Free Mystery: Family Ties: Mystery and Suspense by James Kipling Page B

understanding, with Gibson being resentful towards her and Clark acting as if that didn’t bother her at all.
    In the morgue, they were invited into the visitor's room and the medical examiner, who had examined the bodies, came to talk to them immediately. “Agents, my name is doctor Malow and I was the one who performed the autopsy on the two bodies,” the young doctor introduced himself. “I still have work to do on them, but what I can tell you now is also something.”
    “Agents Gibson and Clark,” Todd spoke for both of them. “Can you show us your findings?”
    “Yes, sure,” the energetic young man said. “This is what I have for you. The two bodies are badly decomposed, but my initial results match those of the two missing FBI agents. I am sorry about that, by the way.” The doctor added, looking up at both of them. “Another very interesting fact is that both bodies are filled with bullets. I still have to take all the bullets out of them. Whoever killed them was determined to make sure they were dead or maybe it was just another sadist, with a flair for pain.”
    Asa visibly shuddered at the news and saw how Gibson tried to hide his own discomfort behind a cough. The medical examiner showed them the photos of the bodies, insisting that it was better for them not to see the real bodies. The photos showed a heap of decomposed flesh, covered in blood and dirt. The carefully photographed bullet entries looked ominous against the dead flesh of the agents.
    “From what I can see, the multiple bullet entries indicate well-trained shooters and yet there is not a single bullet hole on the vehicle,” Asa Clark pointed out. “That must mean something.”
    “That is interesting,” the doctor commented. “But, maybe the two agents simply weren’t in the car, when they were killed?”
    “There is no maybe about it,” Asa took another photo in her hand and imagined the photos of the two agents she was shown, when she was heading this way. The two young men looked healthy and ready to turn the world around for what they believed in. And here they were, dead, filled with bullets, abandoned in the wilderness, while their killers were still on the loose.
    “Ha,” Todd Gibson joked despite their dark mood. “Everyone in Montana is a well-trained shooter.”
    Asa could understand why he was joking, but the joke was wasted on her. She still couldn’t understand the whole situation, but one thing was for sure, it wasn’t funny at all. Gibson demanded to see the personal effects of the agents, while Asa remained in the room with the photos and the medical examiner’s report. She went through the whole thing again and again, until it became obvious that there was nothing new in there for her right now.
    Cursing under her breath, Asa took out her phone and dialed the number in Salt Lake City and waited for the Deputy Director to answer. On the third ring, Shepherd answered and Asa prepared herself for yet another hard conversation.
    “This is Asa Clark, sir,” she said and continued. “The bodies of the two FBI agents were found today.”
    “Bodies, right,” the Deputy Director signed. “I don’t know why, but I still hoped for a better turn out.”
    “They had been shot multiple times, but multiple shooters,” Clark continued. “According to the medical examiner, they have been dead for more than one week, so it is safe to say that they had been killed the same day they disappeared.”
    “Yeah, I imagined that much,” Shepherd commented. “Now you have something to work with, and I hope that you will be able to find the killers soon.”
    “Yes, sir,” Agent Clark said readily. “We have the site, where the bodies were dumped and the one where we found the car. That will help us to triangulate the possible position of the murder.”
    “Okay, okay,” Shepherd agreed. “You do just that, but now explain what is that thing I am hearing about your recent behavior?”
    “What do you mean, sir? What