Overture: Out of Towners

He shakes his head.


"Actually had to fight Jack over that. He wanted me to attempt a full autopsy, I told him I wasn't going to compromise any evidence," he says, opening the heavy door; a breeze of frigid air is exhaled into the room. The shape of a body lies under a white sheet, everything rimed with frost. 


"Found what could be a puncture mark from something 'bout the size of a knitting needle - just left of her spine, which could have punctured the inferior mesenteric."


He rolls the gurney on which the corpse sits out of the freezer and pauses with two fingers on the cover.


"If any of you are squeamish, I'd say leave now. Got some time before it becomes a health hazard."
 
Eddie Scoleri


God bless Doc Potter for the warning. Eddie would be a Good Samaritan and step out first.


"I'll be in the waiting room if either of you need anything, Diane." Eddie said, confident-enough in her talents and his ability to control a gag reflex to make the decision to leave based on prior experiences telling him how dull this next part was (despite various disturbing and heartwarming qualities) and how thorough Diane's summary after could be.


"If any of you want to compare notes or otherwise, I'll see you out there. Thanks again, Doctor Potter." Eddie added by way of his stepping back out the door after casting one last respectful glance at the cold sheet-covered bundle of ex-little-girl.
 
Trent Malloy

Trent was lost.  Inferior mesenteric?  Spine punctures?  I should have paid attention in biology class instead of chasing girls.  He smirked, then thought I suppose that's still paying attention to a particular type of biology... 

Uncertain of what to do in this situation, Trent was torn.  On one hand, he felt that he could probably learn something from watching Agent Cooper work.  He wasn't squeamish around bodies at all, he had seen plenty in Afghanistan, but he had never seen a real autopsy before, especially not one performed by a FBI agent.  He was also driven by the need to do something to help the case, and felt a sort of idle restlessness.  He stared at the sheet-covered body and felt a moment of sadness.

On the other hand, he felt pretty certain he would contribute nothing to the endeavor, and could somehow hinder it unintentionally or even get in the way.  Professionalism won out, and Trent said "If you'll excuse me, I think I'm going to join Agent Scoleri, and leave you folks to your work."  He gave a respectful nod to Agent Cooper, then looked to Doc Potter, and grinned.  "After all, someone has to watch out for the newspaper people snooping around.  Comparing notes sounds like a good idea too."

He went out the door to the waiting room and slumped down in one of the chairs, then after a moment, awkwardly adjusted his brown leather duty belt and his revolver holster until he was more comfortable.  He kept an eye out for any snoops, but waited for Agent Scoleri to get comfortable, then nervously asked "Exsanguination?"  The word felt unfamiliar to his tongue.  "Does that...come up often?"  Rather than something ordinary and reasonable, his mind went to images from old stories of ghosts, monsters, organ-leggers, and boogeymen, cultures like the Aztecs, and the occasional stories of voodoo and Santeria stuff that came out of Louisiana. Get a grip Trent.  None of those things are even from around here.

"What do you think?"
 
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Frank Mosely
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Exsanguination.  Shit.  No obvious entry wound for massive blood loss.  How deep did that puncture go?  Was there an artery back there?  I don't remember.  No visible marks...wait a moment.


"Doctor.  Did you do a tox screen on the decedent?  I know that we arrived significantly after her death, but was there anything out of the ordinary?"


Peering at the corpse, Frank looks at the bite and claw markings for signs of inspiration.
 
Diane Cooper


"We should have some answers for you soon." she offers to Eddie and Trent as they leave.
There's no point in the poor girl having an audience unless they can learn something from it.
"I'm good to start whenever you want, Doctor Potter. Officer Mosely, would you like to observe?"

 

@Dwerth Please let me know if I should be addressing Frank as anything other than "officer", Diane would definitely know which is correct....
 
"I don't have the resources for a full screen here, but I've sent blood and tissue samples to our nearest neighbour," the doctor says. "Just waiting to hear back." 


His tone sounds resigned.


The waiting room is pleasantly warm and empty by comparison.
 
Eddie Scoleri


Back in the comfy waiting room, Eddie immediately claimed an armchair which looked promising and turned his eyes up to Trent when he spoke.


"Yeah, I think so. Just medical talk for 'bled to death', isn't it? If you get stabbed, go into shock, keep bleeding, die... That's exsanguination." Eddie stopped counting on his fingers, voice dropping pitch and levity. "I don't think I have seen much more of it than you, though.  What do you folks usually get instead? I don't think any of us are in our comfort zone investigating a little girl's murder."
 
Trent Malloy

Trent considered the agent's words carefully.  Huh.  I thought exsanguination meant more along the lines of forcible drainage rather than regular loss of blood?  Looks like I'm wrong again.  Shows what I know, which is turning out to be little.  I should leave the thinking to the professionals.

