26

  Diane walked to her SUV in the city hall parking lot. She stopped several feet away and looked at it for a moment. A ray of sunlight peeked through the blanket of winter clouds and reflected off the bright red finish. It looked pretty. She liked her vehicle. At least it didn’t get trashed this time. She thought about the number of times her attackers had taken their anger out not only on her but also on her car.

  As she was about to get in, she saw Janice Warrick and Izzy coming toward her.

  ‘‘You need to put a steak or something on that face,’’ said Izzy, squinting as if it hurt to look at her. ‘‘It still looks pretty bad.’’

  ‘‘I know. I tried makeup, but I end up looking like a corpse,’’ said Diane. She stood and waited. From their expressions, she could tell they wanted to talk, probably about Garnett. Izzy shifted his weight from one foot to the other. Janice studied the ground, moving a pebble with the toe of her shoe. They both believed Garnett killed Peeks, and they felt guilty about believing it, thought Diane. They wanted her to tell them they were wrong.

  ‘‘It doesn’t look good for Garnett,’’ said Izzy.

  ‘‘What about Shane Eastling?’’ said Diane. ‘‘He’s been acting kind of… kind of like he’s on the other side. Could he have substituted the bullet?’’

  Janice shook her head. ‘‘I was at the autopsy. So was Izzy. We wanted to get the bullet to ballistics as soon as possible.’’

  ‘‘We saw Eastling dig it out of Peeks’ brain,’’ said Izzy, wrinkling his face.

  Diane wondered whether that was the first autopsy he had ever attended. She couldn’t imagine it. He’d been a policeman for a long time.

  ‘‘Chief Monroe is getting less inclined to look for another killer,’’ said Janice. ‘‘He wants everything wrapped up real quick. I’m afraid they are going to cut Garnett loose,’’ she said.

  ‘‘We still want you to look into it,’’ said Izzy.

  ‘‘I will,’’ said Diane. ‘‘I have a hard time believing he killed Peeks. There has to be an answer.’’

  Izzy and Janice both seemed to relax.

  ‘‘Even if, by some … Even if he did kill Peeks,’’ said Izzy, ‘‘there must have been a reason that he doesn’t want to talk about—like protecting somebody, something like that. And the evidence against him for doing Jefferies is nothing, in my book.’’ He shrugged. ‘‘I’m afraid they’ll want to lump all the murders together just to get this over with.’’

  ‘‘I don’t intend to let it go,’’ said Diane. ‘‘You know I’m back in charge of the crime lab.’’

  ‘‘We heard,’’ said Izzy. ‘‘That’s great. Bryce is in this up to his eyeballs in some way.’’

  ‘‘He’s slippery,’’ said Janice. ‘‘I interviewed him about how he worked the Jefferies crime scene. He denied framing Garnett. Gave some razzle-dazzle about first finding prints with black lights before lifting them. I told him he’d still have to use special powders.’’ Janice smiled proudly. ‘‘He tried to tell me I didn’t know what I was talking about. Then he said both of the surfaces where he got the prints were shiny and he could see that only one set of prints was there. And I said, ‘Even on the kitchen counter?’ He stuck to his story. The chief thought he was just trying to look incompetent rather than guilty. I don’t know. Like I said, Bryce is slippery.’’

  ‘‘Bryce and Rikki were looking for a list at the crime scene,’’ said Diane. ‘‘Did Bryce say anything about a list?’’

  Janice raised her eyebrows and shrugged. ‘‘They were looking for something, I’d wager, but I don’t know what. Want me to get Bryce back in?’’ she asked.

  Diane shook her head. ‘‘Let’s keep it to ourselves right now. Van Ross suggested I might want to keep Rikki on for a while to see if she reveals anything.’’

  ‘‘I never realized he could be so sneaky,’’ said Janice, smiling. ‘‘He seems so nice.’’

  The cold was getting to Diane and she started to shiver. ‘‘I’m going to the museum. There are a few leads I’m working on. I don’t know how I’m going to prove who killed Jefferies and Peeks, but I will.’’ She stopped and looked sharply at Janice. ‘‘Who took Gar-nett’s gun at the crime scene?’’

  Janice Warrick frowned. ‘‘I did.’’

  Diane’s face fell. She thought she was on to something.

