food and half empty cups of coffee were spread atop the table as most of the team tried their hardest to stay awake and focused. Everyone was stressed out and tired from a day of reading, studying, squinting, and focusing on every minute detail of Allison Tisdale’s life. The day had been humid and the sun had drained the team of energy, making everyone sticky and smelly. Files were spread out in front of the group, along with notepads of scribbled notes and Milo’s MacBook. Up on the wall, behind Parks, was a murder board with a picture of Allison Tisdale near the middle and various notes written to the right and left of her picture.
Parks threw away an empty chocolate bar wrapper and picked up a fresh mug of coffee, finishing half of it before he addressed the team.
“So what do we have?” he asked, breaking the silence. “Let’s start with the crime scene.”
“No forced entry from what we can tell. But we didn’t find a key to the place anywhere on the victim’s person or on the grounds. All windows, doors, and locks were intact and working,” Fairmont said, reaching into his pocket for another piece of Nicorette.
“What about the house alarm?” Parks asked.
“From the time the alarm went off to when the responding officers first arrived at the scene of the crime was less than ten minutes,” Moore responded.
“Ten minutes?”
“Yes. The neighborhood is gated and has its own security,” Moore continued. “It’s a private company that does security for several gated communities. The officers on duty were in a neighboring community responding to a B and E or else they would have been there. But since they were delayed, the LAPD was dispatched to the address.”
“Even though they have their own security?” Parks asked, somewhat confused.
“When they can’t be reached immediately LAPD gets called. Quickly. Rich people.”
“Any way to tell if the B and E was related?” Parks asked. “Like as a distraction.”
“No reason to think that’s the case.” Fairmont shrugged as he leaned forward in his chair and scribbled some notes on his pad. “But we can look into it.”
“So the killer didn’t trip the alarm until after he had left. No time to set the alarm and do the murder,” Parks said, more to himself. “Any prints?”
“We checked the alarm pad. There were no prints on it. We checked with the security company, and they confirmed that the alarm went off when the PANIC button was pressed on the keypad. So it was done intentionally. Plus, the reason we didn’t find a phone in the house was the key-pad has a direct line in it to call 911. We think the killer placed the 911 call then disabled the line somehow so no calls could be made or received from the key pad.”
“Any other prints?”
“No,” Moore continued. “Nothing. No prints in the room or near the front entrance or at any of the doors or windows. We’ve collected a few fibers and hairs from the kill room, but they’re being tested and so far nothing.”
“Speaking of which . . . what about the flowers?”
Fairmont sat up. “We checked Allison Tisdale’s credit cards and there’s no evidence that she bought and brought the flowers herself, so unless she paid with cash, we’re under the assumption that the killer brought them with him.”
“Though we did find one connection to them,” Moore said. “Apparently her husband used to buy them for her a few years ago. Weekly, according to her co-workers. But that only lasted a few months then stopped.”
“The husband?” Parks said. “Anything significant about these flowers in particular?”
“Not really. They consist of a dozen lavender roses with purple statice and Israeli ruscus. It’s commonly called a Pa ssion for Purple Rose Bouquet and can be obtained from most every flower shop, in person or online. Costs about fifty dollars. We’ve checked and found that within the LA area there were about two dozen of them ordered within the past week.
Parks threw away an empty chocolate bar wrapper and picked up a fresh mug of coffee, finishing half of it before he addressed the team.
“So what do we have?” he asked, breaking the silence. “Let’s start with the crime scene.”
“No forced entry from what we can tell. But we didn’t find a key to the place anywhere on the victim’s person or on the grounds. All windows, doors, and locks were intact and working,” Fairmont said, reaching into his pocket for another piece of Nicorette.
“What about the house alarm?” Parks asked.
“From the time the alarm went off to when the responding officers first arrived at the scene of the crime was less than ten minutes,” Moore responded.
“Ten minutes?”
“Yes. The neighborhood is gated and has its own security,” Moore continued. “It’s a private company that does security for several gated communities. The officers on duty were in a neighboring community responding to a B and E or else they would have been there. But since they were delayed, the LAPD was dispatched to the address.”
“Even though they have their own security?” Parks asked, somewhat confused.
“When they can’t be reached immediately LAPD gets called. Quickly. Rich people.”
“Any way to tell if the B and E was related?” Parks asked. “Like as a distraction.”
“No reason to think that’s the case.” Fairmont shrugged as he leaned forward in his chair and scribbled some notes on his pad. “But we can look into it.”
“So the killer didn’t trip the alarm until after he had left. No time to set the alarm and do the murder,” Parks said, more to himself. “Any prints?”
“We checked the alarm pad. There were no prints on it. We checked with the security company, and they confirmed that the alarm went off when the PANIC button was pressed on the keypad. So it was done intentionally. Plus, the reason we didn’t find a phone in the house was the key-pad has a direct line in it to call 911. We think the killer placed the 911 call then disabled the line somehow so no calls could be made or received from the key pad.”
“Any other prints?”
“No,” Moore continued. “Nothing. No prints in the room or near the front entrance or at any of the doors or windows. We’ve collected a few fibers and hairs from the kill room, but they’re being tested and so far nothing.”
“Speaking of which . . . what about the flowers?”
Fairmont sat up. “We checked Allison Tisdale’s credit cards and there’s no evidence that she bought and brought the flowers herself, so unless she paid with cash, we’re under the assumption that the killer brought them with him.”
“Though we did find one connection to them,” Moore said. “Apparently her husband used to buy them for her a few years ago. Weekly, according to her co-workers. But that only lasted a few months then stopped.”
“The husband?” Parks said. “Anything significant about these flowers in particular?”
“Not really. They consist of a dozen lavender roses with purple statice and Israeli ruscus. It’s commonly called a Pa ssion for Purple Rose Bouquet and can be obtained from most every flower shop, in person or online. Costs about fifty dollars. We’ve checked and found that within the LA area there were about two dozen of them ordered within the past week.
Similar Books
