Dead Guilty

you do, thought Diane. For Garnett and the mayor to make Rosewood the crime-solving center of the region, they had to have the cooperation of the surrounding counties. What better way than to cooperate with them first?
‘‘We’re holding Kacie Beck right now,’’ Garnett continued. ‘‘By her own admission, she was there right at the time of death. She called nine-one-one at eleven eighteen. M.E. put the time of death close to eleven. A witness saw Miss Beck drive up at a little after nine. It doesn’t look good for her. I’m thinking that if she didn’t help kill Edwards, she knows who did.’’
Diane took the folder from in front of Garnett and thumbed through the reports. She pointed to an item.
‘‘My team found a thermometer showing a tempera ture reading of 103 degrees on Chris Edwards’ nightstand, along with cold medications. If he was run ning a temperature that high at the time of death, it will push back the time of death estimate to around seven P.M. The M.E. didn’t have that information when she took a liver temperature at the crime scene.’’
Garnett took the report back from Diane, removed a pair of glasses from his pocket and examined it as if for the first time. ‘‘We don’t know that this was Edwards’ temperature.’’
‘‘Not now, but we took a swab from the thermometer . . .’’ began Diane. She reached over and pulled out the autopsy report on Chris Edwards. ‘‘Dr. Webber indicates he had congestion in his lungs.’’ Diane looked for attachments. ‘‘His blood work is not back yet.’’
Garnett started to speak, but was interrupted by his phone. From the one-sided conversation, Diane knew it was Lynn Webber. Diane wasn’t sure why she had bothered with this elaborate ruse. It wasn’t a desire to spare Lynn Webber’s feelings or reputation that motivated her. What she wanted was to keep on good terms with the sheriff—and Garnett, for that matter. Both seemed rather swept off their feet by Webber.
‘‘That was Dr. Webber,’’ said Garnett, returning the phone to its cradle. ‘‘She said the blood work came back on Edwards showing he had an infection and that he probably had a fever. That corresponds to what you were telling us.’’
Diane merely nodded.
‘‘That doesn’t mean that Miss Beck isn’t good for it,’’ continued Garnett. ‘‘But we’ll have to let her go.’’
‘‘No sign of Steven Mayberry?’’ the sheriff asked.
‘‘No. He seems to have vanished. He’ll turn up sooner or later—I hope alive.’’
‘‘I just finished the rope analysis.’’ Diane explained about the waggoner’s hitch.
‘‘Well, I’ll be,’’ said the sheriff. ‘‘You got that from that old piece of rope?’’
‘‘It doesn’t mean he’s a truck driver,’’ said Diane.
‘‘I understand. But it’s a place to start,’’ said the sheriff. ‘‘Who’d’ve thought you could find anything in an old piece of rope like that?’’
‘‘You sure that rope belongs with the crime scene and it wasn’t one that just happened to be in the woods?’’
Garnett didn’t seem to be criticizing, but rather the evidence appeared to excite him and he didn’t want it to evaporate by being irrelevant. Everything that Diane did in the crime lab that impressed Sheriff Braden—or anyone else—was a feather in Garnett’s cap.
‘‘It has the same orange fiber on it that was on the clothes of the victims and on all the hanging ropes. The fourth noose and the Cobber’s Wood crime scene also had the orange fiber, but no skin cells around the noose. It was never used.’’
Garnett nodded, looking satisfied.
Diane reviewed the evidence, crime scene by crime scene, starting with Steven Mayberry’s truck, which was found on a dirt road near a small lake. ‘‘There was blood on the steering wheel and some smeared on the seat. We don’t have the lab work back yet, so we can’t say whose it is.’’
‘‘It could be Chris Edwards’, then?’’ said Garnett.
‘‘Could be anyone’s. We found Mayberry’s finger prints on the steering wheel. Some were in the blood, indicating the prints were left when the blood was fresh. His fingerprints were also on the dash, the seat, the gas cap, and the back gate of the truck. Chris Edwards’ prints were on the passenger’s side dash, the inside and outside door handles and the glove com partment. On the passenger’s side we found another set of unidentified prints. They were smaller and could be