?" he barely choked out, "Why?"45

"We need to mark you off the suspects list. It's just procedure sir."46

His face looked horrified at the thought but, he complied and tried to stick his fist into the mold. "Too big. I'm sorry I had to do that. Now, I was wondering if Hannah kept any journals or a date book," I asked, thanking my stars that he wasn't the guy.47

He nodded, "She kept both. She has a laptop and it holds everything. Her journals, her date book, her phone numbers were even on there."48

"Okay, we're gonna need that," Mike said.49

"Fine, anything else you might need?" his emotions quickly turning from sadness to anger.50

"No, that should do it," I said before Mike could say anything else that could seriously piss this guy off.51

He handed us a laptop bag and we parted quickly.52

Getting in on the passengers side, I pulled out the computer and turned it on. It started up and then asked for a password to log onto the computer. "Damn," I said.53

"What is it?" Mike asked when he pulled the car to an intersection. I hadn't even noticed that we were already moving.54

"She's got this puppy passworded," I said.55

"Damn," was all he said. The rest of the ride back to the lab was silent.