Dust to Dust

important.”
    “The Athens police department executed a search warrant on Tyler’s residence. In the closet they found incriminating evidence.”
    “Of what?” said Everett. “They found nothing.”
    “A sequin that matched my dress,” said Diane. “You stepped on it when you attacked me at Marcella Payden’s house and carried it back on the bottom of your boot.”
    “That’s nothing,” said Everett. “Just as I thought, you got nothing.”
    “Granted, the sequin alone, it could be argued, is just a coincidence. Even the matching fibers could be considered a coincidence. They’re common. However, they also found a broken piece of pottery,” said Diane.
    Everett laughed. “You got nothing.”
    “On the contrary,” said Diane. “You broke a pot on the way to your vehicle.”
    “A broken piece could have come from anywhere,” said Everett.
    “You stole pottery that Dr. Marcella Payden made. She does archaeological research. Do you know what a histological examination is? It’s a microscopic inspection of stuff, like tissue, broken pottery kind of stuff. The point is, we can match that piece with the broken pieces of her property. We can place Tyler at Marcella’s house at the time of the second attack.” Diane stopped a moment to let it sink in.
    “Tyler. Not me,” said Everett.
    Good , thought Diane, be the self-centered bastard you are .
    “I don’t have the results of the search of your premises yet,” said Diane.
    His eyes narrowed and his gun wavered in her direction. “You won’t find anything,” he said.
    “That remains to be seen. You seem to be ignorant of how trace evidence works. Which brings me to boots.”
    Everett winced at her words. Diane could see he didn’t like being called ignorant.
    “Boots?” whispered Tyler. He moved toward the table.
    “What you doing, boy?” said Everett.
    “Getting their guns,” he said, “so they don’t make a grab for them. You said they’re desperate. I see that guy, Kingsley, eyeing them.”
    “Good thinking, boy. We can figure this out. You just hang in there. Feeling that vodka yet?” said Everett.
    “A little,” he said. He groaned as he reached for the guns. He got hold of them, put them in his lap, and scuttled back, leaning against a wall. “Mom, throw me a pillow.”
    Wendy took a decorator pillow from the couch and tossed it to her son, who put it under his leg with a yelp. He took another swig of vodka.
    “What about the boots?” said Tyler.
    He looked pale and his leg was still seeping blood. She had better hurry.
    “Your Garmont hiking boot,” said Diane.
    Wendy sucked in her breath. “I gave you some—”
    “Shut up, you damn fool,” said Everett.
    Tyler set the bottle down and looked at Diane. “What about them?”
    “We identified the make of shoe by the tread pattern that we collected from the floor at Marcella’s house. We can match the boot prints to individual boots because of the nicks and wear patterns. We already have.”
    “Again, Tyler,” said Everett.
