Los Alamos

“Don’t be so squeamish-he doesn’t mind. Christ, look at this.” The back of the man’s head was crusted over with blood and pulp. “Here’s where he got it. The face looks like decoration-maybe a few good kicks, just for the hell of it.”

O’Neill was writing on his pad. “Weapon.”

“A blunt instrument. What do you think?”

“Blunt instrument.”

“Hammer, wrench, could have been anything. Anyway, it cracked his skull. Funny, though, there’s not much blood around. You’d think to look at him he wouldn’t have any left.”

“It rained last night. Maybe it washed away.”

“Maybe. No ID. Boys find anything further along?”

“Nothing. They’ve been checking up and down the Alameda. Broken bushes here where we found him, but that’s it. Can’t you at least shut his mouth?”

Holliday looked up and grinned. “Not now I can’t. Take it easy, O’Neill. Once the doc gets here, we’ll haul him off. You get used to it.”

“Yeah.”

“No wallet, I suppose? Keys? Anything?”

“Not a thing.”

“Great. John Doe for sure.”

“Doc-”

“Yeah?” Holliday said distractedly, turning the head back gently.

“What about the pants?”

“What about them?”

“I mean, what the hell is a guy doing in the park at night with his pants down?”

“What would anybody be doing? Taking a leak, probably.”

“No. You don’t pull your pants down below your knees to take a leak.”

Holliday looked at him, amused. “You’ll make detective yet, Tommy. Sounds right to me.”

“Well, then-”

“Look, a guy’s out at night in the park bushes. He’s got his pants down and his head kicked in. What the hell do you think happened?”

“You mean like that guy in Albuquerque? We never had nothing like that here.”

“We do now. Pretty sight, isn’t it?” Holliday said, gesturing toward the man’s groin. “Looks like he’s been kicked there too.” He moved the testicles to one side with the stick. “A little discolored, don’t you think?”

“I wouldn’t know.”

“Well, what color are yours? Come to think of it, maybe they’re blue too. Anyway, they shouldn’t look like this. He’s circumcised, by the way.”

“I noticed.”

“I mean for the report.”

“Oh,” O’Neill said, jotting it down. “Time of death?”

“We’d better let the doc tell us that. You got rigor, but I don’t know what effect the rain would have on that. Cold too, last night.”

“I can’t remember that far back,” O’Neill said, wiping his forehead in the unexpected heat.

“This is interesting,” Holliday said, poking tentatively at the man’s mouth. “He’s got a full plate here. No teeth at all. Kinda young for false teeth.”

O’Neill shrugged.

“Well, now at least we got a motive. Probably isn’t used to them and bit down too hard on the guy’s dick.”

“Jesus, Doc.”

By the time the coroner arrived, O’Neill had already completed the area search. “Shame about the rain. I’ll get Fred to look downstream just in case anything got thrown in the river. Like his wallet.”

“Yeah, if God wants to throw you a bone this week,” Holliday said. “Don’t figure on the wallet. Keys, though. Funny, taking his keys.”

“What have you got here, Ben?” Doc Ritter said, using Holliday’s real name. “Been a long time since I’ve been called out on a murder.”

“Well, you tell me. Careful of the clothes, though-I’m still hoping to get some prints.”

“After the rain?”

“Well, I can hope. We sure don’t have much else. John Doe with his head smashed in and his pants down.”

The coroner looked at him.

“Yeah, I know. Sounds like that case down in Albuquerque. I guess the papers will be all over us, but let’s try to keep them out of it until I can talk to the boys down there. We could use a head start.”

“You’ve got the whole police force out on the Alameda in broad daylight and you’re trying to keep this quiet? You’ve got yourself some news here, Ben, is what you’ve got.”

“I don’t know what I’ve got, except a corpse. Take a look at his teeth for me, will you? He’s got a plate but not like one I’ve seen around here before. Maybe he’s from back east.”

“Who is he?”

“No idea. Clothes don’t tell me anything. Civilian, but he could be on leave. Maybe a tourist.”

“Yeah, welcome to Santa Fe, where the Old World meets the New. Not too many in April, though, usually.”

“Not since the war, that’s for sure. I’ll check the hotels, though, just in case. It’ll give them something to do.”

“Maybe he’s from the Hill.”

Holliday sighed. “Don’t say it.”

“But he may be.”

Holliday nodded. “Then we’ll have the whole fucking army breathing down our necks.”

“Better call post security anyhow. Maybe they’ve got somebody missing.”