‘‘He hasn’t said anything to me, but I’ve always had
the impression that if Edward were elected mayor, the
first thing he would do is demand a recount.’’ Their laughter was far heartier than the joke war
ranted. Diane suspected it was mainly relief. There
was no way that Walter Sutton could defeat Edward
Van Ross in an election.
‘‘Please come by again,’’ said Mrs. Sutton. ‘‘Thank you,’’ said Diane.
Diane finally made it out the door and felt a distinct
relief as it closed behind her. She climbed in her SUV
and drove to Spence Jefferies’ house.
At the entryway she pulled coveralls over her
clothes and donned shoe and hair covers.
Whereas Mayor Sutton’s house had been all fabric,
tapestries, and deep colors, Mayor Jefferies’ house was
white marble and dark wood. Paintings of war and conquest were in abundance, all in classical Greek and Roman style, mounted in simple metal frames. There was the bust of Alexander the Great. And in the cen ter of the dining room table was a sculpture of Bu
cephalus, Alexander’s horse.
He was like a kid, thought Diane, pretending to be
a great conqueror.
‘‘Hey, boss. I thought I heard someone come in.’’
Jin met her in the hallway.
She knew they would have processed the foyer first
and would have made a safe walkway through the
house—a trail that had been scrutinized for all the
evidence they could discover.
‘‘How are things going here?’’ she asked. ‘‘Real good. David found something interesting.
He’ll tell you about it. Actually we could have found
it in the lab, but we just now got to taking a closer
look at the pictures.’’
‘‘That sounds intriguing,’’ said Diane. ‘‘Anything
else?’’
‘‘Gee, boss, you expect a lot.’’ Jin grinned. ‘‘I’ve
mapped the blood pattern and taken lots of samples.
I was just getting ready to go back to the lab. I
checked the rest of the house for blood. I found some
in the guest bathroom sink on this floor. There’s a
guest room back in the corner off the living room.
Anyway, I think the shooter got a little spray on him
and he washed up. The last team in here didn’t think
to check all the bathrooms for blood.’’ Jin sounded
cocky on the last comment.
‘‘That’s why we’re here,’’ said Diane. ‘‘I knew you
would be thorough. Think maybe the shooter was
hoping the guest bathroom would be skipped?’’ Jin nodded. ‘‘That’s what I think. There’s a divider
in front of the door, so it’s kind of hidden—in a way.’’ ‘‘You have any luck with Sutton?’’ said Jin. ‘‘Yes. Quite a bit. I’ll tell all of you about it later,’’
she said.
‘‘Sure thing, boss. We’ve done the downstairs, so
you can walk freely. The front stairs are done and they have half the second floor done. The others are up there now. They’re teaching Rikki about search patterns. Izzy’s in the study going through the books.
