Free And Leave Her Lay Dying by John Lawrence Reynolds Page B

fracture of left arm, apparently during adolescence. Small strawberry birthmark on right hip. Callous on ball of right foot. No evidence of having given birth. No other distinguishing marks or features.
    McGuire read on.
    She carried no identification, no purse, no keys. A passing neighbour recognized her and directed the police to her apartment building where she was positively identified by the superintendent.
    Colour photographs in the file showed the grassy banks of the Fens, brilliant green in the sun of an early June morning. The body of Jennifer Judith Cornell lay under a picturesque stone bridge, hidden from the street above. She had been pulled from the water and, in a close-up photo of her face, McGuire recognized the surprised expression he had seen so often on murder victims.
    Other pictures accompanied the report, including three eight-by-ten publicity photographs of Jennifer Cornell. In these professionally posed portraits, the face that looked back at McGuire was almost beautiful. The eyes and smile were a little too wide, the eyebrows too heavy, the shoulder­length hair too perfectly coiffed. Careful lighting had almost hidden the shallow crow’s-feet at the corners of the eyes but failed to conceal the desperation in their studied gaze.
    He stared at the face, searching for clues to the dead woman’s personality, looking for something in her that could inspire someone with enough rage to commit murder on a night in June. But all he saw was the face of a sensual woman whose expression said she was frightened and whose records said she was dead.
    More documentation: transcripts of interviews; a report of items recovered from dragging the immediate area of the Fens (two baby carriages, five automobile tires, one bicycle, several dozen cans and bottles, one typewriter, one drafting table. . . . A drafting table?); a description of the victim’s apartment (neat, tidy, well-furnished). McGuire frowned and reached for a pad of paper. He began making notes.
    Her purse was found on a dresser with wallet, credit cards and almost one hundred dollars cash inside. Two sets of fingerprints were lifted from the apartment, both relatively fresh. One set was positively identified as Jennifer Cornell’s. The other, located in the bedroom, on the closet door and the exterior apartment door, belonged to someone unknown. Nothing appeared to be disturbed.
    Andrew Cornell, McGuire muttered. Tell me about Andrew Cornell.

    TO ALL DISTRICTS

    APB # 88–99310

    STATE-WIDE: [X]

    F.B.I.: [X]

    DATE: 6/21/89

    B.P. D. CASE#: 885–531

    NAME: Andrew (“Andy”) Cornell

    SEX: Male

    RACE: White Caucasian

    ALIAS: None known

    AGE: 35 to 38 (approx.)

    HEIGHT: 5’8” / 5’10”

    WEIGHT: 150-165 lbs.

    HAIR: Brown

    EYES: Brown

    BIRTHPLACE: Unknown

    BIRTH DATE: Unknown

    SOCIAL SECURITY#: N/A

    DISTINGUISHING MARKS/CHARACTERISTICS:
1. Walks with limp (right leg)
2. Speaks with slight lisp and southern accent
3. Well-proportioned physique; may frequent body-building gyms, etc.

    WANTED FOR: Questioning regarding murder of sister, Jennifer Judith Cornell

    LAST KNOWN ADDRESS: 2281 Park Ave., Apt. 2A
    McGuire read on through the night, filling his notepad with scribbles. He wrote reminders to himself, sketched a map of the murder scene, and drew lines to connect names and locations until the sheet of paper resembled a perverse maze. When he finally stretched and looked at his watch, he was surprised to discover it was past three in the morning and he forced himself to set aside the files.
    Later, waiting to fall asleep, he visualized the body of Jennifer Cornell in the last photographs ever taken of her, lying on her back, her wet hair clinging to the shape of her head, her eyes staring out in perpetual surprise.
    He stepped out of the shower stall to hear the telephone ringing, and left a wet trail to his desk where the details of Jennifer Cornell’s murder still lay.
    â€œYou got the