Chapter 5

"Damn Chip you look like you were run over by a truck."

"I feel like it Guinea. Where is Moses?"

"He hasn't been in yet. Probably stopped to check something out on his way in. Big Red was up here looking for you. That girl finds out you been fucking around she's going to cut YOUR balls off."

Just then Moses was coming through the door. He was carrying a manila file folder which he opened when he saw Chip. "You were right about that knot. It wasn't something just anyone would be able to tie. It, s called a clove hitch and this one was a double clove hitch. It's used to tie around poles to support weight without slipping."

"That sure puts the son in play big time. As a result of outstanding police work I discovered that Henry Hopkins shaved with a straight razor and it's still in the house."

"You're lucky she didn't use it on you. Where are you going?"

"To the morgue to see Annie. She said they did a professional job. Did she mean like a doctor or with something super sharp like a straight razor."

"While you are there see if the baggy belonged to Kane. I sure as hell hope so. I'm going to check out that pulley. See you back here later."

"Damn Chip, you look like you been rode hard and put up wet. Another long night, huh."

"All in the line of duty Anne. The city is getting it's moneys worth out of me."

"Yea, sure. What brings you to our bright little outpost in the basement of the public health and safety building?"

"The other night at the scene of our unfortunate Mr. Kenneth Kane's demise you said that whoever had done it had done a professional job. What did you mean by that?"

"That they were able to remove the penis and the scrotum in one cut each. There was no hacking away to get the job done. Why?"

"Well, do you think it was done by someone with medical training with a scalpel or could it have been done with something sharp like a straight razor in the hands of just anybody?"

"Hummm. It could have been someone with medical training but I don't think it had to be. One thing is for sure and that's that it was definitely done with something extremely sharp. It could have been a straight razor or a scalpel. I'm afraid I can't be more definite than that. If you get me a weapon I can match it to the wounds and then be sure."

"What about the baggy. Was that connected, no pun intended, to Kane?"

"Yea, the body parts in the baggy belong to Kenneth Kane. Funny thing though. There was seamen on the penis and yes it was his."

"Hum, could it have been from having his balls cut off?"

"No. The seamen does not just run out when the balls are cut off. Kane had had sex of some kind not too long before he was relieved of his body parts."

"Any way to tell who or what it might have been?"

"Not a chance."

"Is there reason that they hung him up like that? I mean was it to send a message?"

"I can speculate on the message part but by hanging him up like that he was sure to bleed out quicker. If he had been left on the ground he might have survived if he were found soon enough.

"As to a message he was hung up like a hog at slaughtering time. By hanging them up gravity caused all the blood to drain out which is the first step in preserving the meat. That's the way we did it on the farm. I suspect the killer hung him up like a hog to demean him even in death. To treat an animal like an animal."

"What do they do with all that blood? It must be a real mess."

"They catch it in large pans. They use some in making sausage and the rest they mix with the feed for the rest of the hogs."

"Damn, that's cannibalistic."

"Like they say. A hog will eat anything that don't eat it."

"Thanks Anne. I'll see if I can get something for you to work with."

"We're always here. At your service. See you later Chip."

"Later."

Moses checked the pulley out of the evidence room and headed for his meeting with Cal Nesbit at Seaside Marine. He had always wanted to own a boat but Rachel was dead set against it.

"What would a Jew do with a boat? A camel maybe, but a boat? You don't know anything about driving a boat. Besides we could better use the money for the girls college. Yada, yada, yada."

Moses pulled into a parking spot on the side of the building. When he entered there was only one person at the front of the store. A man in his forties with dark hair beginning to gray on the sides and blue eyes. He was of average build and as he approached Moses he was light on his feet like a boxer.