Flynn had silently scoffed when Buzz excused himself from the murder room, face tinged green, but now as they sat gathered around the video display he rather wished he had joined the kid. Lunch was not sitting easily.
In a way there was nothing new on the screen. Third woman in as many weeks, sitting on a wooden chair in a dimly lit, empty room, reading from a crumpled piece of paper she held in badly shaking hands. Unlike the other two, she did not keep her eyes down and mumble hurriedly through the prepared speech. This one articulated slowly, attending to the words she was speaking, and every few seconds her eyes would raise and she would look directly into the camera. Flynn shuddered at the intense, haunted look in those dark brown eyes. It was clear she was using every ounce of her willpower to keep herself together. That was bad news for her. He knew she was going to need a lot more in the very near future.
He marshaled his own willpower to subdue his rising gorge and focus on the video. Any details might help. Dark brown hair streaked with gray, falling softly around her face. Good color in her cheeks. Clearly the surgery hadn't happened yet, though the look in her eyes told him plenty had happened already. Good speaking voice – obviously used to reading aloud. The way her voice echoed indicated the room was probably empty and had a hard floor. Great, Flynn thought. That narrows it down.
"Wait," he suddenly said. "Back up a few seconds, Buzz."
"What is it, Lieutenant?" the Chief asked.
"You hear that?" he said with growing excitement. "That's the third time she stuttered."
Provenza rolled his eyes. "So what? She's shaking like a leaf. Of course she's stuttering."
Flynn shook his head. "No, she's not. She's a good speaker. Go back and listen to the other words she stuttered on."
As Buzz tracked back, Gabriel looked over his shoulder at Flynn. "You really think this lady has been kidnapped and beaten, probably knows she's about to lose a body part, and still has the presence of mind to send us a message?"
"I don't know!" Flynn snapped. "I just want to check it out, if you don't mind!"