Page 160 of Forever Dead
Still, Selena’s attention drifted toward the hall.
“What have you got outside this room?”
Price said, “A smear on the hallway wall. Broken bowl near the front room. Side table knocked over. I haven’t finished processing that area.”
“Blood?”
“Tiny amount near the skirting board between the living room and hall. Could be related. Could be old.”
Selena turned.
“Show me.”
Price gave her a warning glance. “Stay behind me.”
They followed the protected route into the hall.
A numbered marker sat beside a dark crescent low on the baseboard. Selena crouched as far as her knee allowed, supporting herself with the cane.
The mark was small.
“Photographed?”
“Several angles,” Price said.
Selena straightened.
The fallen side table lay beside the living-room doorway. Pieces of the ceramic bowl were scattered across the threshold and into the hall.
“Has anything here been moved?” Selena asked.
“Not by us,” Price said. “We’ll need to check whether Connor disturbed anything when he went through.”
Selena studied the table and the marks beside it.
“The struggle might have started here.”
“Possibly. The bowl alone won’t tell us which way anyone was moving.”
“No. What about inside the room?”
Selena entered only as far as the marked route allowed.
The living room rug sat beneath a couch and two armchairs. One corner had folded underneath itself near the hallway entrance.
“Was that photographed as found?”
Price nodded.
Selena pointed. “And that chair?”
“What about it?”
The nearest armchair sat at a slight angle to the rug. One rear leg had scraped a pale line through the dust along the hardwood where the rug ended.
Price moved closer without crossing his own markers.
“That’s fresh enough to be worth documenting.”
