Chapter 8

On the drive to the port, Samuel ran eight red lights. By the time he got there, one of his tires had blown, but he had not even noticed.

"Chief!" Lucas Cole, the officer in charge of the recovery, rushed to greet Samuel, looking apologetic. "I’m really sorry. I know you’re in the middle of your wedding, but this…this is something you have to see."

Samuel did not respond to the apology, simply extending his hand and saying, "Show me the skull."

"Right!" Lucas quickly grabbed a bag from another vehicle and handed it over. "I think the killer wanted to erase every trace of her identity," he explained. "Instead of leaving the head in the safe with the other body parts, they put it in an iron cage with rocks and sank it to the bottom of the ocean. That way, the fish would eat away at the flesh and leave nothing but bones. No evidence. But even the best plans have flaws…"

As Samuel turned the skull over in his hands, inspecting it, Lucas took a drag from his cigarette. "The killer didn’