Page 158 of Forever Dead

A protected route marked with stepping plates led from the porch into the house. Selena stayed inside it.

The interior felt different in daylight. The living room curtains were open now, exposing old furniture, framed photographs and a patterned rug that had probably been in place for decades. Numbered markers dotted the floor near the hall.

Matt Price appeared from the kitchen carrying a camera.

“How’s Connor?” Price asked.

“Awake when I left. Weak, but he could talk.”

Price lowered the camera. “That’s good to hear.”

Chuck Danners stepped into the hall behind him. He had changed clothes since the previous night but plainly hadn’t slept much. His uniform shirt was creased beneath his vest.

“Selena. Price will take you through what we’ve found. Then we can go over Connor’s account.”

Price indicated the protected route.

“Stay on that. The kitchen took priority overnight, and we’re still working through the front rooms. If you notice something, tell me before you approach it.”

“I will.”

Chuck stepped aside.

Matt turned to Selena. “Initial exterior and entry photography is complete. Front door wasn’t forced. No obvious damage to the locks. We’ve lifted what we can from the handles, but there’s a lot of legitimate contact because Nora lived here.”

“Any sign the killer came through somewhere else?” Selena asked.

“Rear door was unlocked when Connor cleared the place. Window above the back sink was closed. Nothing obvious on the ground outside, but we’re still working it.”

“And the upstairs?”

“Photographed. Connor’s rounds are in the wall and doorframe. We recovered both projectiles. There’s broken glass where the suspect went through the rear bedroom window.”

“Blood?”

“Nothing obvious that suggests Connor hit him.”

Selena absorbed that.

Price continued, “The main scene is the kitchen. Blethan did a preliminary examination before the body was left in place for us to finish the documentation. We haven’t moved her yet.”

The kitchen was brighter than the room Connor had described from the night before.

That made it worse.

Nora Ellison remained on the table beneath the overhead fixture. Her arms extended toward either side, one wrist hanging beyond the edge. Blood had dried across the front of her clothing and darkened the wood beneath her torso. The ear of corn remained lodged in her mouth, preserved in position until Price completed the photographs.

Evidence markers surrounded the table.

Selena stopped inside the doorway.

From the hall, Nora’s hair had hidden part of her profile. Here Selena recognized her immediately.

She stopped studying the injuries for a moment and took in the woman beneath them. Then she moved aside so Price could continue photographing her.

The staging was obscene in daylight. Cornfields could be seen through the window above the sink. The killer had taken something ordinary from the land around Nora’s home and turned it into part of the murder.

Price pointed without approaching the body. “Most of the blood volume is here. We’ve got impact staining low on the cabinet, transfer along the table edge and pooling beneath her.”