Page 64 of Shadow of Deceit
“Russ, please.” He frowned. “Before you start, you should know. Each piece of evidence you locate is top priority to process as quickly as possible. We’re on day three of the investigation, our leads are thin, and things are escalating.”
A tight smile crossed Sierra’s face. “We’ll do our very best on such short notice.”
“That’s all I can ask for.” Russ closed his eyes for a long moment and inhaled a noisy breath. “As far as starting, we’ve had a few new developments since I spoke to you.”
Sierra peered at the barn. “I’m guessing since the ME’s van is here, one of them includes a victim.”
Russ’s shoulders slumped. “Mia and Ryan found a body in the area of the barn that hadn’t burned. The ME’s only just gotten here, and his findings suggest blunt-force trauma to the head. We don’t yet know if he was killed and then put in the barn or was murdered in the barn. He searched for ID but found nothing. He’ll do fingerprints and DNA back at the morgue, but it would be great if you could do a DNA swab in addition to processing the scene.”
“Of course,” she said. “We can help you determine if it’s your murder scene too.”
“We’d also like you to investigate the area by each door. We believe the doors were chained and padlocked, but now they’re missing. Someone must’ve taken them.”
“Interesting,” she said. “We’ll look for footprints and anything else unusual.”
“Just so you know,” Mia said. “Ryan and I went near the doors yesterday. If you need our boots to eliminate our prints from others, we’ll be glad to provide them.”
“I’ll let you know.” Sierra paused and frowned. “But you should be aware, fire scenes often produce less evidence than you would like. The water from the hoses is problematic and then the area is pummeled with firefighters’ boots too. Still, if any evidence exists, we’ll find it.”
“I like your confidence.” Russ gave a sharp nod of acceptance. “And from what I’ve seen and heard it’s well founded.”
“You know it. What’s the point in being modest when it’s true?” Sierra laughed.
Russ chuckled with her, but it seemed forced. “You’ll have to wait for the ME to finish. In the meantime, I can turn over the other evidence I have for fingerprinting and DNA recovery.” He jerked a thumb toward his patrol car. “It’s all in my vehicle.”
“Bring it to the back of the van, and we’ll take charge of it and complete a chain of custody form.” She didn’t wait for him to agree, but headed toward the rear door of her van.
Mia loved that about this woman. She knew her job and wasn’t intimidated by a tough law enforcement officer like Russ. Though, Mia also had to admit, Russ had been firm but friendly, so maybe Sierra had dealt with far worse.
He strode toward his car, but Mia followed Sierra. Mia might not be privy to Sierra’s reports, but she didn’t think Russ would object to her seeing the items he turned over to her. And if he did, he would have to tell her to leave.
Sierra and Chad slipped on white protective suits that Sierra struggled to zip over her enlarged belly. She chuckled and looked at Chad. “For my last few months, I’ll need a larger size when you refill supplies. Make it elephant size.”
He nodded, serious and unaffected by Sierra’s joke.
She looked at Mia. “Do you have children?”
Mia shook her head. “Not married either.”
“This will be our second, and you forget so much about the first pregnancy on what to expect.”
“Good or bad?” Mia asked.
“Both. Right now with my ankles reaching elephant proportions, it’s not great.” She laughed.
Russ marched over to them, evidence bags in his hands. He handed one to Sierra. “The first threatening letter Mia received. I’d like you to do prints and DNA, please.”
“You’ll find my prints and Ryan’s on the letter,” Mia said. “We both handled it before it became evidence and Russ touched it too. As did my dad at the post office. But if he sent it, there will likely be more than one set of prints, right?”
“Could be. I’ll need prints from everyone you mentioned for elimination purposes.” Sierra turned her attention back to the letter. “This isn’t standard copy or printer paper. You might also want a paper analysis.”
“You can do that?” Russ asked.
“Yes, in the lab. There we can compare it to the paper from any other threats received.” She handed the bag to Chad, who wrote on it then recorded it in a logbook before stowing the evidence in the van.
Russ shifted through his bags. “This one accompanied a fake severed hand and bracelet. The box that it arrived in and the hand are still in my vehicle.”
Sierra looked up. “How was the box delivered?”
