Page 81 of Taken Away

She set the receiver in the crook of her shoulder and studied the photos again while the line clicked and hummed.

Petechiae.

Fibers.

Finger marks.

The door to her office opened. An assistant started to step in, took one look at her face, and backed out without a word.

“Cade.” Burke’s voice came on the line, low and steady.

She didn’t ease into it.

“I’m amending Blackwood’s report,” she said. “The natural-causes ruling doesn’t stand.”

A brief silence.

“You’ll have to run that by me again,” Burke said. "Our new ME in Sylva already called it a heart attack."

“That’s why I pulled it,” she replied. “And he was wrong.”

His voice stayed quiet, but the edge was there now. “What do you mean, wrong?”

Vivian turned one of the photos so the overhead light caught the details more clearly, even though he couldn’t see it.

“Petechial hemorrhaging in both eyes,” she said. “Blue-and-white synthetic fibers embedded in the upper airway. Compression bruising on the wrist consistent with finger marks.”

“So say it plain, Doc.”

“This wasn’t a spontaneous cardiac event, Sheriff,” Vivian said. “Natural heart attacks don’t leave upholstery fibers inside a woman’s airway.”

Another beat of silence.

Then, rougher: “Are you telling me this is murder?”

“I am,” she said. “Mabel Blackwood was smothered. I’ll have the amended report and full image set in your inbox within the hour.”

A single, rough breath came through the line, tightly held in check.

“All right,” Burke said. “Send everything you’ve got. I’m reopening the case.”

He hung up without a goodbye.

Vivian set the receiver down and pulled her tablet back in front of her.

She opened a new report template and began to type.

Cause of Death: Asphyxia due to Smothering.

Manner of Death: Homicide.

She clicked SAVE.

The words sat on the screen for several long seconds.

Someone had killed Mabel Blackwood.

TWENTY