Page 24 of Little Bitter Truths
“But not all of it.”
He nodded.
“You’re catching on.”He flipped to another photo.“The cause of death was straightforward.”
I studied the image, and the small, dark wound just above Wren’s right temple.
“She died of a single gunshot wound to the head,” he continued, pointing at the photo.“The bullet entered here, passed through the brain, and lodged against the inside of the skull.”
“Do you know what kind of gun was used?”
“We recovered the bullet during autopsy,” he said.“It’s consistent with a semiautomatic weapon, but no shell casing was found at the scene.”
“It suggests the shooter was smart enough to know they needed to pick it up and take it with them.”
“Or it was ejected somewhere else.Either way, it hasn’t been found.So far, there hasn’t been a single report of anyone hearing anything that night.If the weapon had a suppressor attached, no one would have heard it.”
“Do you think that’s what happened?”
“It’s my best guess,” he said.
I thought back to what I knew about the neighborhood.Mia’s house was on a quiet street, and the houses were within close proximity to each other.Someone firing a gun without a suppressor should have been heard by someone.
“There’s one thing I haven’t mentioned yet,” Silas said.“I’ve been running tests for weeks, but this morning, I came across something interesting, something I haven’t had the chance to speak to Foley or Whitlock about yet.If I tell you, Foley needs to believe I told him first when I talk to him.Understood?”
My interest was piqued.
Silas slid another photograph across the desk.
This one was a close-up of the floor behind Wren’s right shoulder.There were some specks of blood that didn’t align with the pooled blood behind her head.
“What are you thinking?”I asked.
“I believe the killer lifted Wren up for a brief time.Like, just by her shoulders, not her whole body.”
“Aftershooting her?”
“It’s the only logical reason I can think of to explain the location of the droplets I found.”
I pictured it.
The killer standing over Wren’s body.
Bending down.
Lifting her.
Looking at her.
Then setting her back down in the same place where she had fallen.
A chill ran through me.
“Why would someone do that?”I asked.
Silas shrugged.“Maybe her death was personal, and they wanted to look at her one last time.”
My mind moved through the possibilities.
