Shots in the Dark by Allyson K Abbott Page A

presence of the seminal fluid indicates Tiffany had sex not long before she was killed, but there were no sperm found, and apparently, that’s what contains the DNA.”
    â€œNo sperm?” I said with a puzzled look. “What does that mean?”
    Clay answered. “According to the expert who testified, it means the person Tiffany had sex with was either sterile or had had a vasectomy.”
    â€œRight,” Carter said, verifying this. “The lack of sperm means there was no DNA, but apparently, there were blood-typing antibodies found in the seminal fluid that ruled Ben out as the donor.”
    Clay nodded and said, “The prosecution used that to establish a motive for Ben, claiming he found out about the affair and was afraid Tiffany was going to leave him for someone else and take all her money with her.”
    Cora arched her eyebrows. “As motives go, it’s a good one.”
    I looked back at Clay. “What was your take on it?”
    He pursed his lips and frowned. “It certainly was damning, but Ben Middleton seemed genuinely upset and surprised by the revelation that his wife had been unfaithful.”
    â€œHow long were they away on their trip?” Joe asked.
    â€œFive days,” Carter answered.
    Joe arched his eyebrows. “And she was killed when they were on their way home. Does anyone know how long seminal fluid can remain?”
    â€œThe expert said up to three days, assuming Tiffany hadn’t bathed,” Clay said. “But Ben testified that Tiffany had taken a bath the night before and the two of them didn’t have sex after that.”
    â€œSo that means her tryst must have happened during the last day they were there,” Joe said.
    Again, Clay filled in some of the blanks. “Ben testified that he drove to a convenience store that morning to pick up some provisions because there had been a snowstorm during the night and there was a second, bigger one coming later that day. Because of the earlier storm, he said it took him nearly two hours to make a trip that should have taken half that long.”
    â€œI’m guessing that’s our window of time, then,” I said.
    Carter said, “It would be helpful to have access to the ME’s report. I wonder if Dr. T can pull her magic with their office again.”
    When we were investigating the Lori Gruber case, Dr. T had contacted a friend of hers in the ME’s office to get copies of the autopsy reports on both Lori and Anna Hermann, the friend who was also killed. Though the summary reports were available to the public, the request process was time consuming, and it often took weeks to get the actual documents. Dr. T not only managed to expedite the process for us, but she also got her hands on more detailed information than was typically available.
    Unfortunately, Dr. T wasn’t present at the moment. Unlike most of the others in the group, her schedule wasn’t a Monday through Friday thing. She was working twelve-hour shifts, from eleven in the morning until eleven in the evening on the weekend, which meant we likely wouldn’t see her until Monday.
    I said this to the group, mostly for the benefit of Clay and the newcomers, since the regulars already knew Dr. T’s schedule. And once again Clay proved his value to the group.
    â€œI can get you the ME’s report. I have a copy of the one that was presented at the trial. I’ll bring it tomorrow, if that helps.”
    â€œIt would,” I said, and others in the room nodded their agreement. While he would still have to prove his trustworthiness to the group over time, I could tell his resourcefulness was starting to win several of them over.
    â€œDo we know who the other man was?” I asked.
    Clay shook his head. “No one was presented as such, so I can only assume that neither the prosecution nor the defense knew who it was. I suppose it’s possible the prosecution knew and didn’t want