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Kane complied. He pulled out the knife, moved it as if to attack Wolfe and then shrugged. “Okay so what’s your point?”
“Give it to me and I’ll show you.” Wolfe held out one gloved hand for the knife. He ran the fingerprint scanner over it and showed Kane the results. “See, every action can be accounted for. The knife doesn’t remain limp in a hand during a murder.”
The knife had a set of fingerprints from when he removed it from the sheath, more in a different direction as he settled it into the palm of his hand and a few smudged ones on the handle from where his fingers slipped slightly and repositioned. “All this and without the possible blood slip. Not that the design of a Ka-Bar allows a hand to slip in blood, but I see your point.”
“Then there’s latent prints. Those we can’t see that carry oil and even DNA from a person.” Wolfe met his gaze. “If someone placed that knife in Zac’s hand, I’ll be able to tell. I noticed the reflex test you did on him. He is left-handed but can be called ambidextrous. I figure in a rush of passion as in a kill like this one, he’d unconsciously use his left hand—unless he’s smarter than we figured.”
Pulling on a fresh pair of gloves, Kane scanned the room. Blood spatter was everywhere, the victim didn’t go down easy. “Have you found Rio’s prints in the house?”
“Yeah, on the doorframe of the front door so far, but we have a long way to go. All the bloody fingerprints you can see are smudged and that’s impossible unless the killer was wearing gloves. The bloody footprints all look like a fit for Rio and the victim.” He sighed. “Going on the rigor, I figure the victim died close to the time Rio left home around nine last night. When I take the body temperature, I’ll have a better idea.”
Kane nodded. “What can I do to speed things along?”
“It will take hours to process the scene.” Wolfe cast a long look about the room. “It would save time if you could get Rio back to my office. Strip him down, bag his clothes, and give him scrubs to wear. Put him in one of the sterile rooms to wait until I get there. He can’t get in or out without a keycard, so he won’t be going anywhere.” He paused for a beat. “I’ll take swabs of his hands and then you can go.” He frowned. “I’ll need to get the victim’s body on ice as soon as possible. I’ll be sending Webber back to the morgue with the body. It’s not usual to have a suspect in situ and right now I need to be in both places at the same time.”
“Okay.” Kane cleared his throat. “I’m not trying to tell you your job, but we’ve documented the scene. Once you’ve removed the body, you can complete the in-depth forensics sweep later. I need you to check over Rio and run what tests you need to do because, if someone drugged him to set him up, we need to know what they used and how they administered it.”
“Yeah, well I’ve taken a blood sample, but some of the more easily accessible drugs are gone from the body in eight hours and we may have already missed the window.” Wolfe’s expression was grim. “But you do have a point. I can come back later with Webber. Emily has classes this afternoon.” He waved a hand toward the body. “I’d better get at it.”
Kane stepped around the blood-soaked rug, trying to avoid the footprints, and went to Jenna to explain. “Do you want to stay here or come with me?”
“I’ll come with you.” Jenna turned to the sound of Carter’s voice and then looked back at Kane. “On second thought, take Carter with you and see what information you can pry from Rio. Having an FBI agent take on the case is an advantage and, as they’re outsiders, there’ll be no conflict of interest should it go to court. Now we have three murders, we have another serial killer on our hands. If Rio hasn’t murdered this victim, we have a killer intent on manipulating our team, and I want Jo’s insight into their mind. I’ll let Jo do her thing and I’ll get a ride back to the office with her when we’re done.”
Giving Jo and Carter a wave, Kane turned back to Jenna. “I’ll be a time. I want to be there right through Rio’s examination. Wolfe’s not convinced he’s involved.”
“I’m following procedure and he was found at the scene with the murder weapon.” Jenna’s eyes flashed in annoyance. “I don’t go easy on a fellow officer, not ever. For me, right now with all this evidence, it’s hard to believe Rio isn’t responsible.”
Kane shook his head. “That’s exactly what the killer wants us to believe, but I’ll give you two pieces of solid evidence to prove his innocence. He’s left-handed for one and, second, the prints on the Ka-Bar are too clean.” He indicated with his chin toward Wolfe. “He put me through a series of tests just before to prove the number of prints that should be on a knife if it was used in a murder. One thing is for darn sure, Wolfe is the best there is when it comes to forensics. He sees the truth and not what someone wants us to see. I know Wolfe will find the underlying cause of it.”
