Read Online Fractured by Karin Slaughter - Free Book Online Page B

language of "possibly" and "most likely" instead of dead certainty. She asked, "Is this the part where we get past assumptions and down to hard science?"
    "Yes, ma'am," Charlie answered. "As I said before, the blood types make it easier. Kayla was beaten and stabbed here. You can see the cast-off pattern on the wall." He indicated slashes of dark blood. "The killer was in a frenzy, probably furious from chasing her or maybe from seeing her with another man-Adam, you could suppose."
    Will asked, "How long would the attack have taken?"
    Charlie looked at the walls, the stained floor. "Forty to fifty seconds. Maybe a full minute or two if rape occurred."
    "Does anything in the pattern suggest that someone tried to stop him?"
    Charlie put his hand to his chin, studying the blood. "No, actually. These arcs are fairly perfect. If he'd been interrupted or someone tried to stop his arm from swinging, we would see more variation. This is extremely uniform, almost like a machine going up and down."
    Will supplied, "The coroner says Kayla was stabbed at least twenty times, maybe more."
    Charlie moved on to the footprints. "There was definitely a lot of activity after she was dead. You can see from the two sets of footprints that two people-one of them with shoes matching Adam's-walked back and forth here."
    "Do you see signs that they struggled?"
    Charlie shrugged. "It's hard to say because of the carpet. On a smoother surface, I could tell you where the weight of the foot was, if someone was caught off balance or pressing forward to fight with someone else."
    Amanda said, "Best guess."
    "Well…" Charlie shrugged again. "It seems probable in the greater context of the scene that there was a struggle. What I can definitely tell you is that at some point, Adam was on his knees beside the body. We've got the blood pattern on his jeans as well as the tops of his shoes. I have a theory that he reached out"-Charlie stretched his arm out near the bloody handprint-"and leaned his hand against the wall as he put his ear to Kayla's mouth."
    Will stopped him. "Why do you say that?"
    "He's got a light spray of B-negative just around here." He indicated his own ear. "There's also that spray of O-negative on Kayla's abdomen, which you pointed out to me earlier. I'd draw the same conclusion as you-he removed the knife from his own chest while he was bending over her. In fact, we found a mixture of both blood types on the weapon."
    "Any fingerprints?"
    "Just one set. Preliminarily, we'll say they're Adam's, but they'll have to confirm that at the lab. There were also markings on the knife handle that look consistent with someone wearing latex gloves."
    Amanda told Will, "Throw wearing surgical gloves in with him bringing the knife to the scene and we've got premeditated murder."
    Will didn't point out that they would have to find the killer before they could charge him. "What about the footprint downstairs?"
    "That's where it gets interesting," Charlie began. "Type O-positive."
    Amanda said, "Different from the two victims."
    "Exactly," Charlie confirmed. "We found several spots on the stairs, a couple more up here. My guess is that whoever the blood belongs to was unconscious. As Will and I suggested, she was carried down the stairs. Either the abductor had to stop at the bottom to reposition her or she came to and started to struggle. Somehow, her foot touched the ground at that one spot."
    Will told Amanda, "I've asked Charlie to Lumenol the house top to bottom. I'm curious about where Emma Campano was while her friend was being attacked."
    "It follows that she was unconscious somewhere."
    "Not here," Charlie supplied. "At least, not by what the blood tells us."
    Will said, "We've had a lot of mistakes made today. I want to make sure that footprint downstairs belongs to Emma Campano. She's got a ton of shoes in her closet. Maybe you can get a latent?"
    "It's a long shot, but I can certainly try."
    Amanda asked, "Did you find any sperm in this