She took out the fingerprint cards first. There were four of them. One had Jefferies’ prints, one had Peeks’ prints, and two had Garnett’s prints—one from the hall chest and one from the kitchen counter. That

  was all.

  ‘‘Why aren’t there more prints?’’ asked Diane.

  ‘‘I don’t know,’’ said Rikki. ‘‘Bryce took the prints. I searched the house.’’

  Diane took out evidence envelopes with blood samples from the Peeks and Jefferies scenes. Again, not enough samples. She took out the crime scene photographs. They were pretty good.

  ‘‘I took those,’’ said Rikki proudly.

  ‘‘These are good,’’ said Diane.

  Rikki grinned broadly.

  Diane studied the stills. The mayor was slumped on the floor, half on his back, beside a bar stool at the island in the kitchen. Blood was pooled under his head. There was a plate of what looked like nachos on the counter. Apparently a favorite of the mayor. A splatter of blood covered the counter in fine droplets.

  Diane, David, and Neva laid out the victims’ clothes, using a different table for each of the victims. Peeks’ silk shirt and cashmere sweater were spattered with blood on the back. It was high-velocity spatter.

  ‘‘Did you take any blood samples from the clothes?’’ asked Diane.

  Rikki shrugged. ‘‘Bryce handled all the blood. He took some samples from the scene. He said that when what has occurred is self-evident, you can sample the evidence. Anything more is a waste of time and money. That was the big criticism they had of you— you wasted money,’’ said Rikki.

  ‘‘Did he take a representative sample?’’ said Diane.

  ‘‘What?’’ asked Rikki.

  ‘‘Under his philosophy, he would have to take a representative sampling. Did he?’’ she asked again.

  ‘‘I don’t know,’’ Rikki said.

  ‘‘One of the things we need to do is make sure all the blood belongs to Jefferies. We may have the perp’s blood somewhere. That way we can reconstruct the crime scene.’’

  ‘‘Someone came in and shot the mayor,’’ said Rikki.

  ‘‘Where did he come from?’’ said David. ‘‘Was he in the house waiting for him? Did Jefferies let him in? Did he know him? Was it a stranger? There’s a lot of questions.’’

  ‘‘What do you think happened?’’ asked Rikki. ‘‘It looks to me like he had to let him in. I mean, the mayor’s house would have been hard to break in to.’’

  ‘‘Possibly,’’ said Diane. ‘‘But the only way you can get an accurate picture is to collect the evidence. If we are really lucky, the perp will have gotten a nosebleed.’’ She smiled at Rikki.

  Diane looked at the clothes again. Both victims had expensive tastes—Ermenegildo Zegna, Just Cavalli, Armani, Ferragamo. She poured out the effects found in their pockets and on their bodies. The two had identical signet rings embossed with an image of Alexander the Great. She rolled her eyes and shook her head.

  ‘‘Look at this,’’ said David. He handed Diane a watch that belonged to Mayor Jefferies.

  Diane cocked an eyebrow.

  ‘‘Expensive?’’ asked Izzy.

  ‘‘About fifteen thousand dollars expensive,’’ said Diane. ‘‘It’s a BRM Chrono-Automatic watch. Very limited number made.’’

  ‘‘Wow, can I hold it?’’ asked Izzy.

  Diane handed it to him.

  ‘‘What does it do? Is it some kind of computer?’’

  ‘‘It’s a hand-crafted watch made with expensive materials,’’ said Diane.

  Izzy looked at his watch, then at the mayor’s, and shook his head. ‘‘I could get me a good boat for fifteen thousand dollars,’’ he said.

  Diane noticed how uncomfortable Rikki was getting. She knew why.

  ‘‘That’s a nice watch you’re wearing,’’ Diane said.

  Rikki gave a small self-conscious laugh. ‘‘My boyfriend gave it to me. It’s a knockoff,’’ she said.

  ‘‘You’ll have to tell your boyfriend he made a good buy. It’s not a knockoff, it’s a real Cartier Tank Franc¸aise. Very nice,’’ said Diane. She wondered whether that was the shiny object Officer Pendleton saw Rikki pocket at the crime scene.

  ‘‘Really?’’ Rikki laughed nervously again. ‘‘He’ll be pleased. How much is it worth, do you think?’’ she asked.

  ‘‘It’s also about fifteen thousand,’’ said Diane.

  ‘‘Wow,’’ said Rikki. ‘‘He’s not going to believe it.’’

