Diane took out a calculator, a protractor, and a roll of trajectory string.
“What’s that? Fishing line? What else you got?”
Diane watched as he poked around in her blood-spatter analysis kit.
“I’ll attach this string to one end of a drop with a push pin, compute the angle, align the string to the angle, and anchor the other end of the string. After I do several drops that way, the strings will cross at the point of origin of the blood source. I’ll probably end up with several points of origin, all at different heights and distances from the wall. I should be able to do a fair job of reconstructing the scene when I’m finished.”
Diane hoisted her case up on the nightstand and opened it. “I’ll start by marking off sections of the wall and taking pictures of each section. After that, I’ll start measuring and recording.”
She took out a small laptop computer. “Kenneth Meyers says he’s going to give me a new laptop. Some top- of-the-line model he has.”
“Ken’s as much a go-getter as Mark Grayson, though not as obnoxious. He’s been trying to get me to recommend his computers to the Atlanta PD,” said Frank.
Diane shook her head as she reached down and plugged in her computer. “Are you going to do it?”
“I told him I’m not the one to ask. I have a tough time just getting pencils.”
“Hand me that flashlight,” she said.
“You find something?”
Diane took the light from his hand, wondering if the batteries still worked. “This is new carpet, you said. When was it laid?”
“George started complaining about it about a month and a half ago. About that long ago, I guess. What did you find?”
“A round imprint in the carpet between the nightstand and the bed.”
She angled the flashlight until it showed the depression. It was hard to see, barely there. In another day or so the new carpet would spring back up and it would be gone.
“Hold the light and let me take a couple of pictures.” Diane laid a small ruler next to the depression and snapped several photographs with her digital camera. She checked the images in the viewer to make sure she had gotten a clear picture.
“Did George keep a baseball bat by his bed?”
“I don’t know. I’ll ask Star. That does look as if the business end of a baseball bat stood there, doesn’t it? I wonder if Warrick found it.”
“I’m having a difficult time grasping the idea that she was so completely incompetent here.” Diane took a pair of calipers, measured the indentation, and recorded the information on her computer.
“I’m not saying she doesn’t have potential. She just doesn’t have the experience.”
“But letting McFarland in the crime scene. Even inexperienced criminalists know better.”
“I know. I got the impression Warrick knew Crystal-that they were friends or something. Hell, maybe Crystal did her hair.”
Diane used her digital camera and markers and began the process of photographing the bloodstained wall.
“While you’re in here, I’m going to search Jay’s room. I’d like to examine his computer, if Warrick didn’t take it. Maybe I’ll find some clue as to what he was doing out late that night.”
Diane had prepared a small maze of string when she realized it was getting dark outside. Subconsciously, she heard muted sounds of Frank in a far bedroom moving things around. Other than those muffled noises, she was aware of nothing but numbers. Tuning out the grimness, the gore on the walls, the smell of the room-there was nothing but the silent crunch of numbers creating lines of trajectory.
“How about a break?” Diane started at the sudden voice coming from the doorway.
“Oh, hey. I lost track of time.” She looked at her watch. “A break’s probably a good idea. I could use a couple of minutes out of this room.” She anchored the end of the string she was holding and the two of them went downstairs and out on the porch.
It had gotten dark and there was only a sliver of a moon. Out here the stars shone bright in the night sky. The light from the living room windows gave off only a dim glow, so the two of them sat mostly in the dark on the top step. Diane watched the fireflies and listened to the crickets.
Beside her, Frank patted his pocket. “Wish I hadn’t given up smoking. I could use a cigarette about now.”
“Did you find anything in Jay’s room?” she asked.
Frank didn’t say anything for a moment, and Diane looked over at him. She could see his eyes were misty with tears.
“His fishing gear, soccer uniform, his CD player-all the things left of his life. Jay and I used to go fishing a lot. George liked to hunt, but Jay really didn’t like the idea of shooting things. But he liked fishing. He was good at fly- fishing, too. You know, that’s not easy. On weekends during the summer, me, George and Jake Houser would take our sons and go up to my cabin. George, Jake and Dylan would go hunting. Jay, Kevin and I would fish. I was thinking as I went through his things, at least it’s easier on George and Louise. I’d go crazy if I lost Kevin-especially like this.”
Diane hugged her legs to her and lay a cheek on her knees, listening to an owl in the distance.
“They’d taken his computer,” Frank continued. “I guess I should be glad that Warrick at least made like she was collecting evidence. But I’d sure like to take a look at his hard drive.”
“Maybe your cop friend-Izzy-can tell you what’s on it.”
“I’d like to examine it myself. It’s like you and blood spatters-you have to know about computers to be able to extract all the evidence that’s on them. You have to know where to look and how to look. Besides, Izzy’s a uniform cop and there’s a limit to what he can get for me from Warrick’s investigation. Izzy’s gone out on a limb as it is.”
Diane didn’t say anything for a moment. She imagined that the police department had somebody who could look at the hard drive. Then she remembered that Frank was an expert in computers and computer fraud. “Maybe they’ll let you look at it.”
Frank looked over at her. “Yeah, right.”
“You can ask.”
“I searched Star’s room too. Nothing helpful. Except it seemed to be empty of current personal things-it was more like looking at her past. I’ve been thinking about George and Louise being both shot and beaten. That usually means two perps, right? Two different weapons.” Frank seemed to be struggling for words. “I can’t help but wonder. . I mean, there’s Star and her boyfriend. . on drugs. It’s just, I can’t imagine Star with that much hate. . You have to have a lot of pent-up hate to overkill. Isn’t that right?”
“Don’t go reconstructing the crime scene before we’ve collected the evidence. We don’t know anything right now. We know that they were shot. The coroner did say that at the scene, didn’t he?” Frank nodded. “And at least one was also hit. We don’t know if both were beaten, and we don’t know how many people were involved. Now we just have a crime scene. Let me finish processing it. Tomorrow we’ll sit down and talk about it.”
“You’re right.” Frank stood up and pulled Diane up with him. “Look, neither of us has had anything to eat. There’s a Krystal down the road. You like those little square cheeseburgers, don’t you? Why don’t I go get some food and bring it back.”
“Sure. . that’s a good idea.” Diane stretched the kinks out of her back. “And bring back plenty of coffee too.” She opened the screen door and started back inside. “I’ll be upstairs, working.”
Chapter 14
Before Diane began again with her grim work, she picked up a silver framed photograph sitting on the dresser and looked at it. It was a studio shot of the family. Family portraits rarely tell the whole truth. They always show a happy family. That’s their job, and they do it so well that all who look upon the smiling faces of a family touched by tragedy never fail to be astounded that this terrible thing could have happened to them.
