Scraps of Evidence: Quilts of Love Series (14 page)

15

T
ess walked into the emergency room waiting area and spotted Lindsey.

“How is she doing?”

“I don’t know. They made me wait out here,” Lindsey said, her lips trembling. “Her neighbor called me when she didn’t come to the door this morning. She was unconscious when they brought her in.”

She wiped the tears from her cheeks with her hands. “Why would someone hurt an old lady, Tess? She wouldn’t hurt a fly.”

“Let me go see what I can find out.”

Tess glanced at Logan. He nodded and sat beside Lindsey, offering her a tissue from a box on a nearby table and talking quietly to her.

She spotted a familiar face and headed toward her. “How’s Mrs. Ramsey?”

Susan, an R.N. Tess had gone to school with, shook her head. “It’s not looking good. Dr. Langford is worried about her. She got bashed in the head pretty hard. She’s having a CAT scan right now. I was just going out to talk with her daughter.”

“Is she able to talk?”

“I’ll have to clear it with Dr. Langford—”

“One minute. That’s all I’m asking. I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t so important.”

Susan nodded and hurried down the hall. When she returned, she took Tess to a cubicle.

Mrs. Ramsey looked pale and shaky, but she was awake and recognized Tess. “Lindsey didn’t have to call you.”

Tess pulled over a chair and sat beside the gurney. “Who did this to you, Mrs. Ramsey? Did you see who hurt you?”

The woman started to shake her head, and then she moaned and held her hand to her head. “No, I woke up and someone was in the bedroom. The cats were hissing and carrying on. All I saw was this shape coming at me and then he hit me. Before I passed out, I could hear him yelping. I think one of the cats bit him or scratched him. I think it was Brutus.”

She began crying. “My head hurts so bad. Is Lindsey here? Can I see Lindsey?”

Tess patted her hand. “I’ll go get her. You take care and get better, okay? I’ll stop back by later and see how you are.”

“My cats,” Mrs. Ramsey said. “I have to get out of here and take care of my cats.”

“I’ll stop by and see your neighbor,” Tess promised her. “She has a key, right? I’m sure she’ll be happy to take care of your cats until you’re back home.”

Tess went out to talk to Lindsey and was glad to be the bearer of good news. Lindsey sprang to her feet, ready to go back and see her mother. Tess rose and touched her arm.

“Logan and I need to go by and look over the scene,” she said.

“I’ll call Mom’s neighbor and have her let you in,” Lindsey said, pulling out her cell phone. “I’ll be there right after I see Mom settled in a room.”

The neighbor let Tess and Logan into the house, and then waited on the porch until they told her she could go inside.

After donning booties for their shoes and plastic gloves for their hands, Tess went straight for the bedroom while Logan checked to see where the intruder had entered.

“Logan!”

He appeared in the doorway. “Yeah?”

“Look at this.” Tess waved a hand at the jewelry box on the dresser. It had been dumped and jewelry items lay in a heap. A diamond pendant and chain lay sparkling atop a pile of costume jewelry.

“The diamond necklace?”

Tess nodded. “Could be, could be a different one. But Mrs. Ramsey never said she had two and this fits the description. Oval stone, about a carat, white gold setting, and chain. We’ll confirm with Lindsey.”

A cat strolled in, a big white Persian Tess thought looked permanently cranky. “Brutus?”

The cat meowed and brushed up against Tess’s leg. An idea began to form.

The forensics team arrived, and one of them poked his head into the room. “We found the sliding glass door forced open. Steve’s taking prints now.”

Tess picked up the cat and petted it. Brutus reacted with a purr. The visits to Mrs. Ramsey had paid off in a cooperative cat.

So far.

She turned to the female forensics technician on the scene. “Sally, you like cats, right?”

The woman narrowed her eyes. “Yeah. Why?”

“The victim said she thinks Brutus here scratched the perp. I’m thinking if we can get some scrapings we can check the DNA.”

“We can try,” Sally said. “If the cat doesn’t cooperate, someone will have to take it to a vet for the scrapings.”

