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Brennan continued, “Anyway, said video crew did show up after we arrived on scene. Two guys. They were pretty upset. We took their information down and sent them home. Also, neither Miss Bowers nor Mr. Collins took any life-saving measures after finding the decedent. Ms. Bowers stated that the deceased was ‘definitely not coming back.’”
Unease uncurled in Josie’s stomach like a coiled snake readying itself to strike. Near the garage, the sounds of engines revving battled the noise of the falling rain. The cruisers leaving to take Beau Collins, Margot Huff, and Eve Bowers to the Denton police station. From her periphery she saw a door on the side of the garage swing open, casting a dull glow on the cobblestones. Two members of the ERT, clad in white Tyvek suits, emerged. They moved through the night like ghosts. One carried a clipboard and pen. The other had a large camera. They disappeared behind the SUV.
“You cleared the garage,” Josie said. “Find anything in there?”
Brennan shook his head. “No. Nothing looked disturbed. All the vehicles registered to this home are accounted for.”
Josie asked, “When is the last time Beau, Margot Huff, and Eve Bowers spoke to Claudia Collins?”
“All three said they spoke with her earlier in the day at the studio which is located in the WYEP building across town.”
Mettner motioned to the house. “Place like this, they’ve got to have a security system.”
“They do,” said Josie. “I saw the sign at the end of the driveway for Summers Security.”
Brennan tapped his pen against the notepad. “You’re right. They have it and it’s active but there are no cameras.”
“No cameras?” Mettner said. “You’re kidding, right?”
Brennan shook his head slowly. “I confirmed it with Beau Collins.”
Mettner said, “Their damn vehicles alone are worth a fortune! Not a single camera in this whole place? Inside or outside?”
“Nothing,” Brennan confirmed.
“We can take this up with Beau Collins when we talk to him,” Josie said.
Mettner said, “Do they have household staff?”
Brennan shook his head.
Josie asked, “What about passcodes? Do you need one to get in here? Did Claudia use it tonight? How many people have the codes?”
“The homeowners and both assistants have the codes. You have to enter them as soon as you walk into the foyer. If you don’t, then the alarm company gets notified and then they, in turn, notify us that there’s been an unauthorized entry. Eve Bowers related that the system was already disabled when she arrived, so she did not use a code. I’m not sure who else has them.”
“We’ll ask Mr. Collins when we interview him,” Josie said. “Right now, I want to see the scene.”
FIVE
There was blood everywhere. From the large foyer, through the massive great room, and into the kitchen—mostly full and partial footprints that appeared to be from a man and a woman—pointing both ways and overlapping. The majority of the blood spatter was in the kitchen. It cut a messy, mottled path across white granite tile into the dining room where a large oak table dominated the room. The body of Dr. Claudia Collins slumped in one of the chairs. Her long sandy hair obscured her face, but a cascade of blood was visible along her side. Dr. Feist stood on the other side of her, gloved hands probing at her forehead. With Mettner in tow, Josie rounded the table, drawing closer. Still-wet blood soaked Claudia’s hair, dripping from its ends onto her khaki slacks and down her arm, which hung several inches above the tile. Rivulets ran down over her hand to her fingers and onto the floor.
Josie scanned the rest of the room. There was seating for a dozen people although there were only two place settings. Between the place settings, a bottle of champagne rested in an ice bucket that was now more water than ice. Beside it, a vase of fresh roses dripped petals across the white linen tablecloth. On either side of it candles flickered, their vanilla scent mixing with the scent of early decomposition and blood. Wall sconces shaped like lanterns dotted the walls. Each one was lit although collectively they did not look as though they gave off much light. Someone from the ERT had erected halogen lights on each side of the room so that they could work.
The head of their ERT, Officer Hummel, appeared in the kitchen doorway. “The candles were lit when we got here, as were the wall sconces.”
Josie looked again from Claudia’s hand to the doors leading to the kitchen. Droplets and more footprints. In this light it was easier to pick out the footprints that appeared to be from a woman’s heeled shoe and another set that were larger, resembling a man’s dress shoe. She and Mettner had been careful to avoid them, but they were everywhere, each one layered on top of another. “What a mess,” Josie said.
Hummel followed her gaze. “Both Eve Bowers and Beau Collins stepped in the blood and tracked it all through the first floor. We’ve already taken their footwear into evidence. We’ll match it up to what we’ve got here. Anything that doesn’t match might belong to the killer. We didn’t find any blood on Claudia’s shoes, which, as you can see, are ballet flats.”
Mettner said, “But whatever happened here clearly started in the kitchen.”
“Which means someone carried her in here,” Josie said. She pointed to the floor where, among the footsteps, was a trail of droplets, beginning—or ending—where Claudia’s hand dangled. “The droplets coming from her hand are circular with no spines but the ones leading from the kitchen out here are elongated, oval-shaped, with spines—or cast-off marks, if you will.”
“Right,” Mettner said. “When blood gets flung rather than dripping straight down, once it impacts a surface, it has the elongated oval shape with an extension. You know when I learned about this, my instructor referred to the spine as an elephant’s trunk.”
Josie said, “I’ve heard that before.”
Whether it was called a spine, a cast-off mark, or an elephant trunk, the measurement of the elongation and the exact shape of the oval were all dependent on the angle at which the blood hit a surface. However, passive drips, which were caused by gravity and not by force, and fell straight down, were circular with no cast-off marks.
