Particles of Murder (A Shadow of Death Romantic Suspense Series Book 1) by Charlotte Raine Page A

Victoria was killed and I was talking to Mira when Everett died.”
    “But somehow you know Victoria was killed?” Stolz interjects.
    “I think that’s the obvious assumption at this point,” John counters. “Two students don’t just drop dead on their own.”
    “They could,” Stolz says. “They could have both taken some kind of recreational drug and had a bad reaction.”
    “Yeah, death is a pretty bad reaction,” Macmillan mutters. “They could have also come into contact with some kind of poison. Have they traveled recently? Dr. Zimmer, do you know if the two of them were friends?”
    John shrugs. “I never had a class with both of them in it and I never saw them talk to each other, but that doesn’t mean they didn’t spend time together.”
    Macmillan whispers something into Stolz’s ear. They exchange a look and she nods.
    “We’ll wait until our M.E. is done with the body,” she says. “And we’ll question the students who were in here. Dr. Zimmer, is there anything else you can tell me about Mr. Pine? Even the smallest fact that you know about him could help.”
    “Um…well, his brother is in the military. I think the Navy,” he says. “He won the Mulvihill Award—it’s a poetry contest. The English department of every college in the state nominates a student. It was Dr. Pierce’s and my choice; we chose Everett. There was even a photograph taken for the school newspaper. I think he lives around here, but I’m not sure. He loves police procedural shows. He used to work as an ironworker, but I don’t think he liked it. I’m sure I know dozens of other things about him, but I can’t think of them right now. I honestly don’t think any of this is helpful.”
    “You never know, Dr. Zimmer,” she says. “If you think of anything else, you can call me.”
    She hands him a business card, which he takes before carefully tucking it into his pocket.
    “Let’s get out of here so we can lock up the crime scene,” she says. We all follow her out and she locks the door. She turns to me. “Mira, can I talk to you for a second?”
    I follow her until we’re around the corner of the hallway.
    She spins around to face me. “Why in God’s name are you still hanging around this guy? Do not tell me you’re still investigating.”
    “I had stopped investigating. I am done investigating,” I say. “I just heard his office had been broken into, so I came to check on him.”
    “Check on him? He’s a full grown man. There’s already campus police working on that case, if you can even consider an office break-in a case. Listen to me: you’ve always tried to skirt the rules. I still remember the Blackman case. Do you remember that one?”
    “Of course,” I mutter. “But this isn’t like that.”
    “You get too involved with these cases and you fuck everything up,” she says. “I don’t think you do it on purpose. I think you’re just an empathetic person and you want to save everyone. But not everyone can be saved and you can’t jump into everyone’s lives. Stop before this turns out exactly like the Blackman case.”
    I grit my teeth together. “Fine. Fine. I won’t get involved. But now there are two dead students. You can’t ignore that.”
    “I’ll do what I can.” She takes a few steps back, moving toward her partner. “Just don’t get attached. Stay away from the case and anyone involved in it.”
    She spins around, heading back to Macmillan.
    John catches my eyes. He takes a step toward me.
    I turn on my heel and walk away from him.

Chapter Three

The Killer—one year ago
    " I n this marrow is the DNA of the unfaithful
    Catholic priest and the drunk brawler,
    but I inherited my eyes from a woman who sacrificed her quiet
    life for this body.
    I will not spend my days
    shedding skin cells like every single one of them wasn't fought for.
    They say freedom comes at a cost.
    Praise our soldiers, but I know that the first sacrifice was made
    the moment the nurses put me in