Cause of Death (Det. Annie Avants Book 1) (3 page)

When Annie arrived at the scene, she saw three patrol cars, an unmarked unit, Deputy Coroner James Shillings, the Technical Investigations van, a Deputy District Attorney, and the unmarked vehicle used to transport bodies to the morgue.

The two men who spotted the body were being interviewed separately by Deputies Jones and Arturo Melendez, who both spoke fluent Spanish.  Deputy Kamaguchi was talking to another man standing by an old pick-up truck.

Tom pulled up in his Jeep Cherokee a few minutes after Annie.

"What do we have, do you know yet?" he asked.

"I haven't checked out the scene yet.  I just got here.  Sarge said the two men thought they saw something between the rows of vines and, upon investigation, found a presumed dead body."

Before they entered the crime scene, Annie stopped to talk to Deputy Hermosillo.

"You were the first one on the scene, correct?" she said.

"Yes," Deputy Hermosillo said.  "I approached the body to determine if it was deceased.  When I could find no pulse, I called it in and Deputy Baker immediately set up the perimeter.  It appears to be the body of a young Hispanic female."

"And no one else except Deputy Coroner James Schillings has entered the crime scene at this point?"

"That's correct.  Mike, from Technical Investigations, is waiting for your go-ahead to start taking his photographs.  Deputy Schillings is taking photos now and videotaping the scene and body."

"That's great.  Mike can come in as soon as Deputy Schillings says it's OK."

Deputy Baker, with the help of Deputy Christine Nielson, had already sealed off the area and designated a pathway for everyone to follow to the site of the body.  Deputy Baker stood at the entrance to the site and logged in and out anybody who crossed the yellow tape.  Only those with business at the site were allowed to proceed and, so far, the only ones she let walk the 20 feet to where the body lay were Deputy Hermosillo, and Deputy James Schillings, the Deputy Coroner.

Tom and Annie checked in with Deputy Baker and walked along the designated path.

Annie could see the flash from the camera as Deputy Schillings took photos.

Annie called back to Mike Everett, "Mike, it's OK for you to come and start taking your photos now."

"Morning, Deputy Schillings, how's it going?" Annie said as she and Tom approached the Deputy Coroner.

Deputy Schillings looked around at Annie and Tom. 

"Ah, Detective Avants and Detective Weston.  Good morning," Deputy Schillings said.  "The victim appears to be a Hispanic female in her mid to late 20s.  She's been dead several hours, but a more precise time of death will be determined by the forensic pathologist during the autopsy."

Annie turned to Tom.  "Tom, could you call the Sergeant and have her send out any available Deputies to begin canvassing the residences and businesses in the area in the off-chance someone saw something?"

Tom pulled out his cell phone and made the call.  Even though he had been in law enforcement longer than Annie had, he didn't resent the fact that she was usually the lead detective on their cases.  He had watched her work for the past two years and was familiar with her record from Mena, Arkansas.  His respect for her knew no bounds.

Tom and Annie stood next to Deputy Schillings as he prepared to examine the body after he finished his first photos and videos.

She was lying on her back and was completely nude.

"I don't see any obvious signs of trauma," Tom said, as they looked down on the victim.

"What do you think, Annie?"

"All I see are what appears to be insect bites on her abdomen and upper legs.

"I also see no blood around the body and any foot prints left in the dry dust are long gone.

"Her ears are pierced, but she is only wearing one earring.  Where is the other one?

"I can see the inside of her right arm and I don't see any visible tracks, which doesn't mean she wasn't a user, however."

Deputy Schillings turned to Annie as he snapped on his latex gloves.  "As soon as Mike finishes taking the photos of her front side, I'll begin my visual examination.  As you mentioned, Annie, I don't see anything that stands out at the moment except for what looks like insect bites.  I can't say for sure what they are, but these vineyards are full of all types of creepy crawlies."

