Page 39 of I'm Watching You

She raised the camera to hide her frown.

‘What do you have?’ Zack asked.

‘I’ve rolled prints from the flower box but have yet to run them throughAFIS.’AFIS, the Automated Fingerprint Identification System, would compare crime scene fingerprints with millions of others across the country in hours. If the murderer was in the system, they’d find him.

‘Anything else?’ Warwick said.

‘No hair fibers so far, but I’ve yet to take the hand out of the bag. I’ll do that when I get back to the lab.’

Zack glanced at the note, now sealed in a plastic evidence bag. He picked it up, holding the bag by the corner. The bold script was large and covered most of the white card with embossed edges.

‘ “Lindsay, you are not alone anymore,” ’he read. Zack handed the note to Warwick.

Warwick glanced at the note and then at Zack. ‘Who the hell is the Guardian?’

‘I have no idea. Lindsay comes in contact with hundreds of different people in a week. Some are pretty rough characters.’ Zack had never liked the idea of her dealing with thugs. In his mind, she took too many chances. ‘And then there was that damn newspaper article in May. How many thousands read it?’

‘I’m going to need Lindsay’s fingerprints,’ Sara said.

As a husband, Zack wanted to defend his wife and tell everyone she was no killer. As a cop he couldn’t rule anyone out as a suspect at this stage of the investigation. ‘She had a police background check when she applied for this job. Her prints are on file.’

She nodded. ‘I’ll pull them.’

Warwick studied the hand positioned neatly in the box. ‘He wrapped the hand in a plastic bag. That explains why we didn’t have a trail of blood leading from the crime scene.’

‘He’s meticulous,’ Zack said. ‘The crime scene this morning suggested he’s an organized killer.’

Warwick stared at the hand’s bloated fingers with blackening nail beds. ‘Why the left hand?’

Zack didn’t like the scenario forming in his head. ‘Turner’s wedding band is still on his ring finger. Mrs Turner was abused. The left hand is supposedly the one that leads to your heart. I’d bet it’s symbolic in some way.’

‘The killer doesn’t like abusive husbands,’ Warwick said.

‘Maybe. Or maybe Ronnie T. killed his attorney and setall this up to throw us off the trail. Ronnie T. also knows Lindsay is my wife.’

Warwick nodded. ‘Why go after you?’

‘Payback. When I worked narcotics, I put one hell of a dent in his operation.’

‘Ronnie T. is smart and dangerous, but I don’t see him going to this kind of trouble. Like I said, a drive-by is more his style.’

‘Maybe. But for now it’s a theory we’ve got to consider.’

Zack left Warwick and returned to Lindsay, who stood in the family room by the French doors that faced out back. Yellow crime scene tape, pelted by the rain, drooped in mud puddles.

‘Who is the Guardian?’ Zack said. He watched closely for any reaction.

She looked puzzled. ‘I don’t know.’

‘Why would he write you a note?’

She hugged her arms around her. ‘I’ve no idea.’

‘Have you received any unusual phone calls lately, notes, contributions, anything out of the ordinary?’

‘Nothing that jumps to mind. That May article generated several donations.’

Zack could have pressed Lindsay about sharing her case files, but he didn’t. He was going to wait for the warrant. The delivery of Harold’s hand had officially bumped this case to high priority. From here on out, each step of the investigation could have huge ramifications, so he’d do everything by the book.

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