Read Online Working Stiff by Annelise Ryan - Free Book Online Page B

say, glad to have him finally focusing on the topic I want to discuss. “Tell me what evidence was collected and what you did or intend to do with it. For instance, that case that came in this morning, the woman who was shot to death. What have you done with the evidence related to her case?”
    I purposely don’t mention Karen’s name, striving for a tone of reasonable curiosity peppered with indifference. I don’t know if Arnie knows of my connection to the case, but if he doesn’t, I want to get as much out of him as I can before he finds out. Hurley told me to stay away from Karen’s autopsy, but he didn’t say anything about learning what the evidence might reveal. Besides, if I’m going to be investigating cases, I need to know all this stuff.
    Arnie leans back against the countertop and wags a finger at me. “See, now that’s where you’ll go wrong every time. Lesson number one: Why do you think she was shot to death?”
    I blink at him in confusion. “I was there at the scene. I saw her.”
    â€œWhat did you see?”
    â€œA woman with a bullet hole in her chest and lots of blood all around.”
    â€œHow do you know it was a bullet hole?”
    I think about that. “Because the cops said it was.”
    â€œDon’t believe what you hear. Only believe what you know to be true based on your own observations and research. Are you absolutely certain the hole in her chest couldn’t have been made by something else?”
    â€œNo,” I admit.
    â€œFor the sake of argument, let’s assume it was a bullet hole. How do you know the bullet killed her?”
    â€œWell, she was dead. And I do know dead,” I assure him. It’s amazing the things I can take pride in.
    â€œBut how do you know she was shot while she was still alive? How do you know she wasn’t killed by some other means and then shot to cover up the real method?”
    I think Arnie is getting a bit farfetched now, but I’m starting to get into it. Besides, he has a point. The clues have to be carefully and scientifically evaluated. I’m beginning to see how jumping to conclusions can be dangerous.
    â€œWell, there was a lot of blood,” I tell him. “If she was already dead when she was shot, her heart wouldn’t have been pumping and there wouldn’t have been so much blood. Plus, there were some sprays of blood, from arterial pressure. If she’d been dead already, she wouldn’t have had any arterial pressure.”
    Arnie gives me a look of surprised pleasure. “Very good,” he says. “That’s the type of observational skills that will serve you well around here.”
    I beam at him, feeling like a character in an Agatha Christie novel.
    â€œNow, let’s look at the other evidence we have on that case.” He turns toward the countertop and picks up a clipboard.
    â€œWe have lots of trace evidence,” he says, scanning what appears to be a checklist on the clipboard. “We have the bullet that killed her—it’s from a .357 Magnum and we can match it to a specific gun if we find one. We also have some trace evidence Izzy found on the body that doesn’t appear to have come from the location where the victim was found: two blond hairs, each one about an inch or so in length, and three wool fibers in a teal blue color, most likely from a carpet.”
    I feel my skin grow cold. David’s hair is blond and the carpet in our living room is teal-colored wool.
    â€œThen there’s this,” Arnie says, showing me a picture. It’s the back of a shoulder, the white skin marred by three, oval-shaped bruises. In my mind I replay the scene where David leapt from the couch and grabbed Karen by her shoulders, shaking her. Somehow I know his fingers will fit those bruises perfectly.
    I must look as shaken as I feel because Arnie is staring at me kind of funny and asks, “Are you all