Sure enough, the bomb was in between her legs.They were folded in a lotus position with the feet crossed and resting on the opposite thigh.Her hands were laid palms up on top of the knees and the bomb rested in the nest made by her feet and abdomen.This one appeared to be a brick of plastic explosive about the size of a deck of cards with an egg timer stuck into the top.Compact but assuming it was designed correctly, more than enough to take out this entire apartment and portions of the ones on either side and the unit below.
"I'm guessing since you're helmetless, the bomb is defused," Faith said.
“The bomb isn’t a bomb,” Givens replied.“It’s another dud.”
Faith nodded.“Yeah, I figured.”
“Yep.What you have there is a brick of dioctyl adipate, polyisobutylene, and a sprinkling of Pennzoil Platinum 0W20.The short version of all of that is everything in plastic explosive but the explosive.”
Turk approached the not-bomb and sniffed carefully, barking to let Faith know he could smell the killer on the weapon.He whined when he sniffed the dead woman, who, like Jackson Entwhistle, sat with her head dropped to her chest, although that could just have been the way her head fell naturally rather than an intentional staging by the killer.
The rest of it: the lotus position, the dud bomb, all of it was intentional.And if Faith was correct…
“Was this threat called in anonymously too?”
"Yep.Distorted voice once more.Apparently, this one sounded more like Donald Duck, and the first one sounded like Darth Vader, but same idea."
Faith nodded.“Okay.Go ahead and let everyone know the bomb’s inactive.Donottell them it was a dud.Just tell them it’s inert and there’s no risk.Don’t let residents back into the building until we and CSI are done here, though.”
“Technically, that’s not my call, but I’ll tell the lieutenant.”He looked at the body and sighed.“Poor girl.What a shit way to die.”
“Same cause of death?”Faith asked.
“Again, technically not my call, but I see a similar looking hole in the neck.”
“Right.Okay.Thank you, Givens.”
“You betcha,” Givens replied, but without his previous cheer.
He and the other bomb squad members cleared out of the room.Faith shared a look with Jessica, who was pulling latex gloves on and preparing to examine the body.“Guy’s got a consistent MO, at least,” Jessica replied.“I guess they all do.”
“Most of them,” Faith said.
She knelt in front of the body and carefully lifted the head.This woman was younger than Entwhistle, maybe in her early forties.Her skin had a grayish pallor, but before losing her blood, she would have had a light brown complexion, hair dyed a dark auburn, and brown eyes that had gone milky in death.Her features were pretty though slightly careworn.
And now she was gone.Why, Faith still didn’t know.
A shadow darkened the doorway, and Faith turned to see Suresh.“I threw Givens to the vultures,” he told them.“I’ll go rescue him in a minute, but it occurs to me I never gave you her name.”He nodded at the dead woman.“Raelynn Hayes, ATF senior supervisor.She managed a team of K9 explosives detection dogs responsible for the Port of Baltimore.”
“So this killer’s going after people who oversee bomb detection dogs,” Jessica said.“Might be worth checking if Craig Daniels had anything to do with her.I’ll see if I can get an employment history for him.”
Faith nodded, and Jessica stepped away to make the call.Turk was now sniffing at the corner of the entertainment center.He barked and looked at Turk, then pointed to a spot on the ground and barked again.
“There was a firearm there,” Suresh explained.“Hayes’s ATF service weapon.Glock 19, not sure if it matters.”
“Fired?”
“No, no shots discharged.Best guess is she pulled the gun on her attacker, but he disarmed her before she could use it.”
“Any defensive wounds?”
“Not sure.”
Faith pulled on a pair of gloves and checked the body.She lifted Raelynn’s head and looked closely.“Bruising around the mouth, possibly from a hand covering it so she wouldn’t scream.You’ll want to dust that for prints.”
“Yeah, I’m sure CSI will,” Suresh replied.“They’re pretty good here.”
He didn’t sound defensive.More like lost.Baltimore was a big city, so Faith couldn’t imagine this was his first murder.Maybe it was the spectacle of the bodies posed with dud bombs that threw him off.Faith wouldn’t blame him.There was a reason local cops called the FBI for cases like this.Some killers were special in the worst ways.