Conspiracy of Blood, page 4
“Down Raven,” Kerry chided him, but only slightly as she peeled off a small corner of the bagel and tossed it into his mouth.
Simon stood and walked around his desk, “You know, you’re going to start a nasty habit by doing that?”
An awkward smile crossed Kerry’s face, “Sorry about this morning.”
Simon shook his head, “Don’t worry about it, I’m the one who should apologize.” He leaned forward and kissed Kerry’s cheek, and then snatched the bag out of her hand with a laugh.
She followed him to his desk and sat down as Raven forgot about the bagel and was now vying for her attention.
“What did you find during your autopsy?” Simon took a bite of the bagel and slid the rest over to Kerry.
“Our mystery woman was killed by the hit she took to the front of her skull. In fact, I’m positive she was dead before she hit the ledge. I also found some cotton fiber under two of her nails, so I’m running some tests on those to see what we can find.”
“Any idea who she was?”
“There wasn’t any identification on her, but I found a cochlear implant that I’m hoping will give us her name.”
“How soon until you find anything out?”
Kerry shrugged, “Probably not for a few days. I also showed her picture to the store clerks along Main Street and no one recognized her.” Kerry handed the print-out to Simon. “Maybe you can have some officers canvas the shops and stores along Second Avenue and Matheson Street.”
Simon took the page to Sally asked her to scan it into the system and forward it to each of the officers on duty. The online system made getting information to the officers in the field fast and efficient. Simon could alert any of the officers on duty of emergency warnings, search updates, and general information within a couple of minutes.
Kerry pushed her chair back and picked up her coffee, “I’m going to head back to the lab and see what I can find online about her sweater.”
“What sweater?”
“The victim had a hand-knit sweater with a unique name printed on it and I thought maybe I could find out where she bought it. It may have been a special order.”
“It might be a long shot, but it’s worth a try.”
Raven let out a bark as Kerry turned to leave.
“I think he missed you today,” Simon laughed.
Raven’s front paws were climbing up Kerry’s legs and rested on her chest as she rubbed the area behind his ears, and he let out a whimper.
“Why don’t I take him for the rest of the day?” Kerry clipped the leash onto Raven’s collar, and he lunged for the door before Simon could respond.
“I’ll try not to be offended,” Simon chuckled as he walked them to the door and waved goodbye.
Kerry took an extended route back to her office, stopping at the park for a break. She released Raven’s leash, and he immediately chased an unsuspecting squirrel up an old oak tree. The squirrel, believing he narrowly missed being caught, and Raven forgetting that he had neither the viciousness nor the feral instinct to hunt—were both excited by the chase. They spent ten minutes squeaking and barking back and forth at one another before Kerry forced herself to return to her office. Once Raven was convinced he wouldn’t be leaving the park with the squirrel, he eagerly bounded behind Kerry when she walked away. The chill in the air had subsided and a glimmer of the late afternoon sun was peeking through the clouds and Kerry took a deep breath as she neared her office.
She glanced up at a line of birds chirping on a branch and squinted. Happy that the clouds had passed, her face absorbed the warmth, and she promised herself that she’d leave early to enjoy the final hours of the afternoon.
Kerry reached for her key, and in the same fashion that an athlete would prepare for a race, she attempted to elicit the energy required to finish another hour in her office as she tried to give her victim a name.
Seconds after walking through the front doors, Raven fell into their old routine as he pawed at Kerry’s drawer in search of some treats. Once he munched the last of the dry biscuits, he circled around his bed twice before flopping down in the middle and falling into a deep sleep.
Kerry opened her email account and quickly scanned the sender’s names, hoping to find one relating to the search for the cochlear implant, but only found a combination of junk mail and sales emails.
Three clicks later and she pulled up a search bar and entered the name printed on the label of the sweater. Chur-Wool. She scrolled past the paid ads and found an Etsy listing for Natasha Churly, who sold hand-knit items under that label. Kerry glanced at the clock and quick calculation told her it would be early morning in New Zealand where Natasha Churly lived. Kerry typed a brief email, explaining that she was tracking down a unique green sweater when her phone rang.
The number flashed across her screen too quickly to recognize, and Kerry answered the phone before fully swallowing her coffee. A low hum emanated from the phone and a young woman on the other end was speaking with a slightly raised voice as she asked to talk with Kerry.
“Speaking,” Kerry answered.
“Justin wanted me to call you back with the information about the cochlear implant you found on your victim,” the woman’s voice became clearer as she moved away from the sound of the machines and into another room. “My name’s Sarah. I’m responsible for registering the licenses for appliances and medical gear in the government registry.”
“I was hoping it would help us figure out the woman’s name.”
“Well, I can’t give you a name for your victim, but I can give you the name of the manufacturer. The implant you found is part of a trial, in fact, the manufacturer is in Europe.”
“That should make it easier to track down the name of our victim.”
