The investigator angled his head down for a better look. “I don’t know.”

“Guess.”

The man flicked at the object with a latex-covered fingernail. It clinked. “Sounds like glass.”

“Glass?”

The investigator probed with his finger, then nodded. “It feels like a bottle.” He cast a quick glance around the abandoned bar. “Probably a beer bottle.”

“An entire bottle?” Murphy said.

“That’d be my guess,” the coroner’s man said. “The tapered neck would make insertion easier, but we’ll have to wait until the autopsy to remove it.”

“That’s a new twist,” said Gaudet, who stood behind Murphy. “None of the others had anything like that done to them.” He paused for several seconds. “You still think it’s your guy?”

“He’s not my guy,” Murphy said. “He’s our guy.”

“You know what I mean.”

Murphy stared at the dead woman and nodded. “It’s him. He’s getting off on causing more pain. That’s why the cable tie is gone. He cut if off so he could keep her alive while he tortured her.”

“He must have left something behind,” Gaudet said. “He either raped her, or jacked off on her, or licked her, or just jizzed on the floor. One way or the other, though, he had to have left behind some

DNA.”

“Don’t you think he knows about DNA?” Murphy said.

“Maybe he’s not a CSI fan.”

“He hasn’t left any yet.”

Gaudet pointed to the body. “He’s never done this before, either. You said he’s getting off on what he’s doing.”

“We’ll see,” Murphy said, though he didn’t believe they would find any DNA evidence. This killer was too smart for that.

Gaudet shifted his feet. He looked uncomfortable.

“What’s wrong?” Murphy said.

“When are you going to talk to the captain?”