Page 74 of Little Dark Deeds
“It matches a set Higgins found in one of the kitchen drawers.”
“Just like last time, the killer arrived on the scene, used what was available, and then left the murder weapon.”
“Seems careless to me.”
Or the work of a person who didn’t believe they’d ever get caught.
“You scraped Tiffany’s fingernails,” I said.“Find anything?”
“Not a thing.Oh, and I can confirm, she wasn’t sexually assaulted.”
It was a relief.
To be murdered was bad enough.To be assaulted at the same time ...I couldn’t imagine it.
“Is there anything else you can tell me?”I asked.
“Kiera’s working on lifting some prints off those photos you were given.Should know something anytime.You gonna be here a while?”
“Foley’s allowed me to help them gather evidence,” I said.“I’ll circle back in a while to see if you’ve made any other discoveries.”
“Alrighty.”
He gave me a two-finger salute, and I left the room.
Before I began to collect any potential evidence, I decided to do a full walkthrough of the house, hoping I’d see something that piqued my interest.
I started in the kitchen, peering inside the open drawers and cabinets.It was easy to see which ones had been messed around with and which ones hadn’t.The untouched cabinets and drawers were in perfect order, not a single item out of place.The rest were a scattered mess, with items being tossed out, strewn all over the floor.On the far end of the kitchen, the back door stood slightly ajar.
The killer’s escape, perhaps?
I walked to the living room next, but there wasn’t much to see.A small television rested atop a table that looked like it may have doubled at one time as a TV tray.There was a sofa and a couple of chairs, all covered with plastic.On the wall behind the sofa was a painting of Queenie standing beside a man.I wondered if he was her late husband.
Moving to the back of the house, I entered the guest room.Aside from the bed, there was a nightstand and two dressers.I looked around the drawers, all of which were shut.Peered into the closet too.What struck me as odd was that everything seemed untouched.
Had the killer been interrupted during his search?
I thought about the tight timeline between the conversation Queenie had with her friends when she arrived home, and Janice and Martha’s arrival at one o’clock.
The killer may have been forced to make a quick escape, fleeing out the back door.
Having found nothing of note thus far, I located Foley and asked how I could be of the most help.They’d started placing number cards around anything they considered to be relevant.I was assigned to take photos of those items, so they could be bagged and tagged and taken into evidence.
A few hours later, we hadn’t made any brilliant discoveries, putting a damper on my theory.Whitlock tried calling Ron, but Ron didn’t answer.He’d left a message asking him to call back.
Overall, I was feeling a bit deflated.
All the pieces had started to fit together so perfectly in my mind.
I’d felt sure I was right, that we were getting somewhere.
But now ...I wasn’t as sure.
Maybe I was grasping at anything because I hadn’t yet had a break in the case.It happened, I knew—though not usually to me.
I was tired, and of all the poor choices I’d made that day, the worst had been my decision to wear high-heeled shoes.They were adorable, of course, a shiny, black, round-toed pair from the ’20s, which complimented my black-and-cream flapper-style day dress.But after standing almost all day, I was tempted to go barefoot.
I wiggled my toes and sighed.My thoughts turned to heading home.I longed for a nice, hot shower, followed by the comfort of my bed, alongside Giovanni and Luka.Deciding it was time to call it a day, I went looking for Foley.I’d taken a single step inside the guest room when one of my heels caught on a piece of carpet, and I tripped, falling face first to the ground.For a moment, I just lay there, catching my breath.
