Dead Hunt

Put your head down,’’ he said, nodding at her and putting his own head on his raised folded arms as if she might not understand the language.
She put her forearms on her knees, bent her head down, closed her eyes, and tried to breathe evenly.
The noise level rose and Diane realized that other people had arrived. She thought of her neighbors. Given the number of times violent events had happened in or near her apartment, they had been longsuffering. She was sure that the people across the hall already had their door open a crack. Hopefully they had heard something that might shed some light on what happened.
Two paramedics entered and began taking her blood pressure and asking her questions designed to detect whether or not she was in her right mind.
‘‘Your pulse is low,’’ commented the female paramedic.
‘‘I run,’’ said Diane. ‘‘My pulse normally runs about fifty, often lower.’’
‘‘We’re okay, then. Does your head hurt?’’
‘‘Yes,’’ answered Diane.
They continued to ask questions and Diane answered. She heard Garnett arrive, followed by her crime scene team.
‘‘Oh, my God,’’ said Neva. She, Jin, and David stood looking at Diane and the pool of blood. ‘‘What happened?’’
‘‘That’s why you’re here,’’ said Diane.
‘‘What do you mean?’’ said David.
‘‘I mean, I don’t know,’’ said Diane evenly. ‘‘David, you aren’t on call to respond to a crime scene. You’re supposed to be on vacation.’’
‘‘I am on vacation. This is one of the sights,’’ he said. ‘‘Like I was going to stay home when the crime scene Jin and Neva were called to was your place?’’
‘‘Are you all right?’’ asked Neva.
‘‘Yes,’’ said Diane.
‘‘You have a big bruise on your head,’’ Chief Garnett said. ‘‘It looks like you were attacked.’’ Garnett, as usual, looked like he had just come from the theater or a concert. Well dressed, tall, in his mid-forties, he always appeared elegant, especially with his full head of black and silver hair.
Diane started to explain to Garnett that she slipped and fell in the blood, but her voice was drowned out by the policeman telling someone they couldn’t come in.
‘‘What’s going on?’’ a woman’s voice said. ‘‘Has something happened? If there is danger, we need to know about it.’’
It was Veda Odell, her eccentric elderly neighbor across the hall who lived with her husband and attended funerals for recreation.
‘‘Just go back into your apartment, please,’’ said Officer Ellison.
‘‘I’ll talk to her,’’ said Garnett.
He clearly wanted to control the situation, thought Diane, making all the information come to him.
‘‘Let David do it,’’ said Diane. She met Garnett’s eyes. He nodded, probably remembering that David had a special rapport with the Odells, earned from a previous case they had worked on.
David shot her a you-owe-me-big-time glare as he reintroduced himself to Veda Odell.
‘‘Yes, I remember you,’’ Veda said. ‘‘David, isn’t it? We have some new photographs in our collection I’ll bet you would like to see.’’
‘‘I would indeed, Mrs. Odell. Do you mind if I ask you and your husband a few questions? I know it’s early in the morning.’’
Neva chuckled under her breath and shook her head. ‘‘He’s going to get you for this,’’ she said.
‘‘Is any of this blood yours?’’ asked Jin. He stood staring at the red pool.
‘‘No,’’ said Diane. ‘‘I don’t think so.’’
‘‘Lord have mercy.’’
The newest member of the law enforcement entourage to arrive was Lynn Webber, medical examiner for Hall County, just north of Rosewood. Like Garnett, she was never caught anywhere—even at a crime scene—without being well dressed. She was wearing designer jeans, a blue silk blouse that went great with her short, shiny black hair, and a lightweight brown embroidered jacket. She watched carefully where she stepped with her Ferragamos.
‘‘Are you all right?’’ She turned to the paramedics. ‘‘Let me see her vitals.’’
After exchanging a brief glance, the paramedics handed Lynn a clipboard.
‘‘What are you doing here, Lynn?’’ asked Chief Garnett. ‘‘A little out of your jurisdiction, aren’t you?’’
‘‘I heard on my police scanner that the paramedics were called to Diane’s....’’
Garnett jerked his phone from his pocket. He looked around for a safe place to walk and finally decided it