“Let me see if there are some treats we can bribe Brutus with first,” Logan suggested.

“Good idea.”

He returned with a bag of treats but Brutus just looked at them disdainfully. “What is it with cats?” he asked. “You can get a dog to do anything for a treat.”

“Let’s see what happens if you hold her, Tess,” Sally told her. “Logan, hold this slide for me.”

She gingerly reached for one of Brutus’s paws and touched the claws with a Q-tip, then smeared it on the glass slide Logan held out.

Tess continued to pet the cat and talk to it reassuringly. Brutus let them swab at three feet and then objected to the fourth.

“I think that’s enough,” Sally said, backing away as the cat started hissing. “He probably just used the front two paws to scratch anyway.”

Tess patted the cat’s head and praised it before setting it down. Using a pencil, she turned back to sift through the jewelry lying on top of the dresser.

Steve poked his head in. “Daughter’s here.”

“I’ll be right out. You can come in here next. Look for prints on the jewelry box, DNA on the bed, the works.”

Tess dropped the necklace into a plastic evidence baggie. When she walked out onto the porch, she asked Lindsey if she’d heard any more about her mother’s condition.

“She’s got a concussion, but the doctor thinks she’ll be okay. She’ll be in the hospital for a few days.”

“That’s good to hear.” She held up the baggie. “This your mom’s?”

Lindsey’s eyes lit up. “You found it! I thought it was gone forever! That’s the one Pop gave her.”

“It fits the description of the one she’s claimed someone stole.”

“Mom wouldn’t lie,” Lindsey said, frowning. “And she has her moments of confusion, early dementia. But I’ve looked everywhere for that necklace for her and never found it. Where was it?”

Tess exchanged a look with Logan. “In her jewelry box, right on top of costume jewelry dumped out on the dresser.”

“It wasn’t in her jewelry box before. I’ve looked so many times.” Lindsey pushed at her bangs. “I don’t understand. The burglar was in her room, so why didn’t he take it?”

“Could be there wasn’t time,” Logan said. “Could be Brutus got him before he had a chance to.”

“Your mom said she thought Brutus scratched the guy.”

“Good ole Brutus. I’m gonna see if there’s a can of tuna just for him.” She looked at Tess. “Do you have to take the necklace for evidence?”

Tess shook her head. “You keep it safe at your house for now.”

Lindsey sighed. “What a mystery. You get called here a dozen or more times and there’s no break-in and no necklace and then there’s a break in and the necklace appears? What do you make of that?”

Tess looked at Logan. “Yeah, what do you make of that?”

Tess clutched the steering wheel so tightly her knuckles were white. When she glanced at Logan during a stop at a red light he saw her frown.

“Let’s stop and talk for a moment,” he suggested quietly.

“We’ll be late.”

“Tess.”

She sighed, checked her rear-view mirror, then signaled and pulled over on the side of the road.

“Talk to me. Tell me what’s going on.”

Tess rested her forehead on the steering wheel for a moment, and then she sat back. “It’s just so hard having to go talk to Sam’s mother. We should have caught her daughter’s killer by now. I am discouraged I can’t go to her with better news.”

He reached for her hand, and she let him take it. “You don’t handle frustration well.”

“Does anyone?”

“Sure. The people who don’t care enough never even get frustrated. It’s not wrong to care too much. But you can’t do this to yourself.”

He looked out the window. While he certainly didn’t want to go back to Chicago and damp, depressing fall days, it was taking some getting used to having an almost endless supply of sunny days. Even on the days it was going to rain, the TV meteorologist would label the day as “partly sunny.” Huh?

“We need to work as hard as we can and keep our eyes and ears open, but it’s all God’s timing.”

When she turned to stare at him, he shrugged, a little embarrassed. “What?”

“You don’t often talk like that. I mean, I know you’re a Christian but . . .” she trailed off.

“A quiet one,” he said finally. “Probably not always a very good one.” He took a deep breath. “Actually, I was thinking of asking if I could go with you to your church on Sunday. If you’re not afraid of being with someone who’ll make the place fall down.”

