Page 34 of Once Marked
“Mr.Walsh,” Riley said, “we’re here because the second victim was found wearing a vintage swimsuit, like the victim in the previous case.But the style was different, from another period of time.We were hoping you might be able to help us determine where it might have come from.”
Walsh frowned.“But Sheriff, didn’t we already establish that the first suit wasn’t from here?”
“We did,” Sheriff Beeler replied, his expression weary as he pulled out his tablet.“But we need to be thorough.This is a different bathing suit from a different era.Maybe you’ve seen something like it.”
He pulled out his tablet and brought it to life with an image of the second victim’s bathing suit.“Well, the style’s familiar enough, but I can’t say I recognize it,” Walsh admitted after a moment, his eyes earnest.“I pride myself on knowing every piece that passes through my doors.”
Riley noted the sincerity in his tone.Walsh was a man anchored by his connection to memorabilia.She believed that if either bathing suit had been part of his collection, he would remember it.
“Your assistance means a lot to us, Mr.Walsh,” Riley said.“Do you mind if we take a little time just looking around?”
“Of course,” Walsh replied, his earlier warmth resurfacing as he gestured to the racks of clothing.“Feel free.Maybe you’ll find something that helps.”
Riley’s gaze drifted across the shop, taking in the curated chaos of colors and fabrics.Each piece seemed to echo laughter and summer days long past, yet they were here in search of a connection to something unspeakably grim.
“Look at this craftsmanship,” Walsh said, picking up a suit adorned with sequins that shimmered like the surface of the ocean.“They don’t make them like this anymore.”
“True,” Riley murmured.The bathing suits on the two victims were definitely period styles, but somehow not as elegant as the ones she saw displayed here in the shop.
Ann Marie’s spoke up, “Sheriff Beeler, do you have pictures of the suits themselves?I mean, after they were removed from the corpse?”
Sheriff Beeler nodded.
“Could you pull up a photo of the suit from the first victim—Julie Sternan?I need to see a close-up shot.Something that shows me the details.”
“Of course,” Beeler replied, his thumb scrolling through files until he found the requested image—not a crime scene photo like those Riley and Ann Marie had studied earlier, but a picture of the suit itself.He turned the tablet toward Ann Marie, who leaned in with an intensity that Riley had come to recognize when her partner was on to some new idea.
As Ann Marie scrutinized the photograph, her eyes tracing the lines and shapes of the garment.
“May I zoom in?”Ann Marie asked.
“Be my guest.”
Ann Marie swiped across his tablet’s glossy surface, enlarging the photograph for a clearer view.The suit lay flat and lifeless, stripped from its final, grim figure.Riley watched as Ann Marie leaned closer, her blonde hair almost brushing the cold glass of the tablet screen.There was a furrowing of her brow, a slight parting of her lips—a silent gasp caught in the absence of air.
“See something?”Riley murmured.
Ann Marie didn’t respond to her question.“Could I see a photo of the other one?”she asked.
The sheriff brought up another photo and handed the tablet back to the young agent.Riley leaned over to see the image as Ann Marie zoomed in for details.
Meanwhile, Sheriff Beeler turned back to the store owner.His voice sounded discouraged as he asked Graves, “Steven, mind if we take another look through your catalogue anyway?Just to be sure?”
Before Walsh could muster a response, Ann Marie’s assertion came sharp and clear.“That won’t be necessary, Sheriff.This swimsuit wasn’t bought here.In fact, it wasn’t bought anywhere.”
All eyes snapped to the young agent whose confidence clashed with her fresh-faced appearance.
Beeler’s expression morphed from frustration to perplexity.“How can you be so sure?”
Ann Marie met the sheriff’s questioning stare.“Because I have experience dressing dead people.I’ve even made clothes for them.”
Momentary silence claimed the space as her statement sank in, leaving a ripple of unease.Walsh’s mouth hung slightly agape, Beeler’s stance shifted awkwardly.Riley suppressed a smile.She had often grappled with the juxtaposition of Ann Marie’s sunny optimism and her unsettling expertise in the mortuary business.
She explained to the two men, “Agent Esmer has put in some time working alongside her father in his funeral parlor.”
Ann Marie, undisturbed by the reactions, leaned forward and swiped at the screen.
“These suits were clearly hand-made,” she soon concluded, certainty in her voice.
