Page 30 of Only Girl Alive

“Download the photos from your camera and I’ll make the sandwiches,” he said, and moved toward the cooler.

“Thank you, appreciated.”

The others were already eating.

“Be sure to print a few from Hannah’s room,” he reminded her, “and Elijah’s bed.”

She transferred the images to her laptop then chose the ones she wanted to print.

They spoke quietly, aware the press still waited close by. Bina, Ray, and Collin finished their meals quickly, cleaned up and went back inside the home. After they left, Clyde walked over and placed his hands on Eve’s shoulders, rubbing gently. He’d noticed her stress. It was hard to think of not having him as part of the team. It was something that bothered her about their new relationship. If it didn’t work out, he might leave.

“Feel better?” he asked close to her ear a few minutes later.

“Yes, thank you.”

“This case is getting to us all,” he said. “Even Ray and Collin haven’t been as irritating as usual.”

Eve grimaced. He was right. They weren’t bickering like a married couple. The team had all handled homicides that included abuse and sexual assault before. They came from different regions of the state’s homicide divisions. Bina had transferred from Salt Lake City Police two years before she joined Eve’s team and had worked several cases that made headlines. This case with the Tanner family felt different. If it was driving Eve nuts, it was affecting her team the same way.

“How are you doing?” she asked.

“I want to know who did this. I just don’t think it will be that simple.” He grabbed the other chair and brought it closer. “This is a church cover-up and I don’t trust what they might do to keep their secrets.”

“I agree. I’m going to send Lieutenant Crosby an email outlining what we have. We may need assistance from another special crimes unit. I want him prepared for the request.” The lieutenant was her supervisor. He mostly stayed out of her way and rarely commented on her cases. She kept him apprised of what they were doing and he made sure no one from the state police got in her way.

The printer stopped and it ended their conversation. She grabbed the stack of full-sized images and gave Clyde a brief smile before they left the van.

“Thank you for the neck rub.”

His teeth flashed and Eve wanted to hug him so badly. It was times like this that she needed his quiet strength the most. The moment passed and she was sad she hadn’t.

Collin, Ray, and Bina waited inside, ready to get started. They had re-created crimes like this before and it helped give them a clearer picture.

“I need a minute to line up the photos,” Eve said, and shuffled them into the most likely order. If it changed, they were easily rearranged.

“No forced entry.” She glanced at the others. “Nothing to tell us if they used the front door or back so we’ll assume the front.” Everyone nodded. “Direct path upstairs. Let’s go.”

They climbed the stairs and reached the hallway. They looked closely at the dried blood left behind on the floor. There were maybe twenty drops in all. The blood never came close to the stairs, which led them to believe the killer went from room to room and ended at the bathroom. There was another door in the hallway that was a linen closet. The Luminol had shown no bodily fluid inside. The killer had used towels from the bathroom after they showered. This might have been in order to avoid leaving clear DNA traces.

Television was unheard of in the community so they didn’t watch forensic shows. Eve still wouldn’t count out that the killer knew not to use recently cleaned towels. It was one more thing that didn’t quite add up.

“Does anyone disagree that Bart Tanner was killed first?” Eve asked.

“It’s the most likely scenario,” Collin said. If anyone were to disagree it would be him.

“Okay, master bedroom,” Eve told them.

They entered the room and spread out around the bed. Eve stood at the foot, toward the middle, taking the position from where she shot the images of Bart and Marcella that encapsulated the scene best.

“The killer had to get behind them,” said Ray. He walked to the side of the bed and crawled onto it. After the bloody sheets had dried, they were removed and packed as evidence. There were still dark spots on the mattress. “The easiest way would be to put my knees beneath the pillow and grab his head.”

“Agreed,” said Bina as she moved closer.

“They were clean cuts, both from left to right,” Eve said, repeating what George had told her and Clyde. George had also clarified that the cuts were performed by the killer using his right hand, the deeper cuts to the throat on the left side of the neck.

Ray made the motion with his right hand. “He would have waited for him to die before moving over. Tanner didn’t fight. Would he walk around or slide across?” he asked.

Eve didn’t correct the use of he. Her past and what Bart had done to his family brought a woman to the forefront as the suspect in her mind now that she was fairly sure Howard wasn’t responsible. Her team would have their own conclusions and each would have a chance to enlighten the others. He was also commonly used as reference when they didn’t know the gender.

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