  Rikki sounded unconvincing to Diane, but maybe she was just prejudiced. Diane glanced at David and saw that he didn’t believe her either. What Diane was wondering now was what it would take for Rikki to quit, to be so afraid of being found out, she would take off. Diane suspected there was a very specific reason she was sticking around.

  ‘‘Well, it wasn’t a robbery,’’ said Izzy, ‘‘that’s for sure.’’

  ‘‘No,’’ said Diane. ‘‘It doesn’t seem to be a robbery.’’

  She was wondering whether they all were that wealthy, or were they making a lot of money. The mayor alone was decked out in more than twenty thousand dollars’ worth of clothes and accessories. The mayor’s job didn’t pay that much, but perhaps his Atlanta business was doing really well. She had a lot of questions for Janice to look into. She wondered whether Janice had searched Peeks’ and Jefferies’ homes.

  ‘‘When are the funerals?’’ Diane asked. They all shrugged. ‘‘It looks like the mayor and his friends had a lot to leave their heirs. It would be interesting to discover who they are.’’

  The door buzzer startled all of them. David went to answer it. After a few moments, he brought Jin back with him.

  ‘‘Hi, guys,’’ Jin said, raking his fingers through his black hair. ‘‘Good to see you back, boss,’’ he said.

  ‘‘Good to be back,’’ she said. ‘‘Is this a social call?’’

  ‘‘Nope, I just found something interesting. You know that guy who wanted me to hire him? Curtis something.’’

  ‘‘Curtis Crabtree,’’ said Diane.

  ‘‘Well, in the scuffle he left some epithelials behind and I decided to run them,’’ said Jin.

  ‘‘What did you find?’’ asked Neva.

  ‘‘He had alleles in common with Edgar Peeks,’’ said Jin.

  ‘‘Brothers?’’ asked Diane.

  ‘‘Cousins maybe; maybe uncle and nephew,’’ said Jin.

  ‘‘Did you know they were related?’’ Diane asked Rikki.

  She shook her head. ‘‘No. It’s news to me.’’

  28

  ‘‘No,’’ said Jin, taking a big bite of pizza. ‘‘I’m Legolas. I’m always Legolas. You’re Gandalf, David. You’re the one who disappeared for a while, then came back.’’

  ‘‘All I know is,’’ said Neva, helping herself to a slice, ‘‘that I’m Arwen, the most beautiful creature in Middleearth.’’

  Diane listened to them happily discussing their Lord of the Rings character preferences. She had tried to get Frank on the phone to tell him they were having pizza in her office, but he didn’t answer. Mike had come to join them briefly but had to leave early to get ready for his class in gemology. Izzy had stayed. That was somewhat of a puzzlement to Diane. She didn’t know if he was asked to guard her or what.

  Rikki had gone home. That was a relief to everyone. They didn’t know which side she was on, and Diane thought that, like her, they felt uneasy being constantly just a little dishonest with her.

  ‘‘Okay,’’ said Jin. ‘‘Who’s Rikki?’’

  ‘‘Gollum,’’ both Neva and David said together, and they all laughed.

  Diane was about to sit down and eat a piece of pizza when she heard a noise in Andie’s office. She opened the connecting door just as Andie was entering. She was all bundled up in slacks, a wool poncho, and gloves. She had a cap pulled over her frizzy auburn hair.

  ‘‘Oh, I’m glad you’re here,’’ said Andie. ‘‘I have your cell phone. Wait till you see this.’’

  ‘‘Would you like some pizza?’’ said Diane. ‘‘We have plenty.’’

  ‘‘Pizza? Thanks, but I just ate.’’ Andie took out a box and opened it. ‘‘This is great.’’ She slipped the phone from the box, flipped it open, and turned it on. ‘‘It’s a camera phone like the old one and has all the bells and whistles on it. But it also has this.’’

  She punched a couple of keys and the phone started talking.

  ‘‘Take a left on Rose Street,’’ it said. ‘‘Go point two miles.’’

  Diane looked at the map on the digital screen.

  ‘‘It has GPS mapping,’’ said Andie. ‘‘You just punch in the city and where you want to go and it will tell you how to get there. Cool, huh?’’

  ‘‘Yes, it is,’’ said Diane. ‘‘This is nice. It really is. How much more a month is this going to cost me?’’

  ‘‘Just ten dollars,’’ said Andie. ‘‘I put all your numbers in it. At least, the ones I know.’’

  ‘‘Thanks, Andie, I appreciate it. It’s a great phone. You off to your gemology class?’’

