Fireproof

heat makes the blood boil inside the bones, too,” Stan said. “Same kind of pressure builds up as in the skull. Makes bones fracture and break apart. Could be blown all over the place.”
    Which set them all looking around.
    “There are other floors.” Ivan pointed up. “Is it possible the rest of the body’s still up there?”
    And again, as if on cue, all heads swiveled upward to the smoldering, dripping rafters.
    “Chief,” one of the techs interrupted.
    He held up a finger to tell the man he’d be right here. As he turned to leave he told them, “Give my folks time to sift through this mess. We should have some answers for you, but remember I’ve got two sites here.” And he walked away.
    Ivan followed close behind, his neck still craning up as if he expected body parts to fall down from the second floor.
    “What are the chances of IDing this …” Racine paused, searching for words as she referred to the skull. “This victim?”
    Stan set aside his umbrella, dug in his Tyvek pocket, and pulled out a pair of purple latex gloves.
    “Teeth don’t burn. They might have broken or been jarred off from the pressure.” He picked up the skull and carefully examined the jaw. “Well, this is unusual.” He turned the skull to get a better look inside the jaw. He scraped at the soot with his gloved thumb.
    “What’s wrong?” Racine asked.
    “The bone doc will need to examine this. But I think the teeth may have been shattered.”
    “The fire couldn’t do that?”
    “No. Not that I know of.” He was studying the top of the skull now and turned to show them the hole at the top. “Usually when a skull bursts from heat pressure, it shatters. It is a bit odd to have a hole this big without fracturing the skull into pieces. Unless the skull was compromised before the fire.”
    “What do you mean ‘compromised’?” Tully wanted to know. “Are you saying the victim may have been bashed in the head and teeth before the fire?”
    “It’s possible.”
    Tully and Racine exchanged a look and Stan noticed.
    “What is it?” he asked.
    “The victim out by the Dumpster. Her face is bashed in.”

CHAPTER 15

    It was complicated . That’s what Maggie wanted to tell Ben.
    In just a little over a year Benjamin Platt had gone from being her doctor to her friend to her … what? What were they exactly?
    Boyfriend, girlfriend sounded sophomoric. And although they had shared a hotel room— and a bed, once —as well as many intimate thoughts and conversations, they weren’t lovers. Yet .
    Just when both of them confided that they wanted to be more than friends Ben had put the skids on. All it took was his admission that he wanted children, and Maggie found herself backing off, way off.
    His only daughter had died five years ago, ending his marriage and causing him to focus all his energy on his career. Maggie had buried herself in her work, too, ever since her divorce. But Ben still ached for his daughter. And while he longed to replace that ache, Maggie wanted to shield herself from another potential loss. Being alone was safer than feeling too much.
    Yes, it was complicated.
    But she was glad to see him. So why didn’t she tell him that? He was still her friend. Partly because he had reverted to acting like her doctor as soon as he crossed the exam room threshold.
    “An occupational hazard,” he had said when he saw her impatience with his incessant questions. But then he continued, “Did you lose consciousness? Any blurred vision? Dizziness?”
    “I’m fine.” And she finally put up her hands in surrender. “Tully insisted. That’s all.”
    And she convinced herself that this lapse back to a doctor-patient relationship was enough reason not to tell him that her head still throbbed, that she’d been getting killer headaches for months now.
    Ben had been her doctor at USAMRIID after Maggie was exposed to the Ebola virus. She had been in the Slammer, an isolation unit. No one could talk to her without an inch-thick glass wall in between. No one could touch her without wearing a blue hazmat suit. Her conversations with Ben had kept her from panicking, from diving deep inside herself. When they discovered they both loved classic movies, Ben had used them to entertain and transport her to another world outside the Slammer’s walls. He had shown her how to escape reality to gain a grasp on sanity.
    Dr. Benjamin Platt—army colonel, scientist, soldier—was one of the strongest, most gentle men