He looked at the agent, nodded slowly, and frowned.  "Yeah, this is definitely outside my usual expertise and...comfort zone."  He shrugged in a helpless gesture.  "Hell, around here I'm just a small town deputy.  Mostly I give out parking tickets."  He paused momentarily before continuing.  "Occasionally we'll get the smaller crimes, like vandalism and graffiti, domestic incidents, assaults, public intoxication, small time drug stuff.  Mostly meth-related, sometimes also weed."  He momentarily recalled a partially ski-masked face of a young man, looking up at him from the tiled floor of a liquor store, gasping for air, blood trickling from his mouth, and a scared look in his eyes as the life slowly left his body.  Trent blinked a few times, and said "We did have a armed robbery a while back..."  He paused momentarily, but then leaned forward and continued in a more level tone.  "But otherwise it is pretty tame around here compared to other places.  Usually just writing tickets, manning the speed trap, or putting people in the drunk tank for a night until they sober up."  He frowned in concentration.  "I can't recall any other instances of murder or serious kidnapping in the last decade.  Definitely not while I've been with the department."  He suddenly realized he might be painting the department in a bad light, and said hurriedly "Don't get me wrong, we do train for the bad stuff.  We have annual qualification tests on various subjects, along with required reading materials, correspondence courses, and we get regular range time.  Sheriff Edmond keeps a tight ship."

He decided to change the subject, figuring that the highly trained FBI agent wouldn't care much about small-town training specifics.  "As far as what we know about the case, I'm not entirely sure outside of the regular report, although we did interview quite a number of people, even in some of the more questionable areas of town, and around the lake.  I didn't work all of it, although Deputy Fisher might have.  Sheriff Edmond probably knows the most, and I have a feeling that he thinks that Tony Dagneau is behind it, rather than being another victim.  I'm not entirely sure why he feels that way."

His mind went back to the sheet covered body in the other room, and he said "I really hope Agent Cooper finds something.  We could really use a lead to go on.  Emily and Tony might not have much time left."

"With kidnappings, isn't it usually someone close to the victim?  Like a family member, friend of the family, or mentor?"
 
Eddie did his best to dismiss the deputy's fears as Trent walked that careful tightrope of downplaying his experiences and overplaying his officer's effectiveness.


"Hey, don't sweat it. You have a community here to live with and care for - we get half a country to show up for some of the worst things, and honestly, there is even more paperwork and waiting around involved there than you want to think. You know how in the movies, the guy in the FBI jacket shows up and says 'we're taking this investigation'? Nuh-uh."


Honestly, the deputy's time here meant he had probably seen more action than Eddie. Not that he could admit that.


He listened to the rest of the man's concerns before speaking again. There was a lot to think about there.  The clock was running, yes, but those two factors - this being a small town and the sheriff being an immovable knot of gristle - were the most prominent parts of the landscape so far.


"Honestly? I would be more likely to ask you about that last part. You think people are closer here, they know each other? Not any lame question like 'did the girl have any enemies', but... I don't know, I guess a local would have a better read on the community's temperature than Agent Cooper and I are ever going to." Eddie leaned back, trying to get comfortable for a long jaw session, hoping it would invite the anxious deputy to do the same. "What else is there? With Tony, the parents, the girl. What color socks, what flavor of ice cream, you know? Intuition goes a long way."


And this place was a minefield where he and Diane not only had to look, but also had to ask permission, before they leaped.
 
Trent Malloy

Trent looked surprised, and said "I don't think you're going to have as much trouble as you might think."  He leaned back in his seat as he continued.  "You FBI agents...you're used to a big force, a big department, and often working in big cities, right?  With lots of resources, authority, and the ability to essentially be a "somebody, yet nobody" in a suit, here one minute, gone the next as soon as the work is done."  He frowned slightly with uncertainty, perhaps feeling he had gone a little too far with that last comment, but decided to press forward and get to the point.  "Here, in Wilton, the Sheriff and the deputies are essentially employees of the town."  He sighed.  "Sometimes the town and the police don't agree on how things should get done.  You could do everything by the book, a perfect arrest, but if the Mayor or the town doesn't like it, you could still find yourself on desk duty, or worse."  He shrugged.  "Also, if you live where you regularly police, you still see those folks every day off duty, and it can come back to haunt you in surprising ways.  Doors closing shut for you when they used to be open and welcoming.  Small town.  It definitely keeps you honest, polite, and considerate."  He grinned a little.  