  ‘‘Yes, and I hope it’s uneventful this time,’’ she said. ‘‘Last time, we were just starting on opals. You know that’s my birth stone. Mike was saying they have water in them. I don’t understand that. He was about to explain when little Ethan turned up missing. And you know the rest.’’ Andie looked at her watch. ‘‘Well, gotta go. See you tomorrow.’’

  Just as Andie was leaving, Frank walked through the door. ‘‘I thought I’d catch you still at work,’’ he said.

  ‘‘Hey, Frank,’’ said Andie. ‘‘See you.’’ She was out the door.

  ‘‘Was it something I said?’’ said Frank, watching Andie leave.

  ‘‘She’s off to learn about gemstones.’’ Diane paused. ‘‘I’m director of the crime lab again.’’

  ‘‘You always have such eventful days,’’ he said. ‘‘So, was the crime lab a reward for almost getting killed?’’

  ‘‘No, it was a reward for not being Bryce,’’ she said. ‘‘Because of him the evidence is now suspect from a whole string of crime scenes processed by the lab, and the city’s dealing with a multimillion-dollar lawsuit from Jennifer Jeffcote-Smith, the forensic anthropologist he hired. Did I tell you I got served on that?’’

  ‘‘No. For what?’’

  ‘‘Witness for the complainant. You want some pizza? We have plenty. Izzy’s here.’’ She lowered her voice.

  ‘‘He’s been here all day. I called him to go with me to the lab in case Bryce decided he wasn’t going to leave. Fortunately, Bryce wasn’t there. Anyway, Izzy just stayed. I’m wondering if Edward or the chief of police sent him as a bodyguard.’’

  ‘‘That would be good if they did,’’ said Frank. He followed her into her office.

  David and the others were discussing the evidence when Diane entered. They stopped when they saw Frank.

  ‘‘Hey, Frank buddy. How’s it going?’’ said Izzy. ‘‘Come get a piece before it’s gone. These guys inhale pizza.’’

  They greeted one another and Frank sat down with a slice and a cold soda from Diane’s fridge. Diane caught him up on everything they had discovered so far.

  ‘‘I called Janice and told her Curtis Crabtree is related to Edgar Peeks,’’ said Diane. ‘‘I don’t know if that will mean anything. I also told her about the conversation in the supply closet.’’

  ‘‘Conversation in the supply closet?’’ said Neva. She laughed. ‘‘Who was Crabtree talking to in the supply closet? And why?’’

  ‘‘He and Bryce were talking. It’s the conversation you interrupted, David,’’ she said.

  ‘‘How the hell did you know about that?’’ he asked, laughing. ‘‘I saw them go in and I wondered what they were up to.’’

  ‘‘The supply closet is next to my lab, and the wall is thin. There wasn’t much to the conversation, not much more than what I learned from Jin and Izzy. Apparently it was Crabtree’s job to get employment in the DNA lab. Now it appears that it was part of some master plan to get the crime lab, the DNA lab, and the osteology lab,’’ said Diane.

  ‘‘What balls,’’ said Neva. ‘‘I can’t believe it. Did they really think they could do that?’’

  ‘‘They seemed to. What I don’t know is what their master plan was supposed to lead to exactly. David pointed out that the crime lab would be a great thing to control if you were in the crime business—you could frame or free anyone.’’

  ‘‘I’ll say,’’ said Neva.

  ‘‘I also asked Janice if they had searched Peeks’ residence. She had, and found nothing that would suggest why they had been killed, nor anything to suggest they had been involved in illegal enterprises. Peeks did appear to be living way beyond his means. With Jefferies it’s more difficult to tell because of his business in Atlanta. It’s successful and might account for his income.’’

  ‘‘Could Jefferies have been paying Peeks?’’ said Jin.

  ‘‘What for?’’ said Diane. ‘‘That’s the thing. What was the business really? Were they just a new criminal organization we haven’t heard of? Did they deal in drugs? What? It’s scary to think about. They get rid of a judge and have a new one appointed and—’’

  ‘‘Wait? Get rid of a judge?’’ said Neva. ‘‘What are you saying?’’

  Diane realized she hadn’t told them about the tainted evidence from the murder scene of Judge McNevin and about David’s suspicions. She nodded to him and he laid out all the evidence for them.

  ‘‘That’s why I quit,’’ he said.

  Jin, Neva, and Izzy sat with their mouths open. When David finished, no one spoke for several moments.