  ‘‘I’ll figure it out,’’ she said and got in her car. I don’t know how, but I’ll figure it out. Diane drove to the museum and parked in her space. She sat there watching people come and go, thinking she should have driven around back and entered by a rear door. She was looking so bad, worse than when Delamore first attacked her. No kind of makeup is going to hide this, she thought. And she’d planned on trying to see the former mayor today. Well, hell. She got out and walked into the museum and to her office. She got a few stares, but no one said anything. Good. Maybe it looked bad only in the sunlight.

  David was in Andie’s office waiting for her. Apparently he hadn’t slept too late. He looked better. Obviously getting his fears and suspicions off his chest had been good for him.

  ‘‘David, I’m rescinding your resignation,’’ said Diane.

  ‘‘What?’’ he said. He stared at her for a moment, then smiled. ‘‘You have the crime lab back.’’

  ‘‘Yes, with a very tightly written contract—by Vanessa and Colin Prehoda. I want to go over everything and see what we have to do to get everything back on track. And I want to revisit the crime scene at the mayor’s house before I see former mayor Sutton.’’

  The relief he felt was obvious. Diane could almost see all the tension drain out of him as he collapsed onto one of the stuffed chairs. He looked like a man whose world was righted again.

  ‘‘Nice to have things back to normal,’’ said David. He rubbed his hands together. ‘‘What are you going to do with Lollipop?’’ he said.

  ‘‘Keep her on and see if she leads us anywhere,’’ said Diane.

  Diane went to her office and called Colin.

  ‘‘Since I’m back as director of the crime lab, I can’t be working for you.’’

  ‘‘Already severed,’’ he said. ‘‘When Edward said he wanted to put you back in the crime lab, I took steps to change our relationship. But I hope you are still going to investigate the deaths.’’

  ‘‘Yes. We all need to untangle this mess to get Rosewood right again,’’ she said. ‘‘Can you tell me what Garnett says about the gun?’’

  ‘‘This is certainly difficult. I can tell you that he still maintains his innocence.’’

  ‘‘I intend to go over the mayor’s house again and see if I can find anything new. I’m sure the prosecutor will share with you any discoveries I make.’’

  ‘‘You’re sure of that, are you? I’ll have to stand on him to make certain he does. You’ve dealt with Riddmann,’’

  said Colin.

  Diane frowned. ‘‘Let’s just see what happens.’’

  She turned to David when she hung up. ‘‘Now, do you want to go see what condition my crime lab is in?’’

  Diane decided to enter the crime lab through her osteology lab. David was with her. So was Izzy. She had called Izzy in case Bryce decided to dig his heels in, and she didn’t want to involve museum security.

  ‘‘It’s like The Return of the King,’’ said David. ‘‘I’m Legolas. Though he had more hair and great ears, but I can handle it. Izzy’s Gimli. And of course, you’re Aragorn. You guys have your swords ready?’’

  Izzy chuckled. ‘‘I forgot my axe, but I have a gun. Will that do?’’

  Diane shook her head. David was far too giddy. He was acting like Jin.

  She punched the key code that unlocked the door between the crime lab and her lab. She’d expected it to be like entering a tomb—dark, long, and vacant. It wasn’t, of course. All the lights were on and Rikki was there, sitting in her cubicle working on her computer. Neva was getting a drink from the water fountain near the conference table. David had given her a heads-up; Diane could tell by the look on her face. She came over and hugged Diane.

  ‘‘Welcome back,’’ she said. ‘‘I am so glad to see you. Really glad.’’

  However, Diane didn’t think David had alerted Rikki. She looked surprised to see them. But her face quickly reverted back to a sullen expression. It was quite different from the isn’t-this-fun attitude she showed when Canfield was blowing his top at Bryce. Bryce had probably told Rikki he wasn’t in charge anymore.

  What do you know about all this? thought Diane as she looked at Rikki. Diane shifted her gaze to the rest of the room—a series of tiny labs in glass-walled work spaces containing equipment to examine and analyze almost anything, whether it was a gas, liquid, or solid. The crime lab could identify alloys, crystalline structures, and solutions. The techs could separate compounds into their components, separate large molecules from mixtures, or analyze their concentrations in a solution. They could separate and identify sounds, detect their frequency and intensity. They could analyze impressions, tool marks, and documents. The lab had an impressive array of national and international databases at its disposal—CODIS for DNA, AFIS for fingerprint. They had databases for bullet casings, tire treads, cigarette butts, fibers, shoe prints, animal tracks, hair, fur, textiles, buttons, paint, bugs, plants, and more; and they had software that could match, categorize, correlate, and render a map of all those things. It was a good lab. Diane was proud of it. Now she had to see what Bryce had done to it.

