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Jane tried to tune everything out. From her theories, to the two men beside her, to her natural curiosity. In that moment, she did her best to become Josh Gunn on an average Saturday morning. He’d been walking around, sipping his morning motor oil.
Barrow pointed to an area. “He fell here and banged his head against the coffee table there.”
A variety of objects graced the coffee table. A collection of pens and unused notepads, plus scissors, a roll of tape, and empty candy and chip wrappers. There was a mug ring at the edge, where he’d forgotten to use a coaster.
Barrow whipped a stack of photos from his pocket. She recognized them as the crime scene pictures he’d shown her at the police station, plus extras he hadn’t. “This is what covered the table before we took relevant items for testing.”
She accepted the offering and flipped through the images. The cameraman had snapped various angles and distances of the room and even the files and letters, which were part of the things taken for testing. Jane launched a compare and contrast mission. Also missing was a small plastic baggie with a dusting of white powder and—
She gasped, saying, “There was a second mug.” Her gaze flipped up to the agent. “Someone had coffee with him?”
“There was a second mug, yes, but it contained only Deputy Gunn’s DNA and prints.”
So he might have been drinking from both. Had he gotten a fresh cup when the first one went cold?
“Do you see anything that might lead to BOSS?” Barrow asked.
Jane spun in a slow circle, examining the most minute of details, thinking, thinking. If she were a deputy trying to solve a case and hide information from her coworkers, she would…
“May I sit on the recliner?” she asked. “To better get into character, I should experience what Gunn—Josh experienced. So where better to perch than his favorite spot? It will help me delve into the inner workings of his mind.”
Barrow’s head bobbed as if he were processing, then he nodded. “All right. After this, the scene is being released to the owner, so I don’t see a reason to deny you.”
Jane smoothed the skirt of her fit-and-flare and sat before he changed his mind. Once again, she scanned the room. Nothing out of the ordinary… Wait. There. The wall. The array of framed family photos. Each image contained either a picture of a happy couple, young and old, or kids playing with a dog. Something about those images…
Jane stood and closed the distance. Hey! These were the placeholders that had come with the frames. Each of those frames bore a scuff mark on the top, in the center, as if… Before she remembered to seek permission, she reached out and removed a frame from the wall, then turned it to examine its back. A piece of thin brown paper was taped over a lumpy back. A gentle tug caused a rip. Oops. Or rather, yay!
“Found it!” she exclaimed, removing the rest of the paper.
The guys rushed over, and she revealed what she’d discovered. A printed mugshot for Thomas Bennett, with multiple strings in a variety of colors taped around the edges. A puzzle!
Conrad confiscated another frame with gloved hands and ripped over the paper, revealing a printed headshot from the Headliner website featuring the smiling face of Ashley Katz and more strings.
Barrow reached out to do the same, but Jane stopped him, saying, “We don’t want to screw up the order. Give me a few minutes, and I can tell you where each string is supposed to point and recreate the entire board.” She rubbed her hands together. “Stand back and let me work.”
To her surprise, they conceded after Conrad replaced the photo.
“Am I about to witness The Great Unraveled Raveling?” Barrow asked Conrad.
The what now?
“You are,” her boyfriend replied, sounding amused and prideful.
Great Unraveled Raveling? What did that even mean?
No worries. “My Pops and I used to work puzzles together. Those with pieces, shapes, colors, numbers. You name it, we solved it. It’s only a matter of figuring out what goes where without compromising other evidence.” Once more, Jane tuned out the lawmen and their mysterious code talk, then removed the paper from each photo and and re-hung them in the proper direction. Using the size of each string as a key, she measured each possible connection. A job that required over an hour of intense concentration, all while Barrow snapped photos and video with his phone. Conrad wanted to help, but she insisted he rest and take notes. The man had been shot, for goodness sake.
When she finished, she studied Deputy Gunn’s handiwork. Not bad. Not bad at all. Twelve photos in total. Three rows of four. Up top: Tom Bennett, Conrad, Jane, and a bowler hat adhered to a photo of someone who kind of resembled Thomas. The name written beneath read Oliver Bennett with a question mark at the end.
