Blood of Others Read Online Free PDF Page B

Inspector,
but what about me? You tell Veronica she better get me another gown, or I am
going to sue.”
    Earlier Lieutenant Gonzales sent
down more people to canvas the area. He was in court all day, stepping out to
call for updates on the case, which one Bay Area radio station was calling “Who
Killed the Bride?”
    Sydowski and Turgeon searched the
store several times. Basement, main floor, office, work area, storage rooms,
attic, roof. They’d requested a search of dumpsters and trash cans within a few
blocks for a weapon, the victim’s clothing. Anything that might have been
tossed.
    Access to the rear alley was
sealed. A traffic cop had moved Turgeon’s Caprice there and Sydowski sat in it,
alone, reviewing his notes. At this stage, they had nothing. No wallet, no
identification, no weapon, no clothing, no signs of a struggle, no missing cash
or merchandise. Nothing.
    Clarice Hay, the night manager,
had left at eight. Veronica Chan had completed the gown at nine, activated the
security system, and left. Julie Zegler had been alerted to the body by the
first officer who was flagged by the retired jeweler and his wife.
    Chan swore to Sydowski she had
activated the security system. Zegler confirmed that she had to disarm it. No
forced entry. But no outside sharing of the key code. How did he get in? The
security cameras were on a recorded loop. But they had recorded nothing. It was
strange. Nothing.
    How does he get her in a gown
that was here and displayed without signs of a struggle. How did he do it?
Drugs? Persuasion? A sex game or dare, a fantasy rider? At the threat of a
weapon?  He has control. He’s out of control. Brazen. She knows him?
Jealousy? Envy? Revenge. Wound tracks around the heart? Someone’s heart was
broken. The face? God, her face. Maybe he’s scarred. Maybe he thought she was
two-faced? Or it’s rage for a lie? Maybe she jilted him. Humiliated him? Left
him at the altar? This is payback? So he manipulates her corpse, poses her for
the world to know, then takes her face.
    Barney Tighe tapped on Sydowski’s
window after helping canvas neighboring businesses. “Nothing yet, Walt. Went
through some security camera recordings for the front and rear. Nothing. Woke
up a few night watchmen from the office buildings. Nothing again.”
    “We’re going to pull district
patrol logs, talk to the guys on duty last night, and hit the private firms,
you know the drill.”
    “So how bad is it?”
    “Bad.”
    “You thinkin’ he brought her here,
or done her here?”
    “Not thinking anything right now.
Seaver’s going to give me a heads-up from the coroner’s crew before they finish
and move her.” Sydowski checked his watch. “Should be any time now.”
    Tighe nodded.
    “Hey, Barn, you remember Reggie?”
    “Reggie Pope? Sure. Where’s he at
now?”
    “Downtown somewhere. Whatever
happened to his partner?”
    “That mope? Ben Wyatt?”
    “Yeah. Now I remember him. What
happened with him?”
    “He got a rough ride. Took stress
leave, then bounced between districts. Taraval, Ingleside. Why?”
    “I saw Reggie the other day. It
got me thinking.”
    “How’s he doin?”
    “Don’t know. We didn’t talk
much.”
    Turgeon emerged from the shop.
“Seaver’s done.”
    Turgeon and Sydowski met him in
the back of the boutique, amid the brushstrokes of the fingerprint
investigator.
    “We’ll get her prints and an odontologist , to help with identification,” Seaver sighed,
going to his notes. “None of this is confirmed, Inspectors. But I’d put time of
death within last six to eight hours.”
    “Cause?”
    “Likely multiple stab wounds.
Easily forty, almost all to the heart. All deep. This is overkill. A frenzied
attack.”
    “Sexually assaulted?”
    “Appears not.”
    “Location.”
    “It appears she died here. In the
window.”
    Turgeon was puzzled. “But how did
he get her in the dress without a sign of a struggle, no blood tracks?”
    “I’m speculating but it looks
like the