"OK, Deputy Schillings, go ahead and start your exam so we can turn the body over and take more pictures," Mike said.  "I know our sweet southern detective likes to have a lot of photos."

He always made jokes about Annie's southern accent.  She was proud of her roots in Mena, Arkansas, and wasn't one of those 'transplants' who tried their best to lose their accent.

Deputy Schillings squatted down next to the body and took the temperature, using an external thermometer.  "Her body temperature is pretty close to the ambient temperature, so she's been here for a while, exposed to the elements.  Look closely at these bites.  They interest me.

"They all seem to be the same type of bite, but they didn't occur at the same time.  These two have what we call a large erythema zone and probably occurred within the last 18 hours.  Here's one that's recent.  It has a large erythema zone also, but isn't as advanced as the other two.  Here's a couple that are starting to weep and the bite has started to crater.  That can indicate it occurred a couple of days ago.  The rest of them appear to be anywhere from two to ten days old."

Annie squatted next to the body to examine the bite marks. 

"Notice also that some of them have two punctures and some only one," Deputy Schillings said.

"What type of insect are we talking about?" Tom said.

"My guess would be a black widow, or actually, several black widows."

Annie shivered at the thought.

A Deputy District Attorney walked up and joined the group around the body.   When she heard the last comment, she asked, "So, she could have been somewhere where she was exposed to a lot of black widow spiders that attacked her over a period of several days?"

"That's what it looks like to me.  Moreover, she would have been in a lot of pain.  If the spiders kept biting her, the pain would continue and intensify.  It would have been excruciating.

"The lab results will show more when we get back the toxicology studies on her blood.  Her platelet count would be extremely low."

"Olivia Xanthopoulus, from TI, is ready to video tape the scene before the body is moved or turned over.  Is that convenient for you now, Deputy Schillings?" Annie said.

"Sure let's get out of the way and let Olivia do her videotaping, and then we'll turn her over."

As soon as everyone was out of the scene, Olivia started her video tape.  She took several overall views of the scene from different angles to get perspective.  Then she took close-ups of the front side and especially lower body where the bites were.  When she finished, she moved out of the way so the Deputy Schillings could continue.

At that point, Tom stepped up and began snapping his own pictures.  "My turn," he said, smiling.  He was of the old school and liked to have his own information, instead of relying on the 'stuff' other people passed on.  He'd even purchased, with his own money, a Nikon D400 Digital SLR Camera to make sure he got the best photos possible.

All the Deputy Coroners were used to this and it didn't present a problem.  You couldn't have too many photos of a crime scene.

"I'm almost through with the front side," Tom said.

"Don't rush, Tom, you can keep shooting.  Just don't get too close to where the body is lying now when we turn her over, and keep an eye out for anything that might be evidence.  As soon as I'm through, we'll take the body to the morgue and the forensics team can do its job here."

After Deputy Schillings fingerprinted then bagged her hands to protect them, he and Mike Everett turned the body over and Deputy Schillings took his photos and video taped what he needed.  Then Olivia did her videotaping and Mike and Tom took their photos.

When everyone was finished, Deputy Schillings said, "I'll do a sketch of the back side also, like I did of the front side, and triangulate the locations of the bites on her backside.

"There's something caught in her hair," Deputy Schillings said, as he pulled an evidence bag and a pair of 'pull ups' out of his pocket.  "It's a dead black widow spider.  Look at the size of that hour glass on its stomach."

He plucked the dead spider from the victim's long dark hair after making sure he took a good picture of the location, and popped it into the evidence bag.  He held the bag close to his nose and sniffed.

"Hmmm, I don't smell any insecticide, but if this spider was sprayed, it would have died wherever it was at the time.  Unless it was already in the victim's hair.  Interesting.  We'll know a lot more after the autopsy.

"OK, guys, finish up your photos and video taping.  I don't see any other obvious signs of trauma, so we need to get her to the morgue for tests and a more thorough examination."

