Read Online Shadows of Doubt by Mell; Corcoran - Free Book Online Page A

I love those things.” Her mother grinned and nestled down into the chair with a cheery grin.
    Lou went through the file with her mother snuggled into the seat across from her with wide eyes as though she were a small child being read a bedtime story. The victim was a Marjorie Scott and had been found on October twenty-seventh, just after dawn in Lake Balboa Park. The crime photos showed the woman laying face up, naked with limbs carefully arranged. Her legs and ankles were set tightly together and her arms were resting snugly at her sides. The palms of her hands were upturned so that you could clearly see the gashes in each wrist. What you couldn’t see was any blood, at all. Though the death had been ruled as a suicide, there were obvious holes that didn’t seem to matter to the investigating officers. No clothing found at the scene, no tool or weapon used to make the wounds, no evidence as to how the woman got to the location, nothing. A lot of obvious, gaping holes. The coroner assigned to the case had ruled it a suicide with exsanguination from self-inflicted wounds to the wrists. There was evidence of scarring to the wrists from a from a previous suicide attempt which was in the woman’s record from when she was seventeen. The LAPD detectives had put in their report that the lack of clothing or ID was likely the result of theft given the numerous vagrants that were known to roam the park regularly at night. They also explained away the body being staged under the tree next to the lake as being another random vagrant’s disturbing the scene of the suicide. It was so bloody thin that it made both Lou and her mother grunt and groan at the report.
    Marjorie Scott had been a recent transplant from Chicago with no family or ties to speak of. She had been working as a massage therapist for a less than reputable massage parlor in Studio City for only a few months. Her presence in the universe seemed to be so insignificant that neither her employer, landlord, nor any one of her acquaintances had ever bothered to report the woman missing. Given all of that and the statements gathered, it actually was understandable how the investigators let things go as suicide along with the coroner’s findings. It was all plausible when stacked up, which is why it stuck and ultimately got the case closed. Aside from the lack of blood at the scene, the body being face up when it was placed and the fact that no one gave a shit about the woman, there was nothing to tie Marjorie Scott and Angela Talbott together. But it was one single line in the the coroner’s report that made Lou understand why Caroline pulled the case file and passed it to Lou. Traces of amylase were found at the wound on the left wrist. Said trace was too degraded to extract any DNA or even determine whether it was human or animal.
    â€œNow that is a coincidence isn’t it?” Lou’s mother said, even more wide eyed than she had been before.
    â€œDon’t start doing the conspiracy theory thing on me yet, Momma. There are a thousand reasons why the saliva could have been degraded.”
    â€œWell Caroline obviously thought it probative enough to pull the case for you.” Shevaun was clearly thinking on the same lines as Caroline Devereux had been. “Why don’t we call her and ask her? It’s not that late, she’ll still be awake.”
    â€œMom, she’s at some charity thingy. I am not going to call her tonight on this.” Lou considered the situation. “I’ll call her in the morning to get her take, then if she’s planning on backing me, I’ll take it to the captain.”
    â€œYou could go down there and bring her those croissants she loves and schmooze her into backing you up.” Lou’s mother was a brilliant extortionist when it came to knowing people’s culinary weaknesses. She had the best bakeries and restaurants on