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“Okay, no one on the camera. But these doors all lock. How did someone even get in here to strangle the guy?”
She snorted. “The cameras are the height of security in the inn. I’m lucky there was that much. Bonnie told me that every damn lock on the first and second floor can be opened with the same keycard. Anyone who’s ever had one, or could get their paws on one, could open the guest rooms.”
That made sense. Took away a bit his thrill for a locked room mystery, but still. “Not even counting the outsiders, most everyone in Hamlet has stayed over in the inn for a night out.”
“Yeah.” With an aggravated sniff, Caitlin nodded at the bed. “Whenever you’re ready, Sherlock, I’d love for you to give me your read on our DB. I don’t know about you, but the sooner we can get all the facts down, the sooner I can get to work on solving this thing. I’ve seen a lot over the years. Nothing like this. This one is a real piece of work, I’ve gotta warn you.”
She wasn’t kidding.
Leaning in again, he moved the vic’s head so that he could get a better look at the taut rope knotted around the man’s thick throat. And, okay, so that he didn’t have to see the man’s destroyed eyes. The way they bulged unnerved him, how eerily they stared accusingly at the ceiling even worse. Lucas preferred to focus on the marks left behind from the rope. Later, when the sheriff gave him the okay, he would remove it.
For now, though, he slipped one gloved finger underneath. Very little slack existed between the stiff flesh and the twisted rope. Abrasions left red scratches running through the mottled purple bruises of the ligatures. A classic case of homicidal strangulation.
But no fingernail marks. Not from the assailant trying to restrain a large man. Definitely none from a physically fit male in his prime trying to defend his very life. It almost seemed like Jack Sullivan laid there and allowed someone to strangle him. It made no sense.
The fact that he was murdered in Hamlet was just as incomprehensible. Who would want to kill this outsider?
/> His concentration was suddenly broken by a keening cry, followed by a muffled sob. When it continued, decreasing in volume if not its intensity, Lucas turned to look back up at the sheriff.
While he was studying Sullivan, Caitlin had returned to her notes. Meticulous as ever, Lucas was willing to bet that she had everything about the dead man, from his birthday to his shoe size, written down in a code that only she could decipher.
Caitlin was flipping through her pages again, adding notes and crossing things out as she tried her best to capture the crime scene on paper. Photos would come later, he knew. For now, she wanted to get down as many of her thoughts as possible.
As if she felt his gaze on her, she glanced up and asked, “You got something for me yet?”
“No. It’s just… what’s that noise?”
“The weeper?” Caitlin waved her hand vaguely in the direction of the closed bathroom door before jotting something else down. “It’s the wife. Mason is in there trying to console her. I guess she’s taking it kind of hard. Like I said before, she’s the one who found the guy.”
“Hmm.” Standing up, he moved closer to Caitlin. “You looking at her for the murder?”
She looked up from her notepad in time to catch Lucas as he tried to get a glimpse of her scribblings. She pushed her sunglasses down her nose so that she could face him directly. Her eyes were glassy and bloodshot courtesy of her late night but there was green steel staring back at him.
“This isn’t one of those mystery books you liked to read. Let’s leave the detective work to the real cops. I just need you to take a look at the body and verify the cause of death. Can you do that?”
It was a slapdown, no doubt about that. He couldn’t say he was surprised. A wicked hangover could turn Caity into a demon. He knew that. It was one more reason why he was glad he got out when he did.
“Calm down, kitty. No need to sharpen your claws on me. I know my job.” Wiping his hands on his slacks, Lucas stepped away, gave her space. He kept his back to the bed, knowing there was nothing more he could do for the victim until he got the corpse down to his office. But something nagged at him. “Question. Has anybody moved him?”
“Luc—”
“Doctor,” he told her as the first glove came off with a snap. Two could play that petty game.
Before she shoved her sunglasses back up her nose, he could’ve sworn he saw her roll her eyes. “Just the witness, Doctor De Angelis. The vic’s wife came in, found him face down on the bed and assumed he was still sleeping. Mase was first on-site and he took her statement. Husband’s still lazing about in bed even after she showered and got dressed, so she grabs the blanket, tries to shake him awake. Says he’s cold. Panics. Tries shoving him onto his back.”
Falling easily into her role as sheriff, Caitlin brought him over to the bed. Using her pen as a pointer, she gestured to the body.
“Big guy. Gotta be what? Way more than two hundred pounds dead weight, given his stats. It was a struggle for her. You can see where the sheet got all twisted as she pulled and eventually flipped him over. Once she saw the rope, she was done for. Knew he was gone, screamed the whole house down. Caroline got Mase on the radio, who got me. And then I buzzed you.”
Lucas nodded. That would explain it. “All right. Well, it’s definitely homicide. He didn’t do this to himself. I mean, I can’t say anything for sure until I get him down to my office, but I’m pretty sure someone else tied this around his neck and pulled real tight.”
“She might have done it,” Caitlin mused. She underlined one particular bit of chicken scratch covering the page. “It’s… it could be possible.”
Just like how he could tell when his ex was goading him, he was well aware that she was baiting him. Like a wriggling worm on a hook, she dangled that little tidbit in front of him, waiting to see if he’d bite. He almost didn’t because she so obviously expected him to. Even when they were still married, she always liked to tease him that he was a doctor by trade, and a detective at his core.
Lucas lasted five seconds.
“Okay. Tell me. Who do you think did it?” Before Caitlin answered, he guessed, “The wife?”
