Headhunter Read Online Free Page A
Author: Michael Slade
Tags: Fiction, General, Psychological, Mystery & Detective, Espionage, Canadian Fiction
cloth and walked over to where Rodale waited. As yet the RCMP exhibit jars on the table were empty.
"May I have a print sheet?" the pathologist asked.
Rodale found the requested form and handed it to the doctor. Singh then crossed back to the stainless steel table that held the cut-up remains of the woman. He injected glycerine into all ten wrinkled fingertips and then one by one he rolled each fingertip across a pad of ink. He fingerprinted the form and returned it to Rodale. The officer put it on file.
"Well?" the Corporal asked finally, meeting the doctor's eyes.
"She didn't drown," Singh said. "The lungs are free of water. That means she was already dead before she entered the river. There's a perpendicular slit on both sides of the neck, consistent with a stab wound sideways through the throat. The weapon has a thick blade. A second horizontal cut removed the head from the body."
"A sex attack?" Rodale asked, writing in his notebook.
"I can't tell from the genitals though there's bruising in the area. We'll do a smear for sperm, but she spent at least a week in the water. The only other injury is a slash across both breasts. It cuts right to the sternum that joins the ribs together. It bisects both nipples."
Rodale nodded. "Is the cut that took the head away from a motorboat propeller?"
"No," Singh said, removing a jar from the table. He walked back to the body.
The Corporal averted his eyes as the pathologist picked up a scalpel from a tray of shiny instruments to his left. Rodale felt bile rise to his mouth as Singh returned to the table. Fighting it down, angry with himself, he forced his reluctant eyes to focus on what the doctor held in one blood-streaked hand. The glove contained a single human vertebra.
"See these marks?" Singh said, indicating the upper surface.
Rodale stared at several lines scraped into the bone.
"They move in a zigzag pattern like you get from a sawing cut. There are two of them, a quarter centimeter apart. Perhaps a nick in the blade. I don't know a propeller that moves with that sort of motion."
The pathologist dropped the neck bone into the jar he held and passed it to the Corporal. Rodale sealed the bottle, labeled it, and marked the paper square with time, date, place, and his regimental number.
Singh said, "You'll have the autopsy report before the day is over."
"Thank you, Doctor," Rodale said, picking up his briefcase and exhibit and turning to leave.
"One moment," Singh said, peeling off his gloves. He scrubbed his hands in a nearby sink, then pulled the table drawer open. "Here," he said, removing a packet of Alka-Seltzer and giving it to the Corporal. "For the next time I call you."
Rodale took the lift down one floor. He found a men's washroom and prized the package open. Popping a lozenge in his mouth, he glanced at the cop in the mirror. "Forget next time," he said to the reflected image. "Worry about now." Then he left the building.
12:15 p.m.
To: Richmond Detachment, RCM Police, 6900 Minora Blvd., Richmond, BC.
Attn. Cpl. James G. Rodale.
From: Vancouver Police Dept., 312 Main Street, Vancouver, BC.
Repl. Det. Bernie Zebroff, Drug Squad.
Re: Fingerprint Enquiry/Floater (Fraser River). ID confirmed.
Helen Ann Grabowski aka Patricia Ann Palitti. Outstanding charges: NIP (heroin). Vancouver. DOB June 12, 1961 Topeka, Kansas. Check with FBI. Picture to follow.
Description from booking sheet: white female, height (175 cm) weight (50 kg), slim build, large breasts unusually firm (believe me, that's what it says here), black hair to collar, brown eyes, needle tracks both arms, long scar down center of spine (skin search by nurse).
B. Zebroff (Det.)
3:45 p.m.
"E" Division, RCM Police, Richmond Detachment.
Attn: J. G. Rodale (Cpl.)
From: "N" Division, RCM Police, Ottawa, Ontario.
Re: 4722067.
FBI confirmation print record: Helen Ann Grabowski aka
Patricia Ann Palitti.
New Orleans Police Department.
Fraud with Intent (April 12, 1980) Suspended
"May I have a print sheet?" the pathologist asked.
Rodale found the requested form and handed it to the doctor. Singh then crossed back to the stainless steel table that held the cut-up remains of the woman. He injected glycerine into all ten wrinkled fingertips and then one by one he rolled each fingertip across a pad of ink. He fingerprinted the form and returned it to Rodale. The officer put it on file.
"Well?" the Corporal asked finally, meeting the doctor's eyes.
"She didn't drown," Singh said. "The lungs are free of water. That means she was already dead before she entered the river. There's a perpendicular slit on both sides of the neck, consistent with a stab wound sideways through the throat. The weapon has a thick blade. A second horizontal cut removed the head from the body."
"A sex attack?" Rodale asked, writing in his notebook.
"I can't tell from the genitals though there's bruising in the area. We'll do a smear for sperm, but she spent at least a week in the water. The only other injury is a slash across both breasts. It cuts right to the sternum that joins the ribs together. It bisects both nipples."
Rodale nodded. "Is the cut that took the head away from a motorboat propeller?"
"No," Singh said, removing a jar from the table. He walked back to the body.
The Corporal averted his eyes as the pathologist picked up a scalpel from a tray of shiny instruments to his left. Rodale felt bile rise to his mouth as Singh returned to the table. Fighting it down, angry with himself, he forced his reluctant eyes to focus on what the doctor held in one blood-streaked hand. The glove contained a single human vertebra.
"See these marks?" Singh said, indicating the upper surface.
Rodale stared at several lines scraped into the bone.
"They move in a zigzag pattern like you get from a sawing cut. There are two of them, a quarter centimeter apart. Perhaps a nick in the blade. I don't know a propeller that moves with that sort of motion."
The pathologist dropped the neck bone into the jar he held and passed it to the Corporal. Rodale sealed the bottle, labeled it, and marked the paper square with time, date, place, and his regimental number.
Singh said, "You'll have the autopsy report before the day is over."
"Thank you, Doctor," Rodale said, picking up his briefcase and exhibit and turning to leave.
"One moment," Singh said, peeling off his gloves. He scrubbed his hands in a nearby sink, then pulled the table drawer open. "Here," he said, removing a packet of Alka-Seltzer and giving it to the Corporal. "For the next time I call you."
Rodale took the lift down one floor. He found a men's washroom and prized the package open. Popping a lozenge in his mouth, he glanced at the cop in the mirror. "Forget next time," he said to the reflected image. "Worry about now." Then he left the building.
12:15 p.m.
To: Richmond Detachment, RCM Police, 6900 Minora Blvd., Richmond, BC.
Attn. Cpl. James G. Rodale.
From: Vancouver Police Dept., 312 Main Street, Vancouver, BC.
Repl. Det. Bernie Zebroff, Drug Squad.
Re: Fingerprint Enquiry/Floater (Fraser River). ID confirmed.
Helen Ann Grabowski aka Patricia Ann Palitti. Outstanding charges: NIP (heroin). Vancouver. DOB June 12, 1961 Topeka, Kansas. Check with FBI. Picture to follow.
Description from booking sheet: white female, height (175 cm) weight (50 kg), slim build, large breasts unusually firm (believe me, that's what it says here), black hair to collar, brown eyes, needle tracks both arms, long scar down center of spine (skin search by nurse).
B. Zebroff (Det.)
3:45 p.m.
"E" Division, RCM Police, Richmond Detachment.
Attn: J. G. Rodale (Cpl.)
From: "N" Division, RCM Police, Ottawa, Ontario.
Re: 4722067.
FBI confirmation print record: Helen Ann Grabowski aka
Patricia Ann Palitti.
New Orleans Police Department.
Fraud with Intent (April 12, 1980) Suspended
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