She smiled and started up the car again. “I’m sure that won’t happen. If it did, it would have the time I finally made it back after Sam died.”

They rode in silence, each lost in thought. When they pulled into the driveway, Logan didn’t get out immediately, preferring to let her move at her own pace.

The house was modest, a little bungalow like many on the street. The yard looked neat and well kept.

“She never moved, never changed Sam’s room. It’s exactly the way she left it—even to the clothes thrown on the bed that night when Sam dressed for the prom.”

Tess turned to him. “Kind of like a shrine, but not. You know, it’s like her mom knows she won’t be coming through the door any minute, but there’s that hope.”

He nodded. “The person who got killed isn’t the only victim. Lives stop and sometimes they don’t get restarted.” He stroked her cheek. “We’ll go in when you’re ready. Because whether it hurts or not, I know you’ll make yourself do it.”

She touched his hand, and her eyes were full of emotion. “I’m ready.”

“And Tess? You do have something new to tell her. There’s someone new on the case who’s going to look at every piece of evidence there is. Not saying I’m better than you or any of the other detectives. Just maybe it’ll help having someone give the case fresh look. Maybe I’ll see something new.”

“You’re right,” she said, nodding slowly. “It
is
something new. And I desperately hope you
do
find something we missed and we catch the killer before he wrecks more lives.” She paused. “I’m glad you came here, Logan. For more than one reason.”

She opened the door and was out of the car before he could ask her what another reason was.

He scrambled out and quickly followed her. “More than one reason?”

She shot him a quick grin. “We’ll talk about it later.”

Logan watched her take the stairs two at a time. She rang the doorbell, and her grin faded as a woman came to the door.

“Tess! Thanks for coming!” she said, hugging Tess and looking to Logan.

“Mrs. Marshall, this is Logan McMillan, my new partner.”

She shook his hand. “Nice to meet you. Come on in.”

They sat in a living room that reminded Logan of his grandmothers. Nothing had changed since the eighties with its shades of pink and mauve. Photos of Sam dominated the room.

“You made my favorite cookies!” Tess exclaimed. “You didn’t have to do that.”

“It was my pleasure. Logan, I hope you like butterscotch oatmeal cookies.” She held out the plate to him.

He reached for one and bit in. “Never had one. This is good.”

She poured coffee for them, and Logan sat back and let Tess control the pace of the time with Mrs. Marshall. His eyes swept the room. He saw evidence of a loving relationship between mother and daughter in the photos displayed around the room. He remembered what Tess had said about Sam’s mother not changing anything about Sam’s room.

He looked at Tess, and she caught his silent message.

“Mrs. Marshall, I asked you if you’d talk with us today for a reason.”

“Yes?”

“I wanted to introduce you to Logan. He’s helping us take a fresh new look at Sam’s murder. I’m hoping he’s going to find something we missed.”

The woman looked at Logan with such hope his heart ached. “Tess and the rest of the police department have worked so hard, I don’t know how they could have missed anything. But I’m hoping you find her killer, Logan. I’m praying for it.”

Tess reached over and squeezed her hand. “We are, too.”

“Tess tells me you’ve kept everything as it was before Sam was killed. Would you mind if I looked at her bedroom?”

“Of course. It’s the second door on the left.”

He went into the room painted a pale shade of pink. A proud mother had framed and hung awards on the walls—Honor Society, citizenship, the local humane society student volunteer of the year. She’d been a busy girl and a popular one from the photos of friends displayed on the top of her dresser.

Logan bent and looked at each of them. There were many shots of Tess and Sam—happy ones of them from elementary school up to high school. He felt his heart aching for a second time as he studied Tess’s face. There was innocence, joy, a hopefulness, and he couldn’t help mourning the loss of them.

Focused on the emotion, his throat tightening, he started to turn away and then he found himself turning to stare at the photo of Sam taken at a prom. He recognized her dress from photos of her lying dead in it and realized it was her senior prom photo. This one was a professional photo, and in it she stood with Wendell.