Read Online Sarah Armstrong - 02 - Blood Lines by Kathryn Casey - Free Book Online

pistol back toward the head, hitting near the entrance wound. The result? A peri-mortem bruise, just like this one.”
    “In this case, there’s some reason you don’t believe that’s what happened? The file I reviewed had a notation that your conclusion on the autopsy report will agree with a finding of suicide,” I said. “You didn’t find that bruise a convincing reason to consider murder?”
    “No,” he said.
    “Why not?” I asked.
    “Everything else fits a suicide, so my opinion is that this bruise is simply an aberration. Detective Walker agreed with me that when the rest of the scene screams suicide, something so minor isn’t enough to question manner of death.”
    I thought about that for a few minutes, and then asked one more question. “When you did the GSR test on the shooting hand you only tested the back of the hand?”
    “Of course. Why?” he asked.
    “Humor me and test her right palm.”
    “We’re not going to find anything, Lieutenant. She was grasping the gun, so the grip blocked residue from her palm,” he said. Isaid nothing, just waited, until the good doctor shrugged. “But if you’d like, sure. We can do that.”
    “Thanks,” I said, with a smile. “It’s appreciated.”
    “Now, since I’ve been such a good sport, you will, of course, return the favor by getting this woman’s sister to claim her corpse, won’t you?” he said. “As I mentioned on the telephone earlier, I need the room. These days the morgue has a permanent no vacancy sign.”
    I knew he wouldn’t be happy, but what the heck. “I’d like you to keep Ms. Cox’s body a bit longer, while I look into the case,” I suggested. “Until we’re sure we’ve got it right.”
    Predictably peeved by my request, Dr. Joe glared at me but said, “Okay, Lieutenant, but let’s make every attempt to hurry this woman along to her final resting place.”
     
    On the way home from the M.E.’s office, I called the captain and filled him in on what I’d learned about the autopsy and the bruising. “I’d like to poke around a bit,” I said. “I want to make sure we’re not closing the book too soon.”
    “That’s fine,” he said. “Now that you’ve got something to back up your suspicions, I’ll notify H.P.D. in the morning, tell them you’ll be investigating further. Keep me posted.”
    “By the way, Captain,” I added. “You didn’t mention that this is Brad Walker’s case, and I don’t remember seeing his name on the file.”
    Even on the telephone I could hear the captain’s sigh. “Sarah, I didn’t want it to color the way you saw it, make you second-guess if there wasn’t anything there,” he said. “Maybe I was wrong, since now you do have suspicions, but I took out H.P.D.’s assignment sheet because I didn’t want it to complicate matters.”
    “Okay,” I said. “That makes sense. I’ve got an appointment inthe morning on that Collins stalking case. I’ll see you at the office, not sure when.”
    “See you then,” he said.
    It was well after dark when I arrived at the ranch and found Mom and Bobby winding white Christmas-style lights over the wrought-iron gate at the entrance. They’d crisscrossed the circular emblem at the top with the white cord so many times that the Rocking Horse insignia was hidden under what looked like the web of a Chippewa dream catcher. I hoped it would capture all our bad dreams and spirit them away.
    I stopped and lowered my window.
    “I didn’t know you two were doing that tonight,” I said.
    “It’s a surprise for Maggie,” Mom said, looking proud. “It was Bobby’s suggestion, something to lift her spirits.”
    “Good idea,” I said, thinking Mom looked cute when she’s smitten.
    “I’ve got a full day at the office tomorrow,” Bobby said, explaining that his family business, Barker Oil, was getting into a bidding war over an oil company that had just recently gone up for sale. “The company president died suddenly. I figured if your