“Not necessarily,” Sarah said. “Even though it’s only being manufactured by one German company, they ship all over the world. I’ll email you their contact information, but the person you’ll want to speak with is Hans Weber. He’s in charge of the trial units at Hörtechnik.”
Kerry pressed her lips together and rubbed her eyes. She thanked Sarah before ending the call. She’d send another email, this time to Hans Weber, and hoped that by morning she’d have a name for the murder victim lying in the next room.
Chapter 6
The next morning, Hans Weber was unable to give Kerry a name for the victim. Information from the German company was vague and the privacy of patients and clients was far stricter than those that Kerry faced in Canada, which were highly regulated as it was. After several email exchanges and another twenty-four hours, Hans Weber eventually forwarded the name of the clinic that took part in the testing for the new smaller device that was to hit the global market in a few years. He told her it wasn’t uncommon to have several years of testing before selling any of their devices to customers. Health regulations, patents, and licenses were different in many countries, but the one similarity that existed was that each market wanted to see positive results before they took on a new product.
Any specific information regarding the patient would have to be sourced directly through the clinic running the study. Meaning Kerry had to make another call to yet a different time zone.
Kerry scrunched her brow as she calculated the time difference. She figured that she could probably reach the Australian office if she called now, but it would mean missing her mid-morning coffee break.
Techno Auditus’s head office was in Sydney, and the information on their website listed them as distributors for the ‘world’s best’ hearing devices. Ranging from basic hearing aids to highly advanced cochlear devices, such as the one found on the victim. The company was at the forefront of the hearing device market and saw a two-fold increase in revenue over the last year.
A cheery, energetic woman answered the line, her words tinged with a thick Australian accent. Once Kerry explained why she was calling, the receptionist transferred her call to James Davidson, the person in charge of the trial for the specific unit Kerry found.
James Davidson sounded much older than the receptionist, and his deep, smooth voice lingered over his words of sympathy at hearing about the death of one of the trial participants.
“How many participants did you have in this specific trial?” Kerry asked, hoping the list was short and that she’d have a name for the victim before the end of the call.
“We had ninety-seven participants,” James said. “We began with more, but some dropped out because of infections or issues with dizziness.”
“I understand your company distributes a wide range of hearing devices around the world,” Kerry scrolled through Techno Auditus’s website as she spoke with James. “How difficult will it be to get a name for the woman who had this specific device?”
“Not long,” James said as his fingers scrambled across his keyboard, each tap echoing through the phone. “We only ran the trial in Australia so we could keep a close eye on every participant.”
Kerry waited patiently for James to search his database for a name, hoping he wouldn’t require a warrant or special governmental request to release the information. But in reality, Kerry had never had to deal directly with a company outside of North America, so she didn’t know what to expect.
“Oh,” James’ voice lingered over the word and it stretched through the phone.
“Did you find something?”
“How did you say she died?”
“A couple of rock climbers found her body in a deep crevice on an isolated island,” Kerry explained.
“I never knew Hope to climb.”
“She wasn’t climbing,” Kerry explained. “It looks like she fell, but I’m afraid there’s also a chance she may have been pushed. It’s still the early stages of the investigation, so I don’t have a lot of information for you right now. What I wanted was her name and maybe contact information for a family member so we can notify them of her death.”
“Yes, of course,” again James tapped the keys on his computer as he retrieved her file. “Her name is Hope Ryan. I can email you her family’s contact information, they live in Perth. She preferred we used her family’s address in her files since her work made it difficult to reach her.”
“I’ve never seen a unit so small. How new is the technology?”
“It’s been in the works for several years, but we only began our clinical test a little over a year ago. Hope was a perfect candidate for the upgrade. She was healthy and quite active. The only problem we ever had was getting her into our office for any minor servicing of the unit.”
“Why was that?”
“She was working on a research project with The University of Queensland and worked in remote locations, which is why it was often difficult to reach her,” James paused. “And it seems she also had made a side trip to Canada.” Referencing Kerry’s information about where Hope had died.
“I’m not sure why Hope was here. Maybe her family can shed some light on the reason she was in Lake Pines.”
No matter how much Kerry loved Lake Pines, early spring didn’t hold the charm and character that most tourists associated with the area. The barren trees looked more like gnarled hands and the lawns and shrubs still lay dormant from their winter burial. Hardly a welcome vision on a postcard.
“I’ll contact her family later to offer my condolences,” James said. “I’m sure you’ll want to reach out to them first and let them know what happened.”
“Yes. It’s never something I enjoy doing, and I’m sure the distance will make it even harder for her family.”
“Can I ask you a favor?” A slight hesitation was clear in James’ question. “Is there any way you can send the unit to me?”
“I can’t see why not,” then Kerry added. “But I’ll want to make sure that the investigation into her death is closed before I do that.”
“Thanks, I know it’s an odd request, but Hope was having difficulties with her unit and I’d like to see if I could figure out what happened.”
“What problems was she having?”
