health club.”
Chapter 6
As they headed back to the Serenity Health Club, hoping to catch Jake still there, Colin received a phone call from Nelly.
“Can you stop by for a minute?” she asked. “I have a few things I’d like to show you.”
“We’ll be there in five,” Colin replied.
Before long, Colin and Emily made their way through the county office and filled the doorway of the forensics lab, waiting for permission to enter. “Hello, Nelly. What’s up?”
Nelly was standing in front of her mass spectrometer and she turned to greet them. She was young and petite with blunt-cut black hair and large horn-rimmed glasses, wearing a white lab coat and blue latex gloves.
“Hey, guys. Come on in, just don’t touch anything.” She pattered over to her computer and brought up a few images on one of her oversized monitors.
Don’t touch anything? Emily felt like a child being given instructions by her mother as they wandered through the china and crystal displays at the big department store in her hometown. “Yes, ma’am.” She crossed her arms as a gesture of keeping her hands to herself.
“What do you have for us, Nell?” Colin asked.
“I tested the drops of blood that were discovered on the area rug in the family room, as well as a bloody paper napkin that was found in the kitchen trash. They were from the same person and I was able to find a match in the national database.”
“Who is it?” Emily asked eagerly.
“Sullivan.”
A full-screen photo popped up on the monitor, looking more like a mug shot than a driver’s license photo. “Maggie Sullivan.”
Emily’s mouth dropped open as she eyed the photo and shot a quick look in Colin’s direction. “Maggie Sullivan?” How could their friend Maggie be involved?
“That’s right,” Nelly went on, “and some of the prints we lifted belonged to her as well. Why? Do you know her?”
“There’s gotta be some mistake.” Emily looked to Colin for his agreement. Why would Maggie’s DNA be in the national database? And why the mug shot?
Colin shrugged, appearing surprised as well.
“I don’t make mistakes,” Nelly replied flatly.
Colin put an arm around Emily’s shoulder. “There could be a number of reasons the blood is Maggie’s. We’ll figure it out. At least it tells us it wasn’t Elise’s blood. That hopefully means she hasn’t been harmed.”
“She didn’t look hurt in the video, just frightened,” Emily said.
Colin turned his attention back to Nelly. “What else?”
“The prints and lipstick on the wineglass are Elise Murphy’s, which we suspected, but the shards of glass from the broken goblet didn’t result in anything usable.”
“We have a good idea who was drinking the other glass of wine,” Emily said, thinking about Jake having admitted to spending the night with Elise.
“I found hair and prints in the bedroom that did not belong to Elise Murphy, her husband, or to Maggie. They belong to a…” Nelly looked down at her notes, “Jake Mitchell.”
Emily and Colin eyed each other.
“I’m not surprised,” Colin said. “They were, let’s say, friends with benefits.”
“I see.” Nelly raised her brows. “Well, one more thing. I can’t say for sure, but the crime scene appears to have been staged.”
“Why do you think that?” Emily asked.
Nelly held up an eight by ten photo of the family room. “See that leather sofa? There’s no way that sofa flipped back from a kidnapper struggling with Mrs. Murphy, I don’t care how big he was. It’s just way too heavy to go over that easily.”
Colin took the photo and studied it, then passed it on to Emily. “What else?”
“This photo of the bedroom, see the framed picture on the hardwood floor?” Nelly held the photo out, pointing to the item. “The frame’s not broken, neither is the glass. If it had been knocked off the dresser and onto the wood floor, at the very least the glass would have cracked—but nothing.”
“If the crime
Chapter 6
As they headed back to the Serenity Health Club, hoping to catch Jake still there, Colin received a phone call from Nelly.
“Can you stop by for a minute?” she asked. “I have a few things I’d like to show you.”
“We’ll be there in five,” Colin replied.
Before long, Colin and Emily made their way through the county office and filled the doorway of the forensics lab, waiting for permission to enter. “Hello, Nelly. What’s up?”
Nelly was standing in front of her mass spectrometer and she turned to greet them. She was young and petite with blunt-cut black hair and large horn-rimmed glasses, wearing a white lab coat and blue latex gloves.
“Hey, guys. Come on in, just don’t touch anything.” She pattered over to her computer and brought up a few images on one of her oversized monitors.
Don’t touch anything? Emily felt like a child being given instructions by her mother as they wandered through the china and crystal displays at the big department store in her hometown. “Yes, ma’am.” She crossed her arms as a gesture of keeping her hands to herself.
“What do you have for us, Nell?” Colin asked.
“I tested the drops of blood that were discovered on the area rug in the family room, as well as a bloody paper napkin that was found in the kitchen trash. They were from the same person and I was able to find a match in the national database.”
“Who is it?” Emily asked eagerly.
“Sullivan.”
A full-screen photo popped up on the monitor, looking more like a mug shot than a driver’s license photo. “Maggie Sullivan.”
Emily’s mouth dropped open as she eyed the photo and shot a quick look in Colin’s direction. “Maggie Sullivan?” How could their friend Maggie be involved?
“That’s right,” Nelly went on, “and some of the prints we lifted belonged to her as well. Why? Do you know her?”
“There’s gotta be some mistake.” Emily looked to Colin for his agreement. Why would Maggie’s DNA be in the national database? And why the mug shot?
Colin shrugged, appearing surprised as well.
“I don’t make mistakes,” Nelly replied flatly.
Colin put an arm around Emily’s shoulder. “There could be a number of reasons the blood is Maggie’s. We’ll figure it out. At least it tells us it wasn’t Elise’s blood. That hopefully means she hasn’t been harmed.”
“She didn’t look hurt in the video, just frightened,” Emily said.
Colin turned his attention back to Nelly. “What else?”
“The prints and lipstick on the wineglass are Elise Murphy’s, which we suspected, but the shards of glass from the broken goblet didn’t result in anything usable.”
“We have a good idea who was drinking the other glass of wine,” Emily said, thinking about Jake having admitted to spending the night with Elise.
“I found hair and prints in the bedroom that did not belong to Elise Murphy, her husband, or to Maggie. They belong to a…” Nelly looked down at her notes, “Jake Mitchell.”
Emily and Colin eyed each other.
“I’m not surprised,” Colin said. “They were, let’s say, friends with benefits.”
“I see.” Nelly raised her brows. “Well, one more thing. I can’t say for sure, but the crime scene appears to have been staged.”
“Why do you think that?” Emily asked.
Nelly held up an eight by ten photo of the family room. “See that leather sofa? There’s no way that sofa flipped back from a kidnapper struggling with Mrs. Murphy, I don’t care how big he was. It’s just way too heavy to go over that easily.”
Colin took the photo and studied it, then passed it on to Emily. “What else?”
“This photo of the bedroom, see the framed picture on the hardwood floor?” Nelly held the photo out, pointing to the item. “The frame’s not broken, neither is the glass. If it had been knocked off the dresser and onto the wood floor, at the very least the glass would have cracked—but nothing.”
“If the crime
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