“For all our sakes, I hope you’re right.” Jenna shook her head. “Although, it will mean the killer is still out there, and none of them stop until we hunt them down.” She sighed. “Before you leave, stop by Rio’s cruiser and check it for fingerprints and see if he used his GPS to get here. The fact he left his vehicle by the gate and walked to the house suggests stealth. I want to know why he did that and, if he’d seen someone suspicious, why he didn’t call for backup.”
Kane pulled off his face mask and grimaced at the stench. “Copy that.”
“Do you mind if I look at the victim?” Jo hovered anxiously on the porch. “Is that okay, Shane?”
“Sure. Keep to the outside of the room.” Wolfe bent over the body.
“Wait there, Jo. I’ll get you some coveralls and booties.” Jenna looked at Carter. “I’ll need the keys to my cruiser. Shane wants Rio taken to his office. Do you mind riding shotgun with Dave?”
“Nope. I figure there’s enough people here contaminating the scene already.” Carter fished the keys from his pocket and handed them to her.
“Thanks.” She turned back to Kane. “Get Rio ready to leave. I need to discuss the MO with Jo and we can’t discuss the case with him in the room.”
Kane rubbed the back of his neck. “I think he pretty well knows what’s going on, Jenna. He’s no fool.”
“Well, if what Wolfe said about the knife proves to be right, then setting Rio up is a diversion to keep us off the trail of the real killer.” Jenna met his gaze. “Get me the proof, Dave, before someone else dies.”
TWENTY-SEVEN
As the temperature in the room increased from the heat of everyone’s bodies, the smell of death became intolerable. Jenna pinched her face mask a little tighter over her nose. Books and movies rarely depicted a real murder scene. Sure, they gave the positions of the bodies and a liberal spreading of blood, but they didn’t come close to the real thing
. Only being on scene gave a true indication of the horror a victim had endured. She’d once arrived on scene during winter when steam still rose from the victim’s blood. It swirled above the corpse and then dissipated into the air, giving the impression of a spirit leaving the body. The sight had disturbed her sleep for weeks. No one took into account the internal turmoil a law enforcement officer endured when finding a slaughtered victim or understood the hard physical challenge they faced to actually place one foot in front of the other, and walk into a life-or-death situation. Then there was the part of all murders that no one dare mention in fear of disturbing someone’s sensibilities—the reek of urine and feces mixed with the stench reminiscent of the smell in the forest when a hunter dresses his kill.
Jenna ground her teeth and stepped around pools of congealed blood to examine the body. The sight made her stomach roll, and a mixture of remorse and anger took hold of her in equal measure. With effort, she pushed her emotions into that tiny space inside her head that allowed her to look objectively at the victim. She could feel Jo moving close beside her and a sideways glance at her expression told her Jo was battling her demons as well. She stared down at the mangled corpse and shook her head in dismay at the damage. It made her sad and angry knowing that someone had once loved the victim and no amount of the undertaker’s magic could ever repair her for a viewing. There would be no goodbyes for this grandma. She turned to Jo. “Facial damage similar to Agnes Wagner, but this one fought back.”
“It’s a similar MO to the Wagner murder, right down to the open front door.” Jo met her gaze over the mask. “I wonder if someone disturbed the killer?” She stepped around the body of Mrs. Carson. “From the blood spatter in the family room, she died there, and looking at the way her arms are out in front of her and the trail of blood, someone dragged her here. Maybe they were looking for a closet to push her inside, the same as Mrs. Wagner.”
Jenna tried to avoid looking at the unrecognizable face. “Maybe but we can rule out the kid who dropped by Rio’s house… There’s no way a kid could drag a body that far.” She let out a long sigh. “If Mrs. Carson was a member of the quilting circle, we know where the killer will hit next. We can’t watch all the women twenty-four/seven but we can warn them. I sent out a general press release last night. The townsfolks know to keep their doors locked until we catch this killer.”
