Read Online Bombshell (Devlin Haskell 4) by Mike Faricy - Free Book Online
Authors: Mike Faricy
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situation was the stalker as much as it was one of the women flipping out and going off the deep end.”
“Going off the deep end? The story I read said some nut case started grabbing and groping those women and they eventually beat the shit out of him. Not enough if you ask me. Someone did that to one of my daughters I’d have him lined up to sample a number of our products.” He followed up with a healthy sip, then reached around for the bottle.
“You weren’t involved in that, were you?” He eyed me suspiciously, held the bottle out ready to pour into my extended glass, waiting for the correct answer before he commenced.
“No, I wasn’t involved,” I lied. “I’ve been working with them, the English team, trying to get a handle on what sort of individual would be doing this.”
“That’s easy, like I said , some whack job.”
“Yeah, of course. But , part of the stalking has been someone mailing severed fingers to one of the girls. ”
“Fingers?”
“Yeah, always the middle finger, minus the finger tip , by-the-way . Mailed the things to a couple of different cities where they were. Then in Chicago , he slipped one under the door of the hotel room.”
“No shit?”
“ So far , none of the fingers correspond to any DNA in the data base . Well, actually we ’ ve only been able to get results back on one. B y the way, it had been frozen . I mean frozen at some point, not after the thing was delivered.”
Andy nodded like this made sense, then took a sip.
“God, and people kid me about my business,” he said, gazing at the ceiling.
“Andy, how hard would it be for someone in your line of work to acquire fingers?”
“Harder than you think,” he said , not blinking. “You’re dealing with families. Now-a -days, it wouldn’t be uncommon to have an open casket prior to the actual funeral service whether at a mortuary or a church. From there you’re on your way to the cemetery for the graveside service , the casket’s locked, lowered, cover ed then and there. It’s pretty traditional for hands to be exposed while the deceased lies in repose. There’s family hovering around at all time . It would be very risky for someone to try what you’re suggesting , not to mention absolutely crazy on about a dozen different levels .”
“What about a morgue?”
“Same sort of process, think of the morgue as more like a holding facility, but the body is almost always turned over to a mortuary at some point.”
“How the hell could someone have access to a steady supply of fingers?” I asked.
“I really can’t see it from our industry , any thing ’ s possible , but there are so many checks and balances. So much scrutiny and it’s very common for people to be putting a last minute something into the coffin, a letter, a photo, it just, it would be really difficult. What about some industrial circumstance?”
“Yeah sure, I can just imagine OSHA going easy on some place where guys routinely lose fingers.”
“Yeah, I get your point.”
Andy seemed to think for a long time, staring at his liquor urn, he sipped some more .
“You know, there is one way, maybe?”
“Oh?”
“A crematorium.”
“How does that work, the body is reduced to ashes, or in your case a fifth of Jameson.”
“Actually , it’s reduced to dried bits of bone fragments. They gri nd those up in what’s called a cremulator , then …”
“Okay, okay, too much information.”
“It’s extremely rare that a family would watch the actual cremation . Perhaps, you know, just before that process begins, you could get in there, harvest what you wanted and any telltale sign would be almost immediately destroyed.”
“Harvest?” I asked.
“Yeah, harvest.”
Maybe , I thought , then held out my glass for another refill.
“What about a hospital?”
“Sure it’s possible, but one thing.”
“Which is?” I asked, the n sipped.
“Hospitals don’t amputate healthy fingers. The finger would have to be
“Going off the deep end? The story I read said some nut case started grabbing and groping those women and they eventually beat the shit out of him. Not enough if you ask me. Someone did that to one of my daughters I’d have him lined up to sample a number of our products.” He followed up with a healthy sip, then reached around for the bottle.
“You weren’t involved in that, were you?” He eyed me suspiciously, held the bottle out ready to pour into my extended glass, waiting for the correct answer before he commenced.
“No, I wasn’t involved,” I lied. “I’ve been working with them, the English team, trying to get a handle on what sort of individual would be doing this.”
“That’s easy, like I said , some whack job.”
“Yeah, of course. But , part of the stalking has been someone mailing severed fingers to one of the girls. ”
“Fingers?”
“Yeah, always the middle finger, minus the finger tip , by-the-way . Mailed the things to a couple of different cities where they were. Then in Chicago , he slipped one under the door of the hotel room.”
“No shit?”
“ So far , none of the fingers correspond to any DNA in the data base . Well, actually we ’ ve only been able to get results back on one. B y the way, it had been frozen . I mean frozen at some point, not after the thing was delivered.”
Andy nodded like this made sense, then took a sip.
“God, and people kid me about my business,” he said, gazing at the ceiling.
“Andy, how hard would it be for someone in your line of work to acquire fingers?”
“Harder than you think,” he said , not blinking. “You’re dealing with families. Now-a -days, it wouldn’t be uncommon to have an open casket prior to the actual funeral service whether at a mortuary or a church. From there you’re on your way to the cemetery for the graveside service , the casket’s locked, lowered, cover ed then and there. It’s pretty traditional for hands to be exposed while the deceased lies in repose. There’s family hovering around at all time . It would be very risky for someone to try what you’re suggesting , not to mention absolutely crazy on about a dozen different levels .”
“What about a morgue?”
“Same sort of process, think of the morgue as more like a holding facility, but the body is almost always turned over to a mortuary at some point.”
“How the hell could someone have access to a steady supply of fingers?” I asked.
“I really can’t see it from our industry , any thing ’ s possible , but there are so many checks and balances. So much scrutiny and it’s very common for people to be putting a last minute something into the coffin, a letter, a photo, it just, it would be really difficult. What about some industrial circumstance?”
“Yeah sure, I can just imagine OSHA going easy on some place where guys routinely lose fingers.”
“Yeah, I get your point.”
Andy seemed to think for a long time, staring at his liquor urn, he sipped some more .
“You know, there is one way, maybe?”
“Oh?”
“A crematorium.”
“How does that work, the body is reduced to ashes, or in your case a fifth of Jameson.”
“Actually , it’s reduced to dried bits of bone fragments. They gri nd those up in what’s called a cremulator , then …”
“Okay, okay, too much information.”
“It’s extremely rare that a family would watch the actual cremation . Perhaps, you know, just before that process begins, you could get in there, harvest what you wanted and any telltale sign would be almost immediately destroyed.”
“Harvest?” I asked.
“Yeah, harvest.”
Maybe , I thought , then held out my glass for another refill.
“What about a hospital?”
“Sure it’s possible, but one thing.”
“Which is?” I asked, the n sipped.
“Hospitals don’t amputate healthy fingers. The finger would have to be
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