“Albert had no ties to any of that,” Tad told them. “Until the forensics pathologist gets a go at her, we can’t determine the time of death. She could have played it smart and managed to get away from the mob only to get killed over something else years afterwards.”
“I don’t believe this,” Joshua muttered.
Stretching her back, which had become sore from bending over into the freezer, the medical examiner said, “Right now, the way she’s positioned in this freezer, I can’t find the cause of death. I need to do a full examination at the state lab.”
Joshua went over to peer into the freezer. “Can you find any evidence of sexual assault?”
The examiner poked at the clothes on the body. “Her clothes don’t seem to be disturbed.”
Joshua studied the cap, which contained silk lining. “Looks expensive.”
“They are.” With the point of her pen, the medical examiner opened the jean vest. “These jeans have a designer label. This lady had the best in clothes.”
“But what was she doing dying here?” Joshua asked.
“And in your cousin’s basement?” Cameron asked. “And was she the reason his house was blown sky high?”
“I think it’s safe to assume she was,” Joshua said. “As big as that blast was, whoever it was clearly wanted everything destroyed.”
“How ironic that the only thing not destroyed was this freezer,” the detective said.
“I can’t imagine Albert not noticing that freezer in his basement,” said Tad.
“Come on,” she countered. “You saw his basement. The only reason this freezer survived was because it was surrounded by a whole bunch of stuff that cushioned the impact. Maybe it was behind all that stuff in order to hide it from Albert. How long had he been living here?”
“As long as I can remember,” Joshua answered. “I can see it in the headlines now.”
In a gentle tone, Cameron told them, “At some point, we will have to release the name of the victim. When we do that, your cousin will be declared a closet sex fiend. Suggestions will be made that we dig up the floor with speculation that there are a dozen other women buried under the concrete.”
“Albert was no sex fiend,” Tad said.
Joshua agreed with his cousin. “We’ve known Albert all our lives. He didn’t even date after his wife died.”
Article comments
1 - Lauren Carr
Thank you, Blogcritic, so much for the interview. It was fun! I look forward to meeting your readers and finding out what authors they would most like to meet.