Page 10 of Silent Ridge

Mindy says there weren’t any. Everything was pristine.

“No scuffs in the carpet like she’d been dragged. The only thing I found was a puddle of something wet just inside the bathroom doorway. I almost didn’t notice because the toilet was right there, but it smelled like urine. I touched it with a glove and did a very scientific test. I sniffed it. It was definitely urine. I took a sample and I’ll check it later. I’m thinking she was grabbed there and her bladder emptied. I found clothes in the clothes hamper. There weren’t any blood or urine stains on them.”

I fill her in on Weena’s story. “I just told Sheriff Gray she said she smelled the stink and came in the house. In fact, she saw the body. Her dog was with her and it was lapping up the blood.”

“I’ll check for dog hairs,” Mindy says.

That gives me another question for Rowena Perkins. I’ll have to make another trip to see her.

“Do you think she was going to get a shower when it happened?” I ask. I had almost stepped in it. It was insignificant at the time. I chalked it up to being water from the tub.

“I’m almost certain,” Mindy says.

“The bloody smears on the bathroom tile were all leading to and from the tub. Was there a lot of blood inside the tub? I didn’t look.”

Mindy says something to one of the techs and picks up where she left off.

“There were bloody footprints in the tub, Megan. The body appears to have been skillfully skinned. I would guess a taxidermist or a surgeon. They know their way around anatomy and a scalpel. The crime scene techs will check the bathtub drain with a scope to see if there’s anything trapped. They’ll take swabs too. Maybe we’ll get lucky and find some hair that isn’t the victim’s.

“But, Megan, there’s no way the bloody footprints belong to the victim. I checked the shoes in her closet and she wears a size eight. The prints on the floor seem small but they’re so blurred it’s hard to tell. Sheriff Gray has her Washington driver’s license and she was five feet ten inches. Her killer is much smaller.”

It was as bad as I thought. “So you think she must have let her killer in? Or it was someone who had a key?”

“Looks like it, Megan. Was she a friend?”

“No,” I lie. “I think I met her once when I was going to school. Name sounds familiar.”

My denial sounded weak even to me.

“You’d better be careful. People don’t just take random shots like that and leave it to be found unless they’re disturbed.”

She was right.

“I heard Sheriff Gray on the phone. So the woman who called the police lied about being in the house.”

“She was afraid she would be a suspect.”

“Sheriff said she’s about eighty years old and frail looking.”

“Rowena Perkins likes tea spiked with Johnnie Walker and puzzles of half-naked firemen waving a hose.”

“Who doesn’t?” Mindy says with a laugh. “Maybe they got in a fight over the puzzle.”

I think it would be more likely over the Johnnie Walker, but I keep that to myself.

Nine

I have to talk to Dr. Andrade’s office to find out when the autopsy will be, but I don’t think he’ll talk to me. During the last case, I called him at home in the middle of the night. I needed to know his findings. He hung up, then called me back and hung up on me again. I’ll have Ronnie call him. She’s my weapon. She’s beautiful, red-haired. Men can’t resist her. Women want to be her. Not me, though.

Rowena Perkins is waiting for me at her front door. I follow her through to the kitchen, but I decline tea this time in favor of a shot of Johnnie Walker. It burns going down but I need something to keep from screaming at her.

“You’re still not telling me everything, Mrs. Perkins.” I use her formal name to let her know I’m not playing around.

She sits with her hands in her lap. Age spots mottle the backs of her hands, and her knuckles are dry and red. I don’t think hand cream will help this late in the game.

“I knew you’d be back,” she tells me. “You strike me as a very smart girl.”

I liked being called a girl much better than being called “ma’am,” but flattery will get her nowhere. “What didn’t you tell me?” I look around and there’s no sign of Gonzo. I imagine he’s outside watering the lawn.

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