*Claire leaned against her desk, flipping through photos of the horrific boat scene. The pictures were just as gruesome in black and white as they had been in the shades of life. It was the fourth time she'd flipped through the photos, looking for something that had been missed. Teeth worked her lower lip as she thought. As expected, the Lucy killer had been long gone by the time she and Tim arrived. Hell, he was gone before Dauterive got the tip. Just then, the videoscreen flared to life, and there stood Annie.*

~Hey Claire! Where's Tim?~

Your guess is as good as mine, Annie. What did you find out?

~The bodies were stitched together with normal white string from head to toe. Even the genitals, which is a feat considering that they were wearing their clothes at the time. Such tiny stitches, too. It must have took him hours to do! I tried sewing when I was younger, but I ended up sewing my hand to the-~

Get to the point, Annie.

~They weren't killed in the boat. It's too clean. You could have ate out of the bottom of that boat. They were killed somewhere else, and placed there. They were out of rigor, so they've been dead two to four days. The face and spinal column are fresher, less than a day.~ *It was fortunate for Claire that Annie had multiple degrees.*

Do we know who they are?

~Not yet. The distortion of the faces is making matching difficult. I'm gonna have to try to 'put them back on' so to speak. It's the same as placing a dead man's fingertip on a living finger to get a clean print. It's gonna take some time.~

As soon as possible, Annie.

~Don't I always?~

Anything else?

~He had to slice parts off to get them to fit together so well. There'd probably be more clues if you could find those and the body the face and spinal column were attached to.~

Thanks, Annie.

~No problem.~ *Then, as suddenly as she appeared, she was gone. The bodies would have been heavy to move and difficult to hide. That probably meant that they were murdered in close proximity to the boat. She'd have to go back out and look, see if she could find the location. Grabbing her gun and bag, she was out the door. Heading out of the building, she slammed into Tim.* Look where you're going next time! Now, come with me.

~Where are we going, Claire?~

Back to the bayou. We're gonna find where he killed those people if it takes all night.

~Oh. Ok.~

-------------

*Night on the bayou was dark and thick. It hung in the air like a blanket, muting noises and weighing upon those who ventured outside. Even the MagLites Claire and Tim carried did not carry far into its depths. But, here they were, searching for more clues. Systematically searching the area surrounding the boat turned up an iPod, baseball hat, a cluster of used condoms, and a pyramid of beer cans. Although Claire doubted any of it was related to the slayings, they would bag it all and send it back. Let Annie figure it out, that's what she's paid for.* Tim, get pictures then bag it for Annie.

~Sure.~

*The search continued in silence. There was no reason to talk with nothing to say. It went on that way for nearly an hour before Tim's voice broke the silence.* ~Claire! C'mere!~

What is it, Tim? *She followed the sound of his voice until she found him. Maybe he'd found the bodies.*

~Look.~

*His beam illuminated the earth ten feet away. The ground was red, blood red, and she could see that the grass itself was bloodstained. It was too much blood to be an animal, even too much blood to be one person. This was where the killings had occurred. The beam caught a silver glint in the grass, then another, and another. The glints were a scalpel, filet knife, and another knife. All the tools had dried blood on them. This had to be it.*

Good work. It's all coming back with us. I want photos, dirt samples, and a plaster cast of that footprint over there if it isn't yours.

~On it.~

*There were no body parts, no corpse, not even a trace of human flesh. In her rush, she had missed the obvious. With the gators around, the body wouldn't have lasted. Nothing would have. This guy was good, too good, to make stupid mistakes. Even leaving his tools behind wasn't the forensic goldmine necessary to stop him before he killed again. No, the Lucy killer would have to make another mistake, a bigger one, to bring him within the FBI's grasp. That could take years.*

Tim, do you know how they caught Al Capone?

*He paused for a moment, wrinkling his brow in thought.*

~Ah, I believe it was tax evasion.~

Very good, Tim. You'd think that with all the murders he committed, he'd go to prison for one of those. Capone was smart, but not smart enough. Once his bookkeeper deciphered the ledgers' code, they were able to trace all his ill-gotten gains, and he went to prison. I'm afraid our killer is smart like Capone. We just have to find his ledgers and bookkeeper to get him.

~Where do we look?~

If I knew that, Tim, I'd be halfway there..

~Oh.~ *That was the last they spoke the rest of the night. He worked the scene, and she worked theories. It would be dawn before they headed back.*

~*~Back~*~