"The point is, as tough as Sheriff Edmond is, and as bristled as he is by the circumstances of this case, Mayor Norwood called you folks in, and he is higher up the chain of command, and is the direct representative of the town.  Neither the Sheriff nor the Mayor are going to stand in your way, not with the political risk involved, and the town breathing down their necks.  The Sheriff will definitely not impede an ongoing investigation like this, if you're even worried about such a thing, not with the Mayor's office backing you, and especially not with lives at stake."  He paused momentarily before continuing.  "Sheriff Edmond might not like how the case was taken out of his hands, and the political picture that paints, but I am sure he wants this case solved, and those involved brought to justice as much as anyone."  He leaned forward, and said the next in a lower voice "It will also help that the townsfolk will probably be scared shitless of the two of you.  We don't get many Feds around here.  People will probably be willing to cooperate, and you two will probably have quite a bit of leeway to work with and exercise initiative.  Most folks are scared, and want those kids found.  Hell, the news about Abigail has probably rattled them even worse, which might make things easier."

Trent leaned back in the chair and considered Agent Scoleri's questions, surprised that the agent would even bother with his opinion.  "Well, we're pretty sure that neither the victims, nor the...suspect...Tony, knew one another personally.  Of course, it is a small town, everyone sees everyone in passing, but we didn't find a connection there.  Emily and Abigail's fathers both work in the trucking industry, and are out of town a lot, but that's about it."  He frowned.  "People around town generally don't like the Dagneaus.  They have a bad reputation for violence, making moonshine and meth out in the forest, drugs, theft, that sort of thing."   Still, the Dagneaus seem too obvious for this.  Like a scapegoat or a red herring.  Probably still worth investigating though just to check the box.  "There was a rumor that Abigail was dating Tony's little brother Bill, but that didn't seem to pan out to anything.  Just circumstances.  We spoke to a lot of people, nothing really stood out.  The Dagneaus were pretty irate that we considered Tony a suspect rather than a victim.  They'll probably be the least cooperative bunch we will encounter."

"Unless Agent Cooper finds some serious clues on the body, I would think we should investigate around the lake, especially the trail where the body was found, and maybe even investigate the flooded quarry south of town.  After that, maybe the woods.  They had to have hidden her somewhere out of sight for all that time."
 
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Frank Mosely
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"Indeed, I would like to observe, if possible."
Frank dons a pair of nitrile gloves and a face mask.


"Doc - remind me please, did you find anything under her finger nails?"


Massive blood loss.  Unless it happened in a rush, there should be evidence of either defensive wounds, attempts to stem the flow...unless she was otherwise incapacitated...


"Is there any evidence of clotting near the wound?"

Mosely prefers Frank to "Officer Mosely" outside of formal use.
 
Eddie


The more Trent talked, the less Eddie liked what he heard.  Not that it was Trent's fault, but this whole thing - small town politics, ostricized families, scared townies, a sherrif who apparently had his hands tied instead of ready to wrap around a federal agent's neck...


The talkative Baltimorean found himself at a loss for words.  He watched Trent silently and respectfully as the man layered more and more trouble on this shit sandwich that he and Diane needed to swallow, complicating this with all the consideration and context a simple field report could never deliver.  When Trent stopped, he sat back a bit in his seat, index finger digging into the stuffed arm he'd put most of his weight on, and then made eye contact again.


"You'd better not have any personal time coming up, Malloy." Eddie shared a grateful smile. "I don't think Agent Cooper and I could ask for a better guide. An overview like that... you can probably tell us what a mess looks like before we even step into it. Thank you."


Eddie raised a metaphorical glass to full cooperation and divulgence of information, and made a mental note to pay Trent the same favor of the opportunity arose.


But they were still pretty screwed. Eddie really hoped Diane would find something useful, because the ground pounder in him shuddered to think of the conversations they would be having with the witnesses and suspects in the near future.
 
Surgery


"Not that I can see," the doc says. "Not near any of 'em - the animal bites were definitely post-mortem."


The body is a grisly mess with the cover off. The crows got to her first, looks like.


It's going to be a closed casket unless the funeral home here can work miracles.

@Alexandra If you want to go ahead and tell me where you're looking and how, I'll tell you what you find. You've absorbed enough of this stuff over the years to have a good idea how to play it. Otherwise I'll go through the checklist. 
 
Diane Cooper


Pulling her doctor's bag onto a nearby table, Diane takes out a dictaphone.
"Has the body been photographed and x-rayed? If that's taken care of I'd like to start with a second external exam for documentation purposes."
 
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The doc looks a little sheepish, for once.


"X-rayed with Bob Howard's old veterinary machine," he says, "and the staties got the pictures. No one in the Sheriff's department could bring themselves to do it."
 
Diane Cooper


The doctor's response elicits only sympathy from Diane.


"Younger victims are always harder, and then adding that they knew her....." she trails off shaking her head. "It's understandable."
Flipping open the file, she examines the x-rays.
 
Nothing obviously abnormal in the x-rays. Signs of an old fracture in the ankle - Potter says she got it climbing trees about four years back - but nothing else.
 
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