Page 30 of Justice for Daesha

“Try looking at her limbs and extremities.”

Amos started with her left arm and worked his way from her shoulder down to her hand, then looked at each finger. Nothing there. Then he focused on her right shoulder and worked his way down that one, a fraction of an inch at a time, wondering what he was looking for. When he got to her hand, he stared from her wrist down to her fingertips, her nails bloodied and ragged. And that was when he saw it. “Am I looking at this right? It looks like the blood on her right ring finger is, I dunno, pulled downward?”

“Yeah. Like something had been taken off that finger.”

Amos turned the picture a couple of different directions. Jesse was right. The blood on that particular finger looked like it had been dragged down toward her fingertip. “Wonder where the ring is?”

“I’d say whoever killed her took it, or one of the emergency responders lifted it. Or maybe her husband took it. But regardless, we do need to account for it. It could be a crucial piece of evidence.”

“By now, any tissue stuck in its design would be deteriorated and useless,” Amos pointed out.

“Yeah, but what if it was fibers? Or hair? We could use that.”

“True,” Amos nodded in agreement. “Okay, I’ll ask Daesha about a ring on that finger. Maybe she’ll know.”

“I hope so. Gotta go pick up my kid. See you in the morning.”

“Yeah. See you in the morning,” Amos answered, but he really wasn’t paying attention to Jesse. He was staring at that finger.

Someone had taken something off of it, and he wanted to know what. But the bigger question was more important.

Why?

Chapter 5

It botheredhim that he had no idea where she rehearsed, but she’d been doing it for a long time without his knowledge, so he guessed he’d just have to keep those obsessive thoughts to himself. After gathering up all the photos of the crime scene in the files, he went home, dropped off clothes, picked up more, then drove toward her house, stopping at a grocery to buy a bouquet of flowers and a little surprise.

By the time he got to her house, she had already come home, changed, and gone. There was an empty ramen noodle container in the trash and a note.

I miss you already. Hoping we’ll get done about nine. I’ll call when I’m on my way. Mwah!

That made him smile. After he put the flowers in a vase he found in the living room and filled it with water, he shot back a text.

I’m at your place. Have a great rehearsal and I’ll see you when you get home.

He got back a text that was short and sweet.

I<3U

So he sent back his own.

I<3U2

That got him a smiley face blowing kisses, and he figured that was enough mushy texting for at least a little while.

He turned on the news and watched it, then turned it off and turned on the stereo system. To his surprise, the satellite radio station she’d been listening to was smooth jazz, and he smiled. She was just full of surprises.

By eight thirty, he’d checked on the animals, taken out the trash, and changed into lounging pants and a tank. At eight forty-five, she sent a text and said she’d be home in about thirty minutes, so Amos got out the frozen pie he’d bought, stuck it in the oven, and started the coffee pot.

When the garage door opened, Amos heard it and took a look at the pie. It was bubbling, and he pulled it out and set it on a burner. The coffeemaker was already finished too. He heard the back door open and she called out, “What’s that delicious smell?”

Amos was grinning when she stepped into the kitchen. “I baked a pie and made some coffee.”

She hiked up one eyebrow. “You baked a pie?”

“While it’s true that it was a frozen pie, technically, Ididbake it, so… I baked a pie,” he said, grinning like he was twelve.

“What kind?”

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