“She contacted me about seven months ago because sounds were fading in and out for her. Hope said she was spontaneously losing her hearing, and I’m not even sure it was fully working anymore.”
Kerry promised to get the unit to James as soon as she could and then prepared herself for the heart-wrenching task of contacting Hope’s family. She tried to picture what they’d be doing at nine in the evening. If they were anything like her father, they may have their hands wrapped around a cup of tea with a heavy hardback book resting on their lap.
Raven pushed his nose against Kerry’s hand, stirring her from her daydream and forcing a scratch behind his ear. Kerry had read about animals who could sense illness or grief in humans, and since the explosion, Raven always seemed to sense when Kerry’s mind drifted or when she became sad and he made a point of distracting her from her pain.
Finding herself a little calmer, Kerry opened her drawer and pulled out two treats for Raven before dialing Hope Ryan’s parents’ number.
The voice on the line was welcoming and soft. An image of Hope’s mother sprang into Kerry’s mind. She pictured a plump woman with short brown hair and cheeks that turned up on the outer edges with each smile. A rosy complexion and bright blue eyes completed the picture.
The words offered to family members were always difficult to deliver. Even more so over the phone but Kerry tried her best to convey her sympathy. Tears and shrill screams reverberated through the line until Hope’s father grabbed the phone from his wife’s trembling hands.
“Hello?” a warbling voice, already full of tears, murmured through the phone.
Kerry explained that she was calling with news of Hope’s death and that she identified her through her cochlear implant.
Then came the question asked by most family members when they were told of a loved one’s death. “How?” her father mumbled.
“Two climbers found her on a remote island,” Kerry explained Hope had fallen to her death but didn’t elaborate about how she believed that to happen.
Once he had composed himself, Hope’s father, Dale Ryan, explained the path his daughter took to reach the esteemed position within the research team. His pride was clear with each word he spoke.
“She let nothing stop her,” Dale gushed. “Ever.”
Kerry let Dale talk about his daughter, sensing he needed to do it.
“At first when she met Marlow, Sybil and I weren’t too sure about our daughter marrying him so quickly,” Dale said, and then let out a small chuckle. “But he won Sybil over the first time he came for dinner and then the age difference just seemed to vanish and what we saw were two perfectly matched people in love.”
Kerry thought back to the slim gold band on Hope’s finger.
“But few people knew about their marriage because of the university’s policy on relationships, which I guess makes sense,” Dale’s words drifted as he recalled moments in Hope’s life. “I’m glad she had the time she did with him.”
“Could you give me his number? I’d like to speak with him and let him know what happened to Hope.”
Dale choked back the first sobs and then spoke through the tears, “Marlow died four and a half months ago. He and Hope had traveled to Canada so she could meet his kids and tell them about their marriage.”
“They didn’t know?”
“No one except Sybil and I knew. Both Hope and Marlow would’ve lost their positions on the research team along with the funding that Marlow secured.” Dale paused as he cleared his throat and blew his nose. “When they wrapped things up six months ago, they both decided it was time to let their friends and family know they were married. That’s when they flew to Canada.”
Kerry learned they had arrived in Toronto where Hope met Marlow’s two daughters and then they drove around the Great Lakes on their way to spend time with his son.
“That’s where they were when Marlow died,” Dale sighed. “Lake Pines.”
Chapter 7
Kerry walked beside Wayne as they headed toward the marina, keeping their conversation focused on the case and the name they now had for their victim. Birch Leaf Island was an inhospitable island and only seemed suited for hikers and climbers. Hope Ryan was there for neither of those activities.
Access to the island was difficult and there wasn’t a boat anywhere on, or near, the island where her body was found.
“Hope made it out to the island somehow,” Kerry said as they neared the marina and walked down the steep slope to the ramp. “She either took a boat herself or went out with someone she knew.”
“At this time of year, most of the boats are still berthed at the marina, so it’s probably our best place to start,” Wayne said and then let a brief pause rest before he raised the question Kerry was hoping he wouldn’t ask. “Is there a reason you called me and not Simon?”
Kerry shrugged her shoulders, “I just thought he’d be busy.”
“Kerry, we’ve known each other too long for you to lie to me,” Wayne grabbed her elbow and they stopped walking.
“Things have been a little tense between us lately,” Kerry said, the awkward confession uneasy on her lips. “We just seem to be snapping at each other so easily.”
“You’ve both been through a lot this last year, maybe you just need to sit down and talk,” Wayne said. “Maybe you both need to reconnect?”
Kerry was unable to hold back the laugh that snuck out from her frown, “Since when is Wayne Burgess a relationship expert?”
Wayne placed his hand on Kerry’s shoulder and smiled, “Since my two best friends seem to be having trouble. If there’s anything I can do…”
“I know. Just ask.”
“It might be good to remember why the two of you got together in the first place.”
Wayne pulled the door to the marina and held it open as Kerry walked through. Krista Hull, the manager and only staff member in the marina smiled as they walked through the door.
