Page 72 of Fire and Bones

Did she have a harassing ex? A beau who sent her roses after every date?

The woman had been roughly Katy’s age when she’d died, her life barely begun when it was violently taken from her. What direction might it have gone had she been allowed to live it?

Stop! This is getting you nowhere.

I zipped the body bag, then informed the tech—surprisingly, Jamar was not on duty—that I was finished. After stripping off my gloves, I stepped from the gurney and left, heading toward the administrative side of the floor.

The receptionist tried to stop me, firmly but politely. Thacker’s office door was open, and I could see her slick-haired head bent over her desk.

Smiling, firmly but politely, I blew past the gatekeeper.

Thacker looked up at the sound of my footsteps.

“Tempe. What a surprise.” Tone implying time would tell if that surprise was a pleasant one. “What can I do for you?”

“I’m wondering if you’ve had any feedback on the prints I lifted from case number 25-02106.”

Thacker looked blank.

“The DOA from the Foggy Bottom subcellar.”

“Of course. I was about to call you.”

Of course.

“I’m sorry to report there were no hits.”

“Where did you have them run?”

“Everywhere.”

I opened my mouth to query specifics, decided against it.

“Though disappointing, it’s not surprising,” Thacker said. “A petite gal like that? Unlikely she had a criminal record or served in the military.”

“Bonnie Parker stood only four feet eleven,” I countered, referencing the legendary bank robber. Where the hell did I pull that gem from?

“Uh-huh. Have you established PMI?”

I told Thacker what I’d learned from Waylon Colt.

“So the woman could have died any time in the last eight decades?” Thacker kept her face and voice carefully neutral.

I described the head trauma, matching the ME’s neutral with my own.

Thacker leaned back in her overly complex chair, fingers steepled below her chin. When I’d finished, she said nothing.

“Does DC have a statute of limitations on murder?” I asked.

“No.”

“I want to follow up on this.”

“On what? People get knocked down or fall down all the time.”

“Isn’t identifying the victim the first step in any homicide investigation?” Realizing my mistake, “In any death investigation?”

“No dentals, no prints. Extremely vague time of death.” Face blank. “What are you proposing?”