  ‘‘But the mayor doesn’t appoint judges,’’ said Neva.

  ‘‘He could influence the choice,’’ said Izzy. ‘‘He’s been making cozy with the governor. If the newspapers can be believed, they shook hands a lot. There was a photo op of them every other day. Evie was in one of them for her work on drugs. She said the governor liked the young can-do attitude of Jefferies. Evie was put off by him. Couldn’t put her finger on what she didn’t like,’’ Izzy said, proudly showing off his wife’s good judgment.

  ‘‘I told Edward Van Ross about our suspicions today,’’ said Diane. ‘‘He’s very disturbed about the whole thing, as you can imagine. That’s why I think it’s important to find out what they are—were—up to and how far it extends. Not only for the sake of Douglas Garnett, but for Rosewood. And we can’t forget that somebody killed them. Our most important job is to find out who and why.’’

  ‘‘Have you talked to the former mayor yet?’’ asked Frank.

  ‘‘I’m going to try to see him tomorrow,’’ said Diane. ‘‘I would like Neva and David to search the crime scene at the mayor’s house. Jin, go with them and analyze the blood evidence. And David, we need to find out what’s on Jefferies’ computer.’’

  ‘‘Okay,’’ said David. ‘‘It isn’t going to be easy. Maybe Frank can help.’’

  ‘‘Sure,’’ said Frank. ‘‘You know how I like codes.’’

  ‘‘Good,’’ said Diane. ‘‘There’s something else I want to discuss. Bryce and Rikki are looking for something. I put pressure on her today, especially with the watch business, and virtually told her she was going to have to relearn the job, and she didn’t flinch. I’m not sure why she’s sticking around, except that she must still be looking for something and we are her best bet for finding it.’’

  ‘‘What do you think it is?’’ said Neva.

  ‘‘It has to be something about money. It’s always about money, isn’t it? She and Bryce must know we are looking at them for some kind of criminal activity, yet they are not leaving. Bryce is suing the city for his job back, according to Janice,’’ said Diane. ‘‘Maybe he’s innocent, or maybe he’s just keeping everyone in the government occupied while they also have Jennifer’s lawsuit to deal with.’’

  ‘‘If there’s something in the mayor’s house to find, we’ll find it, boss,’’ said Jin.

  ‘‘Neva, try making nice to Rikki. I want to know what she pocketed at the crime scene.’’

  ‘‘You think she’ll tell me?’’ said Neva. ‘‘She’ll know what I’m up to.’’

  ‘‘Maybe, but she might let something slip,’’ said Diane. ‘‘Who knows.’’

  ‘‘Okay, I’ll be as nice as pie to her.’’ Neva wrinkled her nose.

  ‘‘Tell me this,’’ said Izzy. ‘‘If those watches are as valuable as you say and they don’t make very many of them, wouldn’t the company keep a record of who they sold them to? Wouldn’t there be some kind of serial number, like a VIN for a car? Maybe Neva can find out the number to little Gollum’s watch. Or maybe there’s some kind of receipt in the mayor’s house—if she stole it from him. If she’s stealing, that’ll give you something to bargain with. Maybe we can get her to talk.’’

  Diane looked over at Izzy and raised her eyebrows. ‘‘You’re absolutely right on all counts,’’ she said. ‘‘We’ll look into that tomorrow.’’

  ‘‘I could do that,’’ said Izzy. ‘‘I’ve worked burglary.’’

  ‘‘Okay,’’ said Diane, nodding.

  ‘‘So, where are we now?’’ said David. ‘‘What do we think happened at the house?’’

  ‘‘Well, I think Bryce and Rikki were right about how it went down,’’ said Diane. ‘‘Someone came up behind the mayor and shot him in the back of the head.’’

  ‘‘He probably knew his attacker and didn’t expect anything,’’ said Neva. ‘‘And the shooter didn’t steal anything. It was a hit.’’

  ‘‘Yes,’’ said Diane. ‘‘It was a hit. Both murders look basically the same to me. Same MO. Doesn’t have to be an outsider. The shooter could be someone that Jefferies and company were in business with . . . and we don’t even know about them yet.’’

  ‘‘What about ballistics?’’ said Frank. ‘‘How do you explain the fact that the bullet that killed Peeks came from Garnett’s gun?’’

  ‘‘That’s one we have to work on,’’ said Diane. ‘‘And we need to know if the gun that fired the bullet that killed Peeks is the same gun that killed Jefferies.’’

 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34