Читать книгу Scene of the Crime: Bridgewater, Texas - Carla Cassidy - Страница 10

Jenna followed Matt’s car, her heart thudding a familiar rhythm. It was the rhythm of the hunt. If what Matt said was true, then there was a killer in this town, somebody who had killed not once, but twice.

She caught killers. That’s what she did. If this murder was anything like Miranda’s, then surely Matt wouldn’t turn down her offer to help now.

He pulled up in front of an attractive duplex where a man was seated in the middle of the front yard sobbing. He pulled himself to his feet as Matt got out of his car and approached. Jenna parked just behind Matt’s vehicle and also got out.

“She’s dead, oh God, she’s dead,” the man sobbed, then reeled sideways and retched onto the grass. “She’d invited me to have breakfast with her. I got here and the door was unlocked, so I went in.” Each word came on a pained gasp and by that time a patrol car had arrived and two deputies got out.

“Jerry, take care of George, and Thad, get Raymond and Justin here, then start canvassing the area to see if any of the neighbors saw or heard anything.” Matt barked the orders sharply, his features taut with tension.

He went to the back of his car and opened the trunk, then pulled out a pair of gloves and booties. Jenna joined him there and looked at him expectantly. He pulled a second pair of gloves and booties from the trunk and handed them to her.

He didn’t say a word as she followed him to the front porch. There they put on the crime scene gear, then entered into a small, neat living room.

“Carolyn Cox,” he said as he looked around. “I think she’s twenty-eight or twenty-nine years old and works as a dental assistant.”

As he filled her in, Jenna looked around the room, knowing that every square inch of the duplex had the potential of containing a clue.

He went directly down the hallway and peeked into the master bedroom, then looked back at her and shook his head and returned to where she stood.

“No need for an ambulance,” he said and began to look around the room where they stood.

She was pleased that he seemed to work the way she did, slowly and methodically, not rushing into where the body was but rather allowing the scene to speak to him in subtle nuances.

“No sign of a struggle,” he said more to himself than to her. “No sign of forced entry at the front door.” He walked over to the two living room windows. “Both locked.”

She followed him into the kitchen, equally as neat and tidy as the living room had been. Carolyn Cox might have intended to have a breakfast guest, but she’d never gotten a chance to start the preparations for a meal. The only thing on the table was a vase of long-stem red roses, roses that Matt stared at for a long moment as a muscle in his jaw worked overtime.

“Let’s go see our victim and the scene of the crime,” he finally said.

She nodded and steeled herself for death. The scent of it hung in the air as they went down the hallway. It was a smell more familiar to Jenna than the scent of her own mother.

Matt paused in front of the master bedroom. “You okay?” he asked.

“Right as rain,” she replied and then they both stepped into the room.

Jenna couldn’t help the small gasp that escaped her as she saw the victim. Carolyn Cox in life had been an attractive brunette with blue eyes. She was clad in a pair of summer pajamas, the center of the blouse saturated with blood. On top of the blood sat a single red rose.

Jenna shot a quick glance at Matt. “Is this how you found Miranda?” she asked. “With the rose on her chest?”

He gave a curt nod as he stepped closer to the bed. “She doesn’t appear to have any defensive wounds.”

“So, was she killed while sleeping or did she get up and answer the door?”

“We’ll know more after Justin gets here,” he replied.

“Justin?”

“Our local undertaker and working coroner,” he said. He backed away from the bed and surveyed the room. Jenna walked over to the window and noted that it was locked.

Jenna found herself looking everywhere but at the victim, afraid that Miranda’s face would be superimposed over Carolyn’s in her mind. “I’m going to check all the other windows in the house.”

He nodded and she left the room. As she checked the other windows her mind whirled. The killer had staged the body with a rose. The rose meant something, but what?