Chapter Forty

Warning: Mention of rape.

Jasper

Carlisle didn't speak until we were back in the car,

"I'm sorry Jasper but there was little I could do, the body was so badly decomposed that any tell tale clues would have been destroyed, besides which it had been cleaned up by the medical examiner in order to do the autopsy. I agree with his findings by the way, he allowed me access to his notes as well as the samples he took. She had been beaten over a short period of time, maybe a couple of days but not much longer. She had also been raped quite brutally. We both agreed you are looking for someone with a fair amount of strength although there were scrapes on the bones of her neck that might indicate he used a knife on her at some point, whether to try cutting her throat or to attempt to take the head we have no idea of course."

"So another dead end Carlisle? What about Rose? Is she having any luck with the samples she was given?"

"I'm about to ring her but I wouldn't hold out much hope the body was in that dumpster for some time. I doubt he kept her corpse for long although there might be some help from the samples we took from the tarpaulin she was wrapped in. As soon as we get back I'll make a start on them, Emmett and Garrett have gone to collect some supplies for me from an old friend."

Waiting patiently wasn't an option, I couldn't keep still, so Rose who had reappeared with Emmett and Alice suggested we hunt, out of earshot of Charlie of course but I could see him taking in the differences between himself and the others in the room, especially Emmett who had gone over and introduced himself as my brother in law. You didn't often see somebody of Emmett's build and height, not in the human world and he always drew attention when he was among them but a gentler kinder man it would be hard to find. I agreed just to get out of this place for a while and Esme promised to keep an eye on Charlie for me. We headed inland to some woodland where we were sure to find deer at least although they were not Emmett's prey of choice. I hunted only to keep my strength up finding no relief in quenching my thirst only a burning desire to raze San Diego to the ground in an attempt to find Bella before it was too late.

Alice came to sit beside me on a fallen tree and took my hand in her tiny one.

"Jazz I'm sure she's still alive, I think I would have seen her death because it would impact on you so much."

I nodded, she was probably right but it left the question what state was Bella in? Her mother had been beaten, raped, and probably had her throat slashed in the course of a few days, God knows what had happened to Phil, so what was he doing to Bella? Was she in pain? Terrified? Did she think we would find her or had she lost all hope after so long? What would she say, if she were able to speak, when she finally saw me? Would she be relieved or angry I'd left her in hell for so long? These were questions I couldn't answer but they tortured me constantly.

Charlie

Well I didn't believe in ghosts and these people were far too substantial to be phantoms in any case, nor did I believe in UFOs and little green men so I could rule out aliens but whatever they were neither the Cullens nor their friends were human as I knew it and I didn't think for one second this was a reunion of mutant humans which left me precisely nowhere. They weren't saying and I couldn't upset them, I needed their help to trace my daughter. I went over to where Carlisle was gazing at some fragments of something I could hardly see.

"Anything?"

He looked up with a sigh,

"Too much Charlie, there are fragments of house mites, dried paint flakes, sand, earth, dog hairs probably a long haired German shepherd, grease, oil, so much and nothing of any use to us."

"What about the dog hairs? Should we be looking for someone with a German shepherd?"

"I'm afraid its not as simple as that, the dog hairs could be from a dog who rummaged in the dumpsters, attached to something else in the dumpster, blown in from a dog being brushed close by or moulting. There might be something from the autopsy report though."

I had been about to ask him how he could identify all those things without a microscope but his last words caught my attention,

"What?"

"Well Renee was shot in the foot at close range but the bullet didn't exit which means..."

I knew the answer to that one,

"It could have been modified so it wouldn't penetrate and exit, to be used inside a house maybe?"

"It's a possibility, or so the charge used was less and not so noisy, which could mean we are looking for someone living around others, not isolated. I think I'm prepared to go out on a limb and speculate Renee at least was held in a cellar or basement of some kind, the cement dust and fungus spores lead me to think underground, damp environment, and to be secure either a barn or more likely a cellar. We should tell Darius, it might help him."

"Look I know I'm not getting any answers here but just what does Darius do? I mean I know he got into the police database and I'm guessing that's not the extent of his talents but what exactly is he going to do with this? Look up all properties in San Diego with a basement or cellar?"

"Well he probably will do that but I was hoping he might have got a lead on the truck. Then he can put the two together and hopefully give us a smaller area to concentrate our search."

"And just how will he find a truck that's been missing three months and is probably in bits or well hidden by now? I know there are plenty of cameras on the streets here but the film isn't stored indefinitely is it?"

There was a soft chuckle from behind and I turned to see Darius complete with ever present lap top standing there smiling.

"You've got something?"

"Yeah something and to answer your question they do keep the film although its in compressed files stored digitally these days and held in a secure crypt which is only emptied when it can store no more and that takes around four months so we were in luck, or at least partly in luck."

"Meaning?"

I can tell you that the truck entered San Diego exactly three months a ten days ago which means it was was driven straight here with only a few stops although I couldn't tell you where or for how long without breaking into a lot of different data banks which would be very time consuming."

"So could you follow it?"

The smile dimmed,

"Part of the way which isn't as much as I'd hoped but the data banks I wanted had a glitch and the information got scrambled. I'm working on it but the best I can tell you for now is that he appeared to be headed, or could have been headed, for La Jolla but I lost him about five miles from there."

"Well its something."

Carlisle shook his head,

"But not enough to put all our eggs in one basket Charlie. I can't call in the others checking other areas except those obviously not where he was headed. We need more."

"I'll keep trying but something else would be helpful and before you ask looking for a house with a basement or cellar and a long haired German shepherd just ain't gonna work Charlie, too many people keep unregistered dogs just like unregistered firearms."