Page 46 of In Her Memory

“I’m saying she was attacked.” Dr. Stark ‘s voice remained clinical. “The wound shows clear evidence of a hard, sharp object striking from behind with significant force. Based on the contusion pattern and tissue damage, I’d say something like the claw end of a framing hammer.”

A heavy silence fell over the office.

Then Jenna asked, “Are you certain?”

“I’ve sent photos to your email for verification, but yes. The angle is all wrong for a fall—this was a deliberate blow.” Another pause. “I’m still waiting on toxicology, but the apparent cause of death is a traumatic brain injury resulting from that strike.”

The mayor had gone pale, one hand gripping the edge of her desk. “This is—” she started, then stopped, apparently at a loss for words.

“Thank you, Dr. Stark,” Jenna said. “Please email your full report as soon as it’s ready.”

“I will. And Jenna?” The coroner’s voice softened slightly. “Be careful. Whoever did this didn’t want it to look like murder.”

The call ended, leaving the three of them in stunned silence. Jenna slipped the phone back into her pocket.

“Well,” the mayor finally said, her voice uncharacteristically small. “I guess … I mean this seems to change everything.”

“It does,” Jenna agreed quickly. “As you know that Dr. Stark is excellent, one of the top minds available to us.”

“We’ll need to secure the scene again,” Jake added. “Although our chances of finding anything useful have been diminished. And we’ve got to make sure we talk to every resident at Calloway House.”

“Including Boyd Calloway,” Jenna added. She turned to the mayor. “We should still go to the meeting. But the purpose has changed.”

The mayor was already recovering her composure. “Yes, I don’t question her judgement. But we need to proceed carefully. If there’s a killer at Calloway House— “

“Then they might even be at this meeting,” Jake finished.

They all fell silent for a moment. A suspected accident had just become an official murder investigation. They could be about to walk into a meeting that probably included the killer and reveal what they knew about that very murder. They’d have to answer questions about their investigation and explain how they planned to prevent another. It was going to be a difficult scene.

“I’ll drive separately,” the mayor said, standing and straightening her suit jacket. “You two go first—as sheriff, you have official business there regardless.”

Jenna agreed, already mentally preparing for what lay ahead. “We’ll see you there.”

As they left the mayor’s office, Jenna felt the familiar surge of focus that came when an investigation took a dramatic turn.

They walked in silence to the parking lot, where Jenna’s patrol car waited. The morning had warmed, the autumn sun bright against the clear blue sky—a stark contrast to the darkness of what they’d just learned.

Jake paused beside the passenger door. “You thinking what I’m thinking?”

Jenna met his eyes over the roof of the car. “That Boyd Calloway hired Bickel to find exactly what he wanted to hear. And I’m going to have to tell everybody otherwise.”

“And the real killer could be sitting in that meeting, acting just as concerned as everyone else.”

They got in the car and Jenna started the engine, her mind already mapping out the approach to Calloway House, the questions she would ask, the observations she would make.

As they pulled out of the parking lot, heading toward the old mansion with its dark history and darker present, Jenna thought again of her dream—of Pete Shannon’s warning about trusting ghosts. Whatever happened in the next few hours, one thing was certain: nothing at the luxurious Calloway House was what it seemed.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Jenna pulled her cruiser to a stop beside the ornate Gothic mansion that was Calloway House. Morning light glinted off the restored Victorian windows, but shadows still pooled in the deep corners of the veranda, giving the place an aura of mystery that seemed particularly fitting for these circumstances.

“Nobody at this meeting going to like what we have to tell them,” Jake said.

“No,” Jenna agreed, checking her watch. “But they need to hear it for their own safety.”

It was just eight minutes before the meeting Boyd Calloway had arranged to reassure everyone that Calloway House was secure, despite Donna Marsh’s sudden death. And now Jenna had to break different news to a room full of Donna’s neighbors and the town council members. She and Jake climbed the steps to the mansion’s entrance. When they knocked, the heavy oak door swung open, revealing the worried face of Officer Greg Baldry.

“Sheriff,” he said, looking relieved to see her. “Everyone’s in the main parlor. They’ve been asking when you’d arrive.”