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“If she had one, she never told us. She could be very private about her personal affairs though.” Walter prattled this off as if he were speaking of a stranger. Logic was stepping up to butt against sorrow, resulting in a cool detachment.
“Mrs.Bernard?” Amanda prompted, and the woman shook her head. “What about close friends that Leah had? She might have told them about her love life.”
“Her closest pals were Janie, Tammi, and Charlene,” Margo said. “All nice girls too. They’re going to be devastated.”
“We’ll need their last names, if you have those.” Trent looked at Margo eagerly, but it was Walter who gave them the surnames. “Thank you,” Trent told him as he tapped them into his tablet.
Amanda stood, Trent following her lead, and she handed Walter her business card. “We are very sorry for your loss.”
Margo wiped her cheeks and sniffled. “Oh, and this is going to break Great-Gamma’s heart. What are we going to do?” She looked at her husband, the skin beneath her eyes already dark and puffy.
“We have to tell her.” Walter’s chin trembled, and he told Amanda and Trent, “My grandmother’s turning a hundred this Friday. Leah was excited about a big bash we’re throwing her.” He swallowed roughly. “I suppose that will be canceled.”
The hits kept coming for the Bernard family, but this was just the beginning. There would be endless reasons to grieve and other occasions when Leah’s absence would be especially felt or plans that would never come to fruition. “Again, our sincerest condolences. We can send someone from Victim Services to be with you and help you navigate this time.”
Victim Services was a branch of the PWCPD with qualified counselors to assist victims of crime and their families.
“We’d appreciate that.” The acceptance came from Walter, and it moved Amanda. Men stereotypically tried to project strength even to their own detriment.
Outside, Amanda and Trent loaded into the car. The clock on the dash told her that it was nearing 7 AM. She was so drained that it might as well have been seven at night.
“And this is just Monday.” Amanda sighed and glanced over at Trent as he put the vehicle into gear.
“It’s going to be one hell of a week, that’s all I’ve gotta say.” He got them on the road toward the gas station.
FOUR
On the way back to Fill N Go, Amanda placed a call to Victim Services requesting that they pay the Bernards a visit.
A new car was in the gas station’s lot and likely belonged to the owner. Marty Evans was slumped in his sedan until he saw her and straightened his posture. A sure sign he was eager to have their talk and get clearance to leave. She didn’t let on that she noticed him and beelined for Rideout and Liam, who were loading the body into their van.
Liam closed the back doors, sealing Leah Bernard inside. Her next stop would be the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Manassas, more specifically, a slab in the morgue for dissection. A sad but necessary reality. While her cause of death seemed to clearly be the result of gunshot wounds, the slugs or bullet fragments inside her would need to be retrieved. They’d be pieced together, and the lands and grooves examined. These were caused from the rifling in the barrel of the gun and provided a fingerprint of sorts that would only match the specific gun used.
Hans Rideout was shaking his head and looking at the back of the van. “This is all such a shame and so meaningless. You can be assured we’re going to take care of her.” His solemn tone made it seem as if he were making this vow to Leah herself.
Regardless, Amanda said, “I have no doubt.” Her history of working with the medical examiner had earned him her respect. Not only was he serious about his work, but he also had morgue humor down pat, which he dispensed when tension was at its highest. “What was the time of death?” she asked when no one spoke.
“I’d preliminarily estimate within the last three hours.”
Amanda pulled her phone and woke the screen. 7:05 AM. “She was found at five, so between four and five.”
“That was an easy one to narrow down,” Rideout said. “But as I said, preliminarily. I’ll be able to confirm for certain once I’ve spent more time with her.”
“We’re supposed to have security footage to watch too, so that should give us an exact time,” Trent said.
“Text me with that if you get so lucky. I can tell you that from a look at her wounds, she was shot from a distance between six to eight feet.”
Amanda and Trent glanced at each other. If Leah had been targeted, that margin would be smaller. Though he or she may have stood at the door, fired, and left. “Can you tell from which direction?”
“CSIs Blair and Donnelly found two nine mil bullet casings in the snack and gum aisle. A nine mil is consistent with the victim’s injuries.”
“Huh. That’s interesting.” That revelation pivoted her earlier thinking. If the shooter had gone to the gas station intending to kill Leah, why mill about the store? Did they get cold feet and delay? If so, she circled back to why they had fired from a distance once they decided to go ahead with their plan. If this was a revenge killing, wouldn’t that person want to look Leah in the eye when they pulled the trigger?
“You look taken aback by that,” Rideout said, “but I’m sure the CSIs can tell you more.” He turned to Liam and asked, “When is the autopsy?”
Liam handled Rideout’s schedule, organizing it in an electronic calendar on a tablet he carted around with him. “Ten this morning,” Liam told him without needing to consult the device.
Rideout gestured toward his assistant while looking at Amanda. “There you go. Should we expect you to drop by?”
