He went on, and we spent until midday going over my reports, diagrams and photographs. I was asked many questions, mostly by Grigg, who wanted very much to understand every facet and nuance of the serial dismemberments so he could better discern that the one in his jurisdiction was unlike the rest.
‘What’s the difference between someone cutting through joints and cutting through the bones?’ he asked me.
‘Cutting through joints is more difficult,’ I said. ‘It requires knowledge of anatomy, perhaps some previous experience.’
‘Like if someone was a butcher or maybe worked in a meat-packing plant.’
‘Yes,’ I replied.
‘Well, I guess that sure would fit with a meat saw,’ he added.
‘Yes. Which is very different from an autopsy saw.’
‘Exactly how?’ It was Ring who spoke.
‘A meat saw is a hand saw designed to cut meat, gristle, bone,’ I went on, looking around at everyone. ‘Usually about fourteen inches long with a very thin blade, ten chisel-type teeth per inch. It’s push action, requiring some degree of strength on the part of the user. The autopsy saw, in contrast, won’t cut through tissue, which must first be reflected back with something like a knife.’
‘Which was what was used in this case,’ Wesley said to me.
‘There are cuts to bone that fit the class characteristics of a knife. An autopsy saw,’ I went on to explain, ‘was designed to work only on hard surfaces by using a reciprocating action that is basically push-pull, going in only a little bit at a time. I know everyone here is familiar with it, but I’ve got photos.’
Opening an envelope, I pulled out eight-by-tens of the saw marks the killer had left on the bone ends I had carried to Memphis. I slid one to each person.
‘As you can see,’ I went on, ‘the saw pattern here is multidirectional with a high polish.’
‘Now let me get this straight,’ said Grigg. ‘This is the exact same saw you use in the morgue.’
‘No. Not exactly the same,’ I said. ‘I generally use a larger sectioning blade than was used here.’
‘But this is from a medical sort of saw.’ He held up the photograph.
‘ Correct.’
‘Where would your average person get something like that?’
‘Doctor’s office, hospital, morgue, medical supply company,’ I replied. ‘Any number of places. The sale of them is not restricted.’
‘So he could have ordered it without being in the medical profession.’
‘Easily,’ I said.
Ring said, ‘Or he could have stolen it. He could have decided to do something different this time to throw us off.’
Lucy was looking at him, and I had seen the expression in her eyes before. She thought Ring was a fool.
‘If we’re dealing with the same killer,’ she said, ‘then why is he suddenly sending files through the Internet when he’s never done that before, either?’
‘Good point.’ Frankel nodded.
‘What files?’ Ring said to her.
‘We’re getting to that.’ Wesley restored order. ‘We’ve got an M.O. that’s different. We’ve got a tool that’s different.’
‘We suspect she has a head injury,’ I said, sliding autopsy diagrams and the e-mail photos around the table, ‘because of blood in her airway. This may or may not be different from the other cases, since we don’t know their causes of death. However, radiologic and anthropologic findings indicate that this victim is profoundly older than the others. We also recovered fibers indicating she was covered in something consistent with a drop cloth when she was dismembered, again, inconsistent with the other cases.’
I explained in more detail about the fibers and paint, all the while vividly aware of Ring watching my niece and taking notes.
‘So she was probably cut up in someone’s workshop or garage,’ Grigg said.
‘I don’t know,’ I answered. ‘And as you’ve seen from the photos sent to me through e-mail, we can only know that she’s in a room with putty-colored walls, and a table.’
‘Let me again point out that Keith Pleasants has an area behind his house that he uses for a workshop,’ Ring reminded us. ‘It has a big workbench in it and the walls are unpainted wood.’ He looked at me. ‘Which could pass for putty-colored.’