Page 31 of Finding Silence
“Stay well behind me,” I whisper over my shoulder.
I’m pretty confident I lost any element of surprise a while ago, but that doesn’t stop me from throwing open the door and reaching around the corner to find the light switch.
Phil’s sharp gasp behind me underscores the devastation in front of me.
It takes me a moment to recognize the jagged debris scattered on the floor as parts of destroyed instruments, along with broken records, picture frames, torn books, and ripped papers. They even went after the love seat and ottoman with a sharp object, the stuffing and foam spilling out on the floor.
But most disturbing are the smears of what I swear is human excrement on the walls, forming the word, “C U N T.”
Whoever was here is pissed.
Chapter 10
Phil
* * *
“What? That’s not mine.”
An ice-cold shiver runs down my spine when one of the sheriff’s deputies shows me a crack pipe on the nightstand and a plastic baggie with crystals pinched between his fingers.
“Are you sure? It was in your bedside table, along with a lighter.”
“I’ve never seen those in my life,” I confirm.
“What’ve you got there, Sanchuk?” Savvy asks as she walks into my bedroom.
I was asked to go through the master suite with the deputy to see if anything was missing or out of place.
“Pretty sure this is meth, and some residue in the pipe. Both were in the drawer of the nightstand. She claims they’re not hers.”
“They’re not,” I reiterate.
“Probably left by the perp,” the sheriff acknowledges, and I breathe a sigh of relief at her vote of support.
But, apparently, it’s not enough for the deputy.
“There’s no way to know that,” the older man insists.
Savvy pins him with a stern look. “Don’t take my word for it, but I’m willing to bet you won’t find Ms. Woods’ fingerprints or DNA on those.”
“She could’ve wiped them.”
“And put them back in her own night table? Even for you that’s a stretch, Sanchuk. But please, process those. Who knows, we may get lucky and find something the perp left behind.”
Then she places a hand on my arm.
“Do you still need Ms. Woods for anything?”
The deputy responds with a sharp shake of the head.
“Charming,” I mumble as I follow her out of the bedroom.
“Don’t take it personally. It has little to do with you, and everything with me. Let’s just say he’s not happy having me as his boss.”
“Ah.”
I glance at the stairs to my music room, where I believe Brant still is with a few other deputies. Savvy seems to notice where my attention is drawn.