  She inspected each room. It didn’t look too bad, but in some of the rooms she was dismayed to see a thin layer of dust.

  ‘‘Something’s happened to the air filtration,’’ said Diane.

  ‘‘We tried to keep the equipment clean,’’ said Neva. ‘‘But …’’ She didn’t finish her sentence. Diane knew by we Neva meant herself and David. Rikki’s cubicle was the worst. There were food crumbs, coffee rings, and clutter all over her work space. And a jar filled with suckers—lollipops.

  ‘‘You can drink coffee at the conference table, but nowhere else. No food is allowed in the lab at all,’’ Diane said to her.

  Rikki’s frown deepened. ‘‘Bryce let me eat in my own space,’’ she said.

  ‘‘That’s irrelevant,’’ said Diane. ‘‘These are the rules now.’’

  Rikki didn’t say anything. Diane could see she wanted to glare at her but had the good sense not to. Diane wondered if she would quit. And if she didn’t, why? She had been thinking about Edward’s suggestion—let Rikki work here and see if she led her to any information about what the heck was going on. She may be just an innocent person who wasn’t trained right, or she may be involved in whatever Bryce was. Diane wanted to find out.

  ‘‘David is going to be assistant director of the crime lab,’’ Diane continued. ‘‘In my absence, he’s the boss. Miss Gillinick, since you’re new here, you will be going on calls with either Neva or David until you get used to the way we do things.’’

  ‘‘I’ve gone on lots of crime scenes by myself,’’ said Rikki. ‘‘I do good work.’’

  ‘‘That may be true, but I do things a little differently. Just consider this a refresher course,’’ said Diane. ‘‘Now, David, call TechClean and have them go over the lab. This would be a good time to get a maintenance check on the equipment and have instruments recalibrated. Find out what is wrong with the air filtration. Do whatever it takes.’’

  ‘‘Sure thing, boss,’’ said David. Diane thought he gave the word boss a little too heavy an emphasis.

  ‘‘Neva, I want you to catch me up on all the pending cases. We’re also going back to Jefferies’ house to go over the crime scenes again.’’ Out of the corner of her eye she saw Rikki come alert. Diane couldn’t tell whether she liked or disliked the idea. Maybe this would be a good learning experience for all of them.

  Diane motioned to the conference table. ‘‘Rikki, I would like you to sit down and tell me everything you know about Sheriff Canfield’s bones.’’

  Rikki looked startled. ‘‘What? I don’t know anything about them,’’ she said.

  ‘‘I just want you to tell me what you remember about them. Please, sit down,’’ said Diane.

  Rikki reluctantly walked over to the table and sat down, interlacing her fingers in front of her. The others sat around the table, including Izzy. Diane was surprised he didn’t take his leave.

  ‘‘What do you remember about the bones?’’ said Diane. ‘‘We need to try to find them. It’s important.’’

  ‘‘It has nothing to do with me. That was Jennifer’s thing,’’ said Rikki.

  ‘‘But you’re a member of the team; we need you to help. What do you remember?’’

  Rikki looked very uncomfortable with all their eyes on her.

  ‘‘Bryce brought them up here. He said the sheriff’s deputy gave them to him in the parking lot, and I believe him.’’ Rikki lifted her chin as if daring them to disagree. ‘‘He gave them to Jennifer and she took them to the darkroom that Bryce told her to make into a lab.’’ Rikki smirked. ‘‘Jennifer was really pissed about having to go from that big lab to a dinky darkroom. She hated it.’’

  ‘‘What did she do with the bones?’’ said Diane.

  ‘‘She got some plastic tubs and started sorting them. I watched her for a while. It’s boring work. I don’t know how she was sorting them. They all looked about the same to me. Just chunks of bone. I quit watching after a while. She worked for a long time.’’

  ‘‘Who asked her to get coffee?’’ asked Diane.

