round into her?
On top of that, why leave behind another slug that could ID you later
on? Did Sullivan startle them? if so, why did the shot come from the
doorway into the room, and not the other way around? Why was the firing
line descending?
Was she on her knees? She probably was or else the shooter was off the
scale height-wise. If she was on her knees, why? Execution-style? But
there were no contact wounds.
And then you have the marks on the neck. Why try to strangle her first,
then stop, pick up a gun and blow her head off ?, And then blow it off
again. One slug’s taken. Why? A second gun? Why try to hide that?
What’s significant about that?”
Frank stood up and moved around the room, his hands stuck deep into his
pockets, a habit of his when thinking intently. “And the crime scene was
so fucking clean I couldn’t believe it. There was nothing left. And I
mean nothing. I’m surprised they didn’t operate on her and pull out the
other slug.
“I mean, come on, this guy was a burglar or maybe that’s what he wants
us to believe. But the vault was cleaned out.
About four and a half million taken. And what was Mrs. Sullivan doing
there? She was supposed to be sunning in the Caribbean. Did she know
the guy? Was she screwing around on the side? If she was, are the two
incidents related in any way? And why the hell would you waltz in the
front door, knock out the security system, and then use a rope to climb
out the window? Every time I ask myself one question another one pops
up.” Frank sat back down, looking slightly bewildered at his outpouring.
The Medical Examiner leaned back in his chair, twirled the case file
around and took a minute to read over it. He took off his glasses and
wiped them on his sleeve, tugged at a corner of his lip with his thumb
and index finger.
Frank’s nostrils quivered as he watched the ME.
“@A%at?ll
“You mentioned nothing being left at the crime scene.
I’ve been thinking about that. You’re right. It was too clean.” The
Medical Examiner took his time in lighting up a Pall Mall-unfiltered,
Frank noted. Every pathologist he had ever worked with had smoked. The
Medical Examiner blew rings in the air, obviously enjoying this mental
exercise.
“Her fingernails were too clean.”
Frank looked puzzled.
The Medical Examiner continued. “I mean there was no dirt, nail
polish-although she was wearing.it, bright red stuff-none of the
ordinary residues you’d expect to find.
Nothing. It was like they had been scoped out, you know what I mean?” He
paused and then continued. “I also found minute traces of a solution.”
He paused again. “Like a cleansing solution.”
“She’d been to some fancy beauty salon that morning.
For a nail job and all that.”
The ME shook his head. “Then you’d expect to find more residue, not
less, with all the chemicals they use.”
“So what are you saying? That her nails were-deliberately cleaned out?”
The Medical Examiner nodded. “Someone was real careful not to leave any
ident material behind.”‘
“Which means they were paranoid about being identified, somehow, by the
physical evidence.”
“Most perps are, Seth.”
“To a degree. But squirting out fingernails and leaving a place so clean
our Evac came up basically empty is a little much.”
Frank scanned the report. “You also found traces of oil on her palms?”
The ME nodded, looked closely at the detective. “A
preservative/protective compound. You know, like you’d use on fabrics,
leathers, stuff like that.”
“So she may have been holding something and the residue was left there?”
“Yep. Although we can’t be sure exactly when the oil came to be on her
hands.” The Medical Examiner put his glasses back on. “You think she
knew the person, Seth?”
“None of the evidence points that way, unless she invited him over to
burglarize the place.”
The Medical Examiner had a sudden inspiration. “Maybe she set up the
burglary. You know? Tired of the old man, brings in the new bedroom
buddy to conveniently steal their nest egg and it’s off to Fairy Tale