death?' said
Spere. 'Sounds a little daring.'
'That's what I think,' said Greene. 'So: white
male, twenty-nine, multiple sclerosis sufferer. Was
apparently killed by blunt-force trauma to the head,
emphasis on force . Forensics found teeth embedded
in the victim's pillow. Both hands were severely
traumatized in a similar fashion, but there was no
evidence of venipuncture, and it would seem, from
what we saw at the crime scene, that there was no
shortage of blood supply in the victim's body. East
Central OPS is sharing jurisdiction with us on this
one, and we sent Ulmer to Mayfair to keep Jack
Deacon in the loop. We're waiting for pathology to
be faxed up to see if there was anything in his
stomach similar to what was in Mrs Chandler's. The
victim here was almost certainly carried upstairs to a
master bedroom that, apart from the murder,
appeared to be unused.'
'Forensics?'
'Same as the Chandler murder,' said Spere, 'but
without the carpet scuff. One item of interest is that
despite the amount of blood, it's limited to the
murder site. The killer would have had to clean himself
up, but there's no blood on the carpet in the
master bedroom, or in the closest bathroom. He's
very meticulous. I think he's only appearing to make
a mess.'
'Deacon isn't done with the body, but we know
what we know about its physical condition. Let's
sum up.' Hazel circled Ulmer's column and now she
drew a line under it all. 'Ident practically bagged
both houses, but nothing points anywhere conclusive
so far, correct, Howard?'
'My guys brought Mrs Chandler's computer in this
morning,' said Spere. 'There's nothing. Some emails
to and from an old girl in Florida – weather and gardens,
that sort of thing. A couple of web receipts
from the drugstore – she knew how to renew her prescriptions
online. Very little else. There was virtually
nothing of interest in her web history.'
'What would that be, Howard? A web history.'
'Just a way to go back over the places you've
visited on the Internet over a period of time. What
we found out was that she learned how to make
parmesan rice last Monday on a recipe site, on
Tuesday she Googled "Merle Haggard", and As the
World Turns , and two Wednesdays before her death,
she bought a duvet cover on Bidnow.com.'
Wingate seemed surprised. 'So was this an assisted
suicide or not?'
Spere cast him a look. 'You think buying a duvet
cover is evidence one way or the other?'
'I think so,' said the young detective. 'If she knew
this person was coming to visit her with the purpose
of helping her to end her life, then why would she be
buying anything online?'
'Good point,' said Hazel. 'She lets this man in, but
she has no idea what's going to happen to her?'
'Or she's actually not expecting him,' said Spere.
'Let's reiterate: no signs of a struggle,' said Greene.
'Right. But he's sedated her with belladonna.'
'He broke her finger,' said Wingate. They all
looked at him, and then at Hazel.
'Go on, James,' she said.
'Okay,' he said nervously. He directed his
comments at the others. 'He broke Delia Chandler's
finger to ensure she was anaesthetized. It was
snapped cleanly in two, and it wasn't an accident.
Deacon says in his report that it had definitely
happened while she was still alive because there was
swelling around the break, and that means that her
heart was still beating. So the killer used it to test if
she was ready. There was an agreement between
them, and this was part of it. He's invited, and the
victims know what will happen to them when he
arrives.'
'Then what about Ulmer?' said Spere. 'What was
it with breaking every bone in that man's hand? He
just wanted to be ultra-certain?'
'I don't know,' said Wingate.
Ray Greene was drawing an invisible circle on the
tabletop with his forefinger. 'I think maybe we're
being a little fast out of the blocks with all this. On
the surface , nothing really connects these two
killings except for the fact that they've happened
within a three-hour drive of each other.
Spere. 'Sounds a little daring.'
'That's what I think,' said Greene. 'So: white
male, twenty-nine, multiple sclerosis sufferer. Was
apparently killed by blunt-force trauma to the head,
emphasis on force . Forensics found teeth embedded
in the victim's pillow. Both hands were severely
traumatized in a similar fashion, but there was no
evidence of venipuncture, and it would seem, from
what we saw at the crime scene, that there was no
shortage of blood supply in the victim's body. East
Central OPS is sharing jurisdiction with us on this
one, and we sent Ulmer to Mayfair to keep Jack
Deacon in the loop. We're waiting for pathology to
be faxed up to see if there was anything in his
stomach similar to what was in Mrs Chandler's. The
victim here was almost certainly carried upstairs to a
master bedroom that, apart from the murder,
appeared to be unused.'
'Forensics?'
'Same as the Chandler murder,' said Spere, 'but
without the carpet scuff. One item of interest is that
despite the amount of blood, it's limited to the
murder site. The killer would have had to clean himself
up, but there's no blood on the carpet in the
master bedroom, or in the closest bathroom. He's
very meticulous. I think he's only appearing to make
a mess.'
'Deacon isn't done with the body, but we know
what we know about its physical condition. Let's
sum up.' Hazel circled Ulmer's column and now she
drew a line under it all. 'Ident practically bagged
both houses, but nothing points anywhere conclusive
so far, correct, Howard?'
'My guys brought Mrs Chandler's computer in this
morning,' said Spere. 'There's nothing. Some emails
to and from an old girl in Florida – weather and gardens,
that sort of thing. A couple of web receipts
from the drugstore – she knew how to renew her prescriptions
online. Very little else. There was virtually
nothing of interest in her web history.'
'What would that be, Howard? A web history.'
'Just a way to go back over the places you've
visited on the Internet over a period of time. What
we found out was that she learned how to make
parmesan rice last Monday on a recipe site, on
Tuesday she Googled "Merle Haggard", and As the
World Turns , and two Wednesdays before her death,
she bought a duvet cover on Bidnow.com.'
Wingate seemed surprised. 'So was this an assisted
suicide or not?'
Spere cast him a look. 'You think buying a duvet
cover is evidence one way or the other?'
'I think so,' said the young detective. 'If she knew
this person was coming to visit her with the purpose
of helping her to end her life, then why would she be
buying anything online?'
'Good point,' said Hazel. 'She lets this man in, but
she has no idea what's going to happen to her?'
'Or she's actually not expecting him,' said Spere.
'Let's reiterate: no signs of a struggle,' said Greene.
'Right. But he's sedated her with belladonna.'
'He broke her finger,' said Wingate. They all
looked at him, and then at Hazel.
'Go on, James,' she said.
'Okay,' he said nervously. He directed his
comments at the others. 'He broke Delia Chandler's
finger to ensure she was anaesthetized. It was
snapped cleanly in two, and it wasn't an accident.
Deacon says in his report that it had definitely
happened while she was still alive because there was
swelling around the break, and that means that her
heart was still beating. So the killer used it to test if
she was ready. There was an agreement between
them, and this was part of it. He's invited, and the
victims know what will happen to them when he
arrives.'
'Then what about Ulmer?' said Spere. 'What was
it with breaking every bone in that man's hand? He
just wanted to be ultra-certain?'
'I don't know,' said Wingate.
Ray Greene was drawing an invisible circle on the
tabletop with his forefinger. 'I think maybe we're
being a little fast out of the blocks with all this. On
the surface , nothing really connects these two
killings except for the fact that they've happened
within a three-hour drive of each other.
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