  Rikki shrugged. ‘‘I don’t remember. She came out for a break and we just talked about getting coffee. We had to take the elevator and go down and around to the restaurant—it’s better coffee than the break room. I think she volunteered. I don’t remember.’’

  ‘‘Did anyone else come up while she was gone?’’ asked Diane. ‘‘Any visitors to the lab?’’

  ‘‘No. I wasn’t there the whole time. I went to the bathroom and had a smoke, since the overlook was closed off,’’

  she said.

  Diane saw both Neva and David wince. She could swear they were about to duck.

  ‘‘What?’’ said Diane. ‘‘You smoked on the overlook? Did you notice the signs that say this is a smoke-free building? The collections here are sensitive to contaminants like smoke—not to mention the equipment and the evidence. You don’t smoke in here, in the bathroom, or anyplace inside the building.’’

  Rikki didn’t say anything, just hunched her shoulders. Diane looked at David and Neva.

  ‘‘Did you know she was smoking?’’

  ‘‘I mentioned to her she wasn’t supposed to,’’ said Neva. ‘‘So did David. Bryce told her it was all right.’’

  ‘‘And you didn’t mention it to me?’’ said Diane.

  ‘‘What is the big deal?’’ said Rikki. ‘‘A couple of cigarettes a day. This is a big building. We are on the top floor.’’

  ‘‘It is a very big deal. And it is not to happen again. However, let’s get back to the bones. What happened when you came back from the bathroom? Did you see anyone approach Jennifer’s lab?’’ said Diane.

  ‘‘No. There was just me and Bryce. Curtis was here for a while. He goes back and forth from here to the police station. I can’t remember when he came or left,’’ she said.

  ‘‘How did you meet Bryce?’’ asked Diane.

  ‘‘This sounds like more of an interrogation,’’ said Rikki. ‘‘I haven’t done anything.’’

  ‘‘I’m just trying to verify your bona fides,’’ said Diane. ‘‘I don’t know anything about you.’’

  ‘‘Well my re´sumeís on file,’’ she said.

  ‘‘Do you want to work here? I haven’t asked you that. Perhaps you don’t,’’ said Diane.

  ‘‘He was at the job fair on campus. I graduated from Emory. He and the chief of police had a booth and were taking applications. They called me a month or so ago.’’

  ‘‘What about Curtis?’’ asked Diane. ‘‘Do you know how he knows Bryce?’’

  Rikki shrugged. ‘‘I have no idea.’’

  ‘‘Where is the evidence from Jefferies’ house?’’ asked Diane.

  ‘‘Evidence?’’ said Rikki.

  ‘‘The evidence you and Bryce collected from the mayor’s house from both crime scenes,’’ said Diane.

  ‘‘Locked up in the vault, I guess,’’ she said.

  ‘‘What do you think happened to the bones?’’ asked Diane.

  ‘‘Jennifer’s bones?’’ Rikki shrugged. ‘‘I think she couldn’t do anything with them so she got rid of them and claimed they were stolen. Bryce thinks you took them,’’ said Rikki.

  ‘‘Okay, thank you for answering my questions, Rikki. First, I think we’ll take a look at the evidence from the mayor’s house,’’ said Diane.

  Rikki’s face brightened.

  27

  Diane was puzzled by Rikki’s reaction. She found it

  interesting—but puzzling. Rikki certainly bore watching.

  ‘‘Is the computer in the vault?’’ asked Diane.

  ‘‘It was taken to the police station,’’ said Rikki.

  ‘‘I think Janice delivered it here,’’ said Izzy. ‘‘We didn’t have anybody there to deal with the encryption. Bryce said he would find someone.’’

  The room containing the vault was one of the rooms that needed some serious dusting. Diane, Neva, and David cleaned the examination tables before opening the vault.

  The vault was the size of a small walk-in closet. Shelves filled with boxes of evidence lined the walls. Diane didn’t think it looked quite as neat as when she last saw it, but perhaps she was being hypercritical. The computer was there sitting on the shelf, its keyboard shoved in on its end beside it.

  ‘‘Let’s go through the evidence boxes first; then you take the computer, David, and see what you can do with it,’’

  said Diane.

  There were two cardboard boxes with evidence from the mayor’s house. Diane took the boxes from the Peeks and Jefferies murders to separate tables and opened them.

 

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