Dust to Dust

you.”
    “That’s why we’re here,” said Stark.
    Jin had been standing by a credenza with the box of evidence on top of it. He came over with the box and set it between Diane and Ross.
    “This is Deven Jin,” said Diane. “He’s the director of the DNA lab. He was formerly on my crime scene team. He helped gather the evidence and he processed it.”
    “Hi.” Jin grinned, as if they were all good friends.
    “Dr. Webber has her autopsy report that she will go over with you,” said Diane.
    “Let’s get it over with, then,” said Detective Fisher.

Chapter 47
    Diane put a diagram of Stacy Dance’s room on the table. She had marked where all the evidence was found. She turned the map to face toward Fisher, Stark, and Doppelmeyer. She also placed their own photograph of Stacy next to the map.
    Kingsley explained his firm’s involvement first. Diane noticed he tried to keep all words out of his narration that might in any way suggest that their guests had bungled the case. He used a lot of passive voice and weasel words. He was far more tactful than Diane would have been.
    “Her father, Harmon Dance, left her room intact,” Kingsley said. “That’s why I was able to have Diane examine it.” He nodded to Diane and they gave her their strained attention.
    “When someone is strangled, they often evacuate their bladder and bowels,” began Diane.
    “Oh, here we go, Pathology 101,” said Doppelmeyer.
    “Oran, let’s listen,” said Chief Stark. Her voice was quiet, but it held her authority.
    Doppelmeyer sat back in his chair, his ears turning red. “We know this,” he said.
    “I was just introducing the evidence,” said Diane. “I meant no disrespect.” She pointed to a marked place on the diagram that was in the living room area of Stacy Dance’s apartment.
    “This is where she was strangled. We found her urine and feces here and it covered a wide area. It had been cleaned up, but there was enough left for Jin to positively identify it as belonging to Stacy Dance,” said Diane.
    “What about the bed?” said Fisher. “Did you check it?”
    “Yes. It was negligible. The amount was what you might get from transfer,” she said.
    Diane put a photograph of the rope in front of them.
    “This was around her neck. Notice that it is tied with a granny knot. If you are involved in cutting off the blood supply to your brain for fun, it’s important for the knot to be easily released when you want it to be, or you lose consciousness. You use a knot that lets the rope slip, or you use a knot that can be released by a pull on the end of the rope. You don’t use a granny knot. Granny knots are incorrectly tied square knots that are notoriously hard to untie, and they don’t slip. Look at the picture. There is no way she could have gotten out of this. She would have lost consciousness in as little as four seconds after the knot was pulled tight, and death would have followed within minutes.”
    “It could have been suicide,” Fisher shot back.
    “Have you ever in your experience seen a suicide like this?” said Kingsley. “Has anyone committing suicide ever attached clothespins to their nipples?” Fisher didn’t say anything. “This was staged to humiliate as well as to deflect the manner of death.”
    “You know about knots?” Stark asked Diane.
    “Diane is an expert in knots,” said Kingsley.
    “She is,” said Lynn Webber. “I hadn’t heard of a forensic knot expert until I met her. Let me tell you, when we had those hanging victims, she made sure my diener and I were really careful with the knots. She read those knots like a book.”
    “How do you get to be a forensic knot expert?” asked Fisher.
    Diane could see the skepticism in his face. But she saw interest too.
    “Study and experience. My interest began when I became a caver. In caving, your life often depends on your knowledge of rope and knots. Then I had my first case involving ropes, and it grew from there,” said Diane. “Knots carry unique information. They tell you things about the person who tied them. It’s often not a great deal, but it can be a critical piece of information. I can look at a set of knots and tell you if the person is a caver or a rock climber, a boater, or a hauler. I can also tell you by looking at their rope if they are careful or reckless.”
    “Huh, interesting,” said Stark. “So this is not a knot someone would use in this situation?”
    “Not like this. In this situation, if a