When Rachel raised her brows, Jeremy explained. “It would be best to have a third party with us, that’s all.”
Rachel was actually relieved Officer Carswell was with them. She felt safer.
When they arrived downstairs, Rachel followed Jeremy down a long, brightly lit hallway painted gray. On their right was an area that looked like a giant cage packed with boxes.
“Our evidence lock-up,” Jeremy explained even though she hadn’t asked. “We keep evidence from recent crimes here, and the older ones are stored elsewhere.”
Rachel nodded and continued following him. At the end of the hallway was a larger room with good lighting. A metal table stood in the middle of the room. It held one regular-sized banker’s box.
The group of three stopped at the table and stared at the lone box.
“There it is,” Jeremy said.
Rachel looked at the box as sadness crept over her. One box. That was all that was left of a little girl’s life. An eight-year-old girl with the promise of a full life ahead of her that had been snuffed out by some horrible person.
As if reading her thoughts, Jeremy spoke up. “It’s eerie, isn’t it? One box is all our lives come down to. Sad.”
Rachel’s eyes lifted to his. “Yes, it is.”
“Well, should we get on with it?” he asked.
She nodded.
Jeremy set the small box he’d been carrying on the table. Then he lifted the lid of the banker’s box and set it aside. “We can look at everything, but if we unseal something, we have to reseal and date it. And we all have to wear these.” He nodded to the box of sterile gloves.
Rachel took a deep breath as she pulled on the thin gloves. She peered into the box tentatively, afraid to touch the contents. She didn’t want to ruin evidence that might convict or absolve someone.
“Nothing inside will bite,” Jeremy said, grinning. He pulled out file folders first and pushed them toward Rachel. “Crime scene photos, reports, probably the official coroner’s report, too. Feel free to look through them.”
She began scanning the official crime scene report, pushing aside the graphic pictures. Rachel wasn’t sure she wanted to see the little girl’s dead body. Jeremy pulled out manila envelopes that had been sealed and placed them on the table. There were large and small paper envelopes with all types of evidence in them. Officer Carswell stood to the side, ready to assist if needed.
Rachel found some of the reports interesting, but most of the information she’d already read from Avery’s files. She glanced up and watched as Jeremy scanned through the photos. He remained silent, but she saw him grimace. “Haven’t you seen those before?” she asked.
He shook his head. “I was a teenager when I testified. They didn’t allow me to see any of the evidence that the jury would have seen. I only told my version of the story and then left the courtroom.”
“That must have been difficult, testifying against your friend,” she said gently.
His eyes raised to hers. “By the time I testified against Keith, I was scared to death of him. I knew he was capable of being mean, even hurting people. But murder? Because we all believed the dead girl was his sister, I had no doubt that he’d killed her. I’d seen him hurt you several times in the past. I figured he’d finally gone too far.”
“You said you saw me walking into the woods. Did you see the girl’s face?” Rachel asked.
He shook his head. “No. I saw a young girl with long dark hair walking into the woods. She looked like you.”
Rachel frowned. “There were a lot of dark-haired little girls around. What was it about the girl that looked like me? The clothes?”
Jeremy looked frustrated. “I don’t know. I just thought it was you. I had just come to the park to meet up with Keith and Archie. That’s when I saw the little girl hurry into the woods. Then I watched as Keith followed her in. I guess I assumed it was you. He was always picking on you.”
“Why didn’t you follow him?” she asked.
“I didn’t want to be a part of his bullying you. So, I ended up going home.”
Rachel cocked her head. “Wait. You said you were going to catch up with Archie, too.”
“Yeah. So.”
“Where was he?” Rachel asked.
Jeremy shrugged. “He wasn’t with Keith, and I didn’t see him. So, I left.”
“I don’t remember you hanging around with Archie. I don’t remember him at all. I just remember you being Keith’s sidekick,” Rachel said.
Jeremy snorted. “Sidekick. Yeah. I suppose that’s what I was to him. Keith gave orders. Archie did too. I had very little self-esteem in those days. My father was the local DA, and I was just a long-haired kid who got into trouble sometimes. But I was never as bad as Keith or Archie. Those two crossed lines.”
Rachel wasn’t sure what he meant by crossed lines, but she knew how terrible Keith could be.
“Let’s look at some of this evidence,” Jeremy said, changing the subject.
Rachel studied the bags. “Can we look at her clothes? Maybe I’d recognize something.”
He nodded and carefully unsealed one of the bags. He pulled out a meticulously folded T-shirt. It was red with white stars printed on it. Some of the stars had brown spots on them.
“It’s blood,” Jeremy said, although Rachel had already figured that out. “They fold the clothes with stains around white paper to protect the bloodstains from smearing on the rest of the fabric. Just in case.”
“Just in case?” she asked.
“In case they need to test it again. But in this situation, it’s the girl’s blood. The report stated that.”
Rachel didn’t recognize the shirt as one she’d owned or anyone she’d known had worn. They opened each envelope as Officer Carswell carefully folded and sealed the ones they’d already opened. A
