Page 45 of The Perfect Poise

“We appreciate that,” Jessie said. “Are you able to take us to the crime scene?”

“Absolutely, follow me,” Cole said, motioning for them to join him. “I’m sorry but we don’t have lot for you to work with yet. We’re still gathering information.”

“What can you tell us?” Ryan asked.

“Okay, so it’s 4:47 right now," Cole said, looking at his watch. "The body was discovered just after 4 p.m. by the senior housemaid. We had people on the scene within five minutes and I got here soon after, at about 4:15. We pegged it as possibly connected to your case almost immediately and reached out."

“That’s quick work,” Ryan noted as they approached the massive garage. Jessie silently noted that it looked like it could hold up to six vehicles. Right now, there were five parked inside.

“Thanks,” Cole said. “Since our arrival, we were able to get a preliminary time of death. Staff members said that Mrs. Greene left the kitchen around 3:40, saying that she was headed to the back pool house for a cocktail. Apparently, she was upset over some housekeeping faux pas and needed to decompress. The senior maid, Griselda Quintana, decided to check on her to make sure she didn’t need anything, even though Greene had said she didn’t want to be disturbed. Ms. Quintana claims that was rarely actually the case and that Greene would get upset if she wasn’t attended to back there, no matter what she’d said earlier.”

“When did she go to check on her?” Jessie asked.

“Around 3:55,” Cole said. “She said that fifteen minutes was about all the decompression time that Mrs. Greene could handle solo before needing something.”

“And that’s when she noticed something was off?” Jessie asked, not commenting on how challenging a personality Fiona Greene already sounded like.

“That’s right,” Cole explained. “She went to the pool house, but it was empty. She was returning to the main house when she saw that the side door to the unattached garage was open. She went to check on that. That’s when she found Greene in the condition you’ll see her in now.”

They had stopped just outside the open, retractable garage doors.

“Where’s her husband right now?” Ryan asked.

“He drove up to Santa Barbara last night for a shareholders luncheon,” Cole said. “Our chief of police called to inform him of the situation about twenty minutes ago. He was already on his way back and should be here in the next hour or so, depending on traffic.”

“Did your chief get a sense of his reaction to the news?” Ryan asked.

“He said the guy sounded devastated and had to pull over because he was so upset.”

“Sounds like he has a credible alibi,” Ryan noted, “assuming this wasn’t a murder for hire.”

Jessie hadn’t yet had a chance to share what Haddonfield had told her back at Twin Towers. But based on their conversation about the up-close-and-personal feel of these killings, she was disinclined to think this was the work of a hired gun.

“Before we go into the garage,” she said, “I noticed security cameras out by the main gate. Has anyone looked at them yet?”

“We have someone going through them now,” Cole replied. “I hope to have something for you very soon. Unfortunately there are no cameras near the garage, as you can see.”

“Thanks,” Ryan said. “Mind if we check out the scene now?”

“I’ll stay out of your way,” Cole said. “The body is off to the left, at the base of the car keys cabinet.”

They nodded and headed in the direction he’d pointed them toward. Jessie immediately noticed what looked like faded, bloody footprints on the cement of the driveway. As they got closer to the garage entrance, the footsteps became more red and pronounced. All they had to do to find Fiona Greene was follow them. The members of the crime scene unit had already stepped off to the side to make room for them.

Greene was slumped down, her back against the side wall of the garage, a giant pool of blood surrounding her. Her blue eyes were glassy. Her fiery red hair was matted with her own blood. Jessie counted at least seven separate knife wounds to her neck and chest and one puncture of her left palm, which looked like a defensive wound.

However challenging Fiona Greene was, she didn’t deserve this. No one did. Jessie noted that clutched tight in her right hand was a car key.

“It looks like it’s to the Bentley three spots over,” Ryan said reading her thoughts. “I guess she changed her mind about the pool house and decided to go for a drive.”

“So,” Jessie said, taking a few steps back and looking away from the body, “sometime between approximately 3:40 and four, she came to the garage, where she was killed.”

“It looks like it was closer to 3:40,” Cole announced from the main garage entrance.

“How do you know that?” Ryan asked.

“We just got access to the security footage from the front gate,” he explained. “I’ll have it sent to you, but it shows someone dressed all in black and wearing a ski mask approach the gate at 3:20. They used the access code to enter the property. They’re seen leaving again at 3:47. So based on what Ms. Quintana told us, I’m guessing Fiona Greene died sometime between 3:40 and 3:45.”

“No one checking the cameras at the time noticed someone dressed like that sneaking onto the property?” Ryan asked in disbelief.

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