pleasant eye contact, all the while taking in subtle in
formation about a person.
Neva sat very still with her hands clasped in front
of her. She mostly looked at the table, occasionally
making eye contact with Jin or David.
Diane handed her the stack of photographs. ‘‘Have
you had a chance to look at these?’’
She felt that giving Neva something to look at and
study might help her be less self-conscious, a quality
that would make her a better criminalist. Neva took the
photographs, glanced at Diane, and began looking
through them.
‘‘The rope that hung Chris Edwards was tied with
a granny knot, both on the closet rod and on the loop
that made the noose. It wasn’t a noose that tightened.
It was made so that when his head was raised, he
would stop choking.
‘‘I suppose Dr. Webber told you that there was
blood in his hair. She believes the killer may have
grabbed him by the hair and pulled his head back to
stop him from suffocating as part of an interrogation
or torture. I think she’s right.’’ Diane saw the sheriff
give a subtle nod.
‘‘His hands were tied together by coiling the rope
three times around his wrist and securing it with a
granny knot. The hands of the three victims from Cob
ber’s Wood were all tied with handcuff knots. And
several coils of rope were wrapped around their hands,
securing their fingers and thumbs.’’
Diane turned to David. ‘‘Have you had a chance to
check the ropes for blood?’’
David nodded. ‘‘All the ropes that bound their
hands had blood.’’
‘‘So it appears probable that at some point after he
bound their fingers up tight, he cut off the fingertips.’’
The sheriff and Garnett winced.
‘‘He also added another twist, so to speak. The rope
from the handcuffs had a noose in the end that looped
around the victims’ necks. They were tied so that if they struggled and tried to get their hands loose,
they’d choke themselves.’’
‘‘Wasn’t taking any chances,’’ observed the sheriff. ‘‘I still don’t understand why you’re saying the
woods victims and Edwards weren’t tied by the same
person,’’ said Chief Garnett.
‘‘Significantly different knots,’’ said Diane. ‘‘The
person who tied the knots on the Cobber’s Wood vic
tims had knowledge and skill with knots. He knew
how to set them and finished them off so they
wouldn’t slip. The person who tied Chris Edwards’
rope used granny knots. A granny knot is an incor
rectly tied square knot. Even if he had tied a square
