There was little flesh left on the carbonized bones and half of what remained had been charred to a cinder. They were both grimacing as the smel of burnt hair and barbecued meat roared in their nostrils. "Do you think this was a homicide?" One of the firemen who'd recovered the body from the ashes was leaning over Montgomery's shoulder, peering down at the sizzling corpse. He didn't look so good. Shock had leeched al the color from his face and his pupils were wide as bul et holes. Montgomery was afraid the man would vomit al over him. He wouldn't have blamed him. The smel alone was stomach-churning. The detective moved over just in case. "I'm pretty sure the fire didn't do this," Detective Montgomery said, turning to his partner and pointing down at one of the corpse's legs, which seemed to have survived the fire relatively intact except for the absence of meat on the thigh where something had cut away at it. There were long scrapes on the femur where someone had obviously shaved the meat off of it with a sharp blade.
