Read Online Stiff Penalty (A Mattie Winston Mystery) by Annelise Ryan - Free Book Online
Authors: Annelise Ryan
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the item out.
“Look at this,” I said, holding up a small, handheld camcorder. I pointed to the area between the cabinet and fridge. “It was wedged into this space here with the lens pointed out toward the kitchen.”
No one looked particularly excited by my news until I told them the next part. “And there’s blood on it.”
“I don’t suppose it’s turned on,” Richmond asked.
I shook my head, and after making sure there was no blood evidence on the power button, I pushed it. Nothing happened. “It won’t turn on. I wonder if the battery is dead,” I said. “Maybe Derrick was using it when his killer was here. How else would it have ended up stuck between the fridge and the counter?”
Richmond said, “Maybe it was sitting on the edge of the counter and got knocked off during the struggle. Maybe it’s not a dead battery, maybe it’s broken.”
Junior said, “I’m pretty sure it’s new. I saw a box for it in the trash out there in the laundry room.” He pointed to the room off the back of the kitchen.
“Did anyone see a charge cord for it?” I asked.
Everyone looked around the kitchen, scanning the outlets above the countertops, but there was nothing there. Jonas walked back into the laundry room and said, “I’ll bet this is it.”
I tiptoed my way through the spilled silverware and the blood smears over to the entrance to the laundry room. There, on a table against the wall, was a cord plugged into an outlet. I picked up the other end and examined the adapter, comparing it to the plug-in notch on the camera. “Looks like a fit,” I said.
“Stuff like that often comes with some charge on the battery, but they have to be plugged in for twenty-four hours before they’re fully charged,” Jonas said. He rummaged a little deeper in the trash bin and pulled out a piece of paper. “It looks like it might have arrived today. Here’s the box and the receipt. The camera was ordered two days ago from a company in Massachusetts.” He then looked at the box and smiled. “And it was delivered via UPS.”
“Good news for us,” Richmond said as Jonas slid the receipt into a plastic bag, sealed it, and handed it over to him. “We should be able to find out exactly when it was delivered.” Jonas then handed the box over to Richmond, who snapped a picture of the labels on it with his phone’s camera before handing it back to Jonas for packaging, labeling, and sealing. Then Richmond stepped out of the room, presumably to make a call to UPS.
I resumed my picture taking, and Jonas resumed his evidence collection with some help from a trio of uniformed officers. A few minutes later Richmond returned and said, “You were right, Jonas. UPS delivered that package at ten this morning.”
“Should we plug the camera in to charge it up?” I asked. “Maybe there’s something on it that’s relevant to the crime. Maybe Ames filmed whoever was here.”
Richmond considered this and then said, “It’s not a bad idea, but for the sake of securing our evidentiary chain, I’d rather just bag and tag everything as it is for now and let Arnie or the lab in Madison deal with it.”
Jonas did just that with the camera and the power cord, adding them to the box of growing evidentiary specimens he had on the floor of the laundry room.
I had finished taking pictures in the kitchen, so I moved on to snap the rest of the house. I carefully walked the length of the front hallway, taking shots of the blood trail. I took some general pictures of all the rooms off the hallway as I went, and while none of them appeared to offer any evidentiary value, I did find the color schemes and architecture interesting. Every room had high wooden baseboards, crown molding, and wide window trim with decorative rosettes at the corners. All the trim was painted in a bright, glossy white that beautifully framed the vividly colored plaster walls. The living room, entryway, and hallway were painted in a rich, dark, forest green,
“Look at this,” I said, holding up a small, handheld camcorder. I pointed to the area between the cabinet and fridge. “It was wedged into this space here with the lens pointed out toward the kitchen.”
No one looked particularly excited by my news until I told them the next part. “And there’s blood on it.”
“I don’t suppose it’s turned on,” Richmond asked.
I shook my head, and after making sure there was no blood evidence on the power button, I pushed it. Nothing happened. “It won’t turn on. I wonder if the battery is dead,” I said. “Maybe Derrick was using it when his killer was here. How else would it have ended up stuck between the fridge and the counter?”
Richmond said, “Maybe it was sitting on the edge of the counter and got knocked off during the struggle. Maybe it’s not a dead battery, maybe it’s broken.”
Junior said, “I’m pretty sure it’s new. I saw a box for it in the trash out there in the laundry room.” He pointed to the room off the back of the kitchen.
“Did anyone see a charge cord for it?” I asked.
Everyone looked around the kitchen, scanning the outlets above the countertops, but there was nothing there. Jonas walked back into the laundry room and said, “I’ll bet this is it.”
I tiptoed my way through the spilled silverware and the blood smears over to the entrance to the laundry room. There, on a table against the wall, was a cord plugged into an outlet. I picked up the other end and examined the adapter, comparing it to the plug-in notch on the camera. “Looks like a fit,” I said.
“Stuff like that often comes with some charge on the battery, but they have to be plugged in for twenty-four hours before they’re fully charged,” Jonas said. He rummaged a little deeper in the trash bin and pulled out a piece of paper. “It looks like it might have arrived today. Here’s the box and the receipt. The camera was ordered two days ago from a company in Massachusetts.” He then looked at the box and smiled. “And it was delivered via UPS.”
“Good news for us,” Richmond said as Jonas slid the receipt into a plastic bag, sealed it, and handed it over to him. “We should be able to find out exactly when it was delivered.” Jonas then handed the box over to Richmond, who snapped a picture of the labels on it with his phone’s camera before handing it back to Jonas for packaging, labeling, and sealing. Then Richmond stepped out of the room, presumably to make a call to UPS.
I resumed my picture taking, and Jonas resumed his evidence collection with some help from a trio of uniformed officers. A few minutes later Richmond returned and said, “You were right, Jonas. UPS delivered that package at ten this morning.”
“Should we plug the camera in to charge it up?” I asked. “Maybe there’s something on it that’s relevant to the crime. Maybe Ames filmed whoever was here.”
Richmond considered this and then said, “It’s not a bad idea, but for the sake of securing our evidentiary chain, I’d rather just bag and tag everything as it is for now and let Arnie or the lab in Madison deal with it.”
Jonas did just that with the camera and the power cord, adding them to the box of growing evidentiary specimens he had on the floor of the laundry room.
I had finished taking pictures in the kitchen, so I moved on to snap the rest of the house. I carefully walked the length of the front hallway, taking shots of the blood trail. I took some general pictures of all the rooms off the hallway as I went, and while none of them appeared to offer any evidentiary value, I did find the color schemes and architecture interesting. Every room had high wooden baseboards, crown molding, and wide window trim with decorative rosettes at the corners. All the trim was painted in a bright, glossy white that beautifully framed the vividly colored plaster walls. The living room, entryway, and hallway were painted in a rich, dark, forest green,
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