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“Yeah, we’ve been getting calls about him,” Jack said absentmindedly. “Apparently, he’s very fast and has covered a lot of ground. I’ve got uniforms looking for him.”
“He was definitely fast,” I agreed. “I guess youth has its advantages. What’s up with you?”
“Just getting everything laid out on the boards,” he said. “The knife missing from the kitchen is nine inches long. Part of a set. Serrated blade.”
“Yeah, that fits with the wounds in her chest and abdomen,” I said. “They find anything else?”
“Cami’s robe was hanging in her closet,” Jack said. “The one Thea and Kevin saw her in. And there was another robe that matched her nightie kicked under the bed. It was torn. There was no bottle of wine or glasses up in her apartment. No empty bottles in the trash can.”
“It’s been a couple of days,” I said. “Maybe they’ll find something in the dumpster out back.”
“One of those kids killed that girl,” he said. “Murder weapon originated in the house, but we don’t have it. And we wouldn’t have a body if she’d floated down the creek and into the Potomac like she was supposed to. We also don’t have the location of the murder. With that many stab wounds there has to be blood somewhere. I’m getting warrants to check vehicles and the roommates’ apartments.”
“Has next of kin been notified?” I asked.
“Cami’s not a local girl,” he said. “She’s from Florida. She’s got parents and two younger brothers. Looks like a nice family. She was the first to graduate from college and then law school. They’re devastated.
“We’re doing deep background checks on each of the roommates. Something doesn’t feel right about the events of that night. Still waiting to hear whether or not she went into the office, and I’ve not gotten a response from Judge Wallner on the warrant.”
“It’s late,” I said. “I’m sure he’ll get to it in the morning. Whatever Cami was working on was important enough that she got dressed and went into the city for those files, so we can’t rule out a case as the reason for her death. But it’s contradictory.”
“In what way?” Jack asked.
“If I’m home and I forgot something at work,” I said. “I’m not going to shower and put on fresh clothes. I’m going to toss whatever is closest on and make a quick run and be back as soon as I can. And when I get back, I sure as heck am not going to open a bottle of wine. I wouldn’t get anything done.”
“Which begs the questions,” Jack said. “What was she working on? And who was she working with? We find her in sexy lingerie and it was obvious two people had been in that bed. Do you buy John’s story about him being with her the night before?”
“Maybe he was,” I said, shrugging. “But you saw how neat that apartment was. Someone who keeps house like that probably makes their bed every day. So if John was with her Monday night and not Tuesday night, then who was with her the night she died?”
“Well, according to Thea and Kevin she was still alive around 3 a.m. Wednesday morning.”
“Yes, and she was in a good mood and getting wine,” I said. “So maybe someone was still upstairs at that time, and the wine was for both of them. She’s already dressed in her nightclothes. Just threw her robe on to run downstairs. Kevin and Thea go up to their floor. Will said he let his lady friend out around two in the morning.”
“There’s a lot of in-and-out activity at that time of the morning,” Jack said. “John got home from the dinner with Judge Mitchell after midnight. Maybe he went upstairs to do a repeat of the night before with Cami and she was with someone else. Or maybe he lied and he was the other person in her bed.”
He rubbed a hand over his face and then pressed his fingers against his eyes.
“I want to talk to Toby and Thea again,” Jack said. “Will is a self-absorbed cokehead, and John will do whatever is best for John. He’s got political aspirations. Kevin isn’t a moron, because you don’t get clerkships if you’re an idiot, but he doesn’t strike me as the type to go above and beyond. If I had to guess, he probably got his clerkship appointment because of his father. He’s sloppy and a drunk. He’ll probably end up being president one day.”
I snorted out a laugh.
“And he’s got some control issues because he won’t let his girlfriend out of his sight long enough for her to work,” I said. “That’s a little creepy. But I think it’s weird John said Thea was the clingy one. It seems to me like Kevin is possessive and jealous. All three of the girls have had a sexual relationship with John. And jealousy is always a motive for murder.”
“True,” Jack said. “Or maybe they’ve played musical beds with more than just John and he’s the jealous one. We need more information. All we can do is speculate until we have more.”
“Well, if we’re moving on to the Hargrove case, you can add this to your other board,” I said, handing him the file on Steve Hargrove. “Official ruling is homicide. There’s definitely fracturing on the parietal and the occipital. A blow like that would have rendered him incapacitated.”
“Long enough for someone to put him in the chair and put a shotgun under his chin?” Jack asked.
“Exactly,” I said.
“Any idea the kind of weapon for the blunt force we’re looking for?”
“It was too small of a sample,” I said. “I can only give an estimate of the actual wound site because I don’t have all the pieces of the skull, but I can tell you he wasn’t struck with a sharp object. There was no penetration or chipped skull fragments. At least not in the parts of the skull that were recovered.”
“Crimes like these are rarely premeditated,” Jack said. “Archie Hill showed up on a whim once. He might have done it again. Tempers are high and he just grabs something close by and hits him in the back of the head.”
“Only Hill said he was at school during the time of the murder,” I said.
