Fireproof

of the cranium look similar, you’re correct, they are not conclusive.”
    “Is it possible he fell during the fire and bashed in his own head?”
    “No.” Dr. Ling smiled before she added, “He would also have had to decapitate himself.”
    “Stan told us that pressure builds up inside the head during a fire. You know, from the blood and brain starting to boil.” Racine looked from Dr. Ling to Maggie and back to Dr. Ling like she was asking for backup. “And that pressure could literally blow a head off a body. That’s what Stan said.”
    “It’s possible,” Dr. Ling said. “But not in this case.”
    Ling went over to another counter. On her way she changed out her purple latex gloves for a fresh pair. Then she carefully picked up the skull from a deep tray that Maggie thought looked too much like an ordinary baking pan. Ling brought the skull over to Maggie and Racine.
    “I’ve cleaned it as best as I could.” She flipped the skull upside down. It still had a muddy brown color to it, but the fracture lines were visible. Ling pointed to the base. “Do you see the cuts and scratches in the bone here? Right at the base? This one is what I call a hesitation mark. He started cutting and stopped. Perhaps whatever he was using didn’t work as well as he wanted. Here and here.”
    She turned the skull as her finger traced the scratches.
    “The fire dulled the effect a bit. These are chops, not cut marks.”
    “Guess no chance of an accident, then.” Racine appeared visibly disappointed. “So what the hell did he use?”
    “Anytime you chop, the instrument must be heavy and big enough to contribute to the impact. My early guess is some kind of large bladed weapon. Perhaps a machete.”
    Maggie watched Racine. Clearly all of this had blown one of her theories.
    “You mentioned earlier that Gloria Dobson’s murderer did not change weapons in between blows,” Maggie said. “Is it possible this victim may have been killed by someone else? Maybe even another time or another place?”
    “The bashed-in skull is quite similar to Mrs. Dobson’s.”
    “But she wasn’t decapitated.” Racine sounded hopeful again.
    “True enough.” And Dr. Ling nodded, but allowed a smilewhen she added, “However, you could say he tried very hard to knock her head off.”
    “Dr. Ling?” A tall young man called to her from the door. “That delivery you’ve been waiting for has just arrived.”
    “Thanks, Calvin. I’ll be right there.” She returned the skull to its tray. “Will you both excuse me? I’ll be only five or ten minutes.”
    “No problem.”
    Ling had barely cleared the door when, like a mother with a child, Maggie pulled Racine’s elbow away right before she poked one of the bones with brain tissue still sticking to it.
    “What? I just wondered what it felt like.”
    “You know something new?”
    But Racine wasn’t ready to talk about whatever it was and tried to change the subject. “That interview last night with your mother—that was brutal.”
    “It must have been. She’s been leaving voice messages for me all morning wanting to explain. Quit changing the subject. Tell me what you found out.”
    Racine got quiet. She was still eyeing the bone Ling had left on the tray.
    “I thought I had it figured out,” she finally said. “I talked to Gloria Dobson’s husband last night. A male colleague was supposed to be making the trip with her. He said it made him feel better that she wouldn’t be driving the eleven hundred miles alone. He liked the kid. Said he was a good guy.”
    She pulled a small notebook from her jacket pocket and flipped pages.
    “Zach Lester, twenty-eight, five nine, a hundred and fifty pounds, light brown hair, blue eyes. Mr. Lester didn’t show upat the sales conference either. I put out a BOLO for him and for Dobson’s silver 2007 Toyota Highlander.”
    “You think Lester killed her and took her vehicle?”
    “Sometimes the simplest explanation is the correct one.”
    “When did Mr. Dobson talk to his wife last?”
    “Three days ago. She and Lester were on their last leg of the trip, almost to Baltimore. He said it wasn’t that unusual that he hadn’t heard from her since. The sales conferences were busy and he liked her to feel like she didn’t need to check in, give her a break from him and the kids.”
    “What motive would Lester have for killing her?”
    “Coworkers, road trip away from everyone. Maybe there was a thing between them. Maybe he hit