"Do you think she died of natural causes and someone just dumped her here?  She could be an illegal," Annie said.

"Why here?  This is an out-of-the-way place.  And she's young, I'd say no more than twenty-five to thirty years old.  Unless she had a genetic defect of some type, there aren't a lot of illnesses or conditions that would cause her death.  I'm not ruling out natural causes, and I'm not ready to call this a homicide, but that's my first instinct," Deputy Schillings said.

"Is everyone finished?  Yes?  OK, we can move the body now and the forensics team can get started on their work.

Chief Technical Investigator Laine DelMonte led the Technical Investigations team.   Two other technicians accompanied her, in addition to photographer Mike Everett and videographer Olivia Xanthopoulus.  George Neasham and Merilee Travino were out walking the roadway looking for footprints and tire tracks.

After Deputy Schillings removed the body and he and the Deputy DA left, Annie walked over to where Laine was standing.  She had worked with Laine since she came to Kern County and respected and appreciated the thorough job Laine did.  Laine wore a white jumpsuit, tied her long, blond hair up, and tucked it under a cap to keep from contaminating the crime scene.  She also wore booties and gloves.

"Hi, Laine.  It's going to be a beautiful day, isn't it?" Annie teased.

"Well, if we didn't have to be here, yes."  All of her team now stood by the van waiting for Laine.  She turned to her assistants and gave them their instructions.

"George, carefully walk up a different row until you come to one of the dirt crossroads and see if you can find any usable tire tracks, or other evidence.  Then, check any other dirt roads in this field."

"What did you find Merilee?  I saw you marking off a section of the side of the road?" Laine said.

"When we first drove up, I saw a wet patch along the side of the road.  When I checked it out there was one tire print.  I don't know if it's pertinent or not, but I secured the area so you could take photos and do a cast."

"Good job, Merilee," Laine said.  "I'll look at it. Mike, go take some photos of the print, OK?

"OK, Merilee, go up another row on the other side of the crime scene to see if you can determine where the car came in.

"Mike and Olivia - stay in earshot of George and Merilee for the moment, and if they find something else, take pictures and video, OK?

"And all of you be careful to check for shoe prints of any kind.  I know it's dusty here, but we can fix and cast them."

Annie walked with Laine to the site where the body had been found.

"Annie, it doesn't look like there's any blood in the dirt under or around where the body was laying.  Of course, we'll pull dirt samples and have them analyzed.  But look, here's another dead black widow spider in the dirt.  How strange.  I could be wrong, but I thought the farmers sprayed these fields to keep the spider population down.  Maybe it was already dead in the dirt when the perp put the body here.  And it seems fairly obvious that this is a dump site, not the original location where the victim died."

Annie looked around.  There wasn't much more for her and Tom to do.  The Deputy Coroner had taken charge of any evidence he found and accompanied the body to the morgue.

"OK, Laine.  I'll leave you to your investigation.  Call me as soon as you have any information.  First priority is determining who this female is, and how and why someone dumped her here.  The forensic pathologist who does the autopsy can determine the time and cause of death and then we can decide what to do next."

Annie walked back to where the two deputies were who questioned the men who found the body.  "Did you get any useful information?"

"No, they don't speak English.  Even if they did, they didn't have a lot to say.  They had proper ID, so they're not illegals.  They work for one of the farmers in the area.  We'll join in the canvas of the neighborhood and knock on doors, but there aren't a lot of homes around here and I don't think anyone driving down South Fairfax before dawn would see much."

"What about the man they flagged down?"

"Deputy Kamaguchi talked with him briefly and got his contact information.  He drives down this road every morning on his way to work in Lamont and has never seen anything suspicious.  I asked him what the two men told him, and he basically told me the same information that we got from them."

"Thanks, guys.   Could you get copies of your written reports to me as soon as possible?  I'd like to review them this afternoon."

"Sure thing, Detective."