Read Online Suspicion of Vengeance by Barbara Parker - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Barbara Parker
Tags: Mystery
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was wrong.
Amber worked for a land development company, got off at 5:00, and would always pick up the baby on her way home. Gary arrived home at 5:50 p.m. and parked his car under the carport next to hers. The sun had gone down, and the yard was in shadow. He wondered why no lights were on. He walked to the kitchen door and opened it with his key. He called out, but there was no answer. Then he saw the blood on the floor.
Gail looked up from her notes. "What do you think so far?"
"Kemp verified this story, I suppose. "
"He pulled the phone records and talked to the nursery and Amber's employer."
"A thorough man. Kemp suspected the husband. When a woman is murdered, they always look at the man she was close to."
"Remind me to stay on your good side."
"No, no, sweetheart, you couldn't be anywhere else. What did the medical examiner say about time of death?"
The medical examiner in that district, Dr. George Snyder, did not always appear at death scenes, even homicides, but Kemp insisted. Snyder drove down from Fort Pierce and arrived shortly after 9:00 p.m. He pushed a long thermometer between the victim's ribs. He consulted his charts. The victim appeared to be about 64 inches, 110 to 125 pounds. Based on core body temperature, rigor mortis, lividity, and such other factors as body weight and the weather that day, he gave an initial estimate of time of death as two hours either side of noon, or between 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m.
From long experience, Kemp knew that time of death is elusive. Snyder's estimate had supported Dodson's story, but Kemp didn't want to rule him out.
Just then Sergeant Miller in crime scene told Kemp to come take a look at the guest bathroom. They had sprayed the sink and shower with Luminol Miller cut the lights, and another man turned on the battery-powered black light. The areas around the drains exploded into fluorescent purple.
Kemp asked Dodson for his consent to search the entire house and both cars. Dodson signed the form. Police found no bloody towels or clothing. Gary said he had not showered since that morning in the master bath.
Kemp's doubts about the husband lingered, but he knew that answers would not come as easily as he had hoped. By then it was nearly midnight. Dodson had already called his wife's family to tell them what had happened. His own parents were waiting to take him home with them, and Kemp told him he could go, but to stay close.
Meanwhile Kemp's partner, Tom Federsen, had been looking for the point of entry. The aluminum-framed awning windows operated with a crank, and they were open in the master bedroom. This was not unusual, as the temperature that day had not gone past the low seventies. Dodson said that he and his wife usually slept with the windows open, and they had been open when he left that morning and when he had returned. The screens were intact. Neither the front nor kitchen doors had been forced. The sliding-glass patio door, however, did not appear to be sitting precisely in the track. Federsen asked if anyone had touched it. No one had. He took a strong light and went around to the back patio. He knelt down and saw shiny scratch marks on the bottom of the heavy aluminum frame. After photographs were taken, the door was dusted for fingerprints, and putty was used to make an impression of the marks. Federsen used a screwdriver to manipulate the door. He found that levering it up would lift it free of the lock.
Others on the team found fragments of white rock on the carpet near the door. More fragments were found on the patio. All pieces were photographed, plotted on the crime scene diagram, and sealed into plastic bags. The thick grass revealed no footprints. Toward the left, or west side of the house, was the master bedroom, where an old room air conditioner hung out the wall. Beyond that, a hedge, then the street. To the right was a utility shed, the carport area, and another house some twenty yards away. Directly behind the Dodsons' house was a
Amber worked for a land development company, got off at 5:00, and would always pick up the baby on her way home. Gary arrived home at 5:50 p.m. and parked his car under the carport next to hers. The sun had gone down, and the yard was in shadow. He wondered why no lights were on. He walked to the kitchen door and opened it with his key. He called out, but there was no answer. Then he saw the blood on the floor.
Gail looked up from her notes. "What do you think so far?"
"Kemp verified this story, I suppose. "
"He pulled the phone records and talked to the nursery and Amber's employer."
"A thorough man. Kemp suspected the husband. When a woman is murdered, they always look at the man she was close to."
"Remind me to stay on your good side."
"No, no, sweetheart, you couldn't be anywhere else. What did the medical examiner say about time of death?"
The medical examiner in that district, Dr. George Snyder, did not always appear at death scenes, even homicides, but Kemp insisted. Snyder drove down from Fort Pierce and arrived shortly after 9:00 p.m. He pushed a long thermometer between the victim's ribs. He consulted his charts. The victim appeared to be about 64 inches, 110 to 125 pounds. Based on core body temperature, rigor mortis, lividity, and such other factors as body weight and the weather that day, he gave an initial estimate of time of death as two hours either side of noon, or between 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m.
From long experience, Kemp knew that time of death is elusive. Snyder's estimate had supported Dodson's story, but Kemp didn't want to rule him out.
Just then Sergeant Miller in crime scene told Kemp to come take a look at the guest bathroom. They had sprayed the sink and shower with Luminol Miller cut the lights, and another man turned on the battery-powered black light. The areas around the drains exploded into fluorescent purple.
Kemp asked Dodson for his consent to search the entire house and both cars. Dodson signed the form. Police found no bloody towels or clothing. Gary said he had not showered since that morning in the master bath.
Kemp's doubts about the husband lingered, but he knew that answers would not come as easily as he had hoped. By then it was nearly midnight. Dodson had already called his wife's family to tell them what had happened. His own parents were waiting to take him home with them, and Kemp told him he could go, but to stay close.
Meanwhile Kemp's partner, Tom Federsen, had been looking for the point of entry. The aluminum-framed awning windows operated with a crank, and they were open in the master bedroom. This was not unusual, as the temperature that day had not gone past the low seventies. Dodson said that he and his wife usually slept with the windows open, and they had been open when he left that morning and when he had returned. The screens were intact. Neither the front nor kitchen doors had been forced. The sliding-glass patio door, however, did not appear to be sitting precisely in the track. Federsen asked if anyone had touched it. No one had. He took a strong light and went around to the back patio. He knelt down and saw shiny scratch marks on the bottom of the heavy aluminum frame. After photographs were taken, the door was dusted for fingerprints, and putty was used to make an impression of the marks. Federsen used a screwdriver to manipulate the door. He found that levering it up would lift it free of the lock.
Others on the team found fragments of white rock on the carpet near the door. More fragments were found on the patio. All pieces were photographed, plotted on the crime scene diagram, and sealed into plastic bags. The thick grass revealed no footprints. Toward the left, or west side of the house, was the master bedroom, where an old room air conditioner hung out the wall. Beyond that, a hedge, then the street. To the right was a utility shed, the carport area, and another house some twenty yards away. Directly behind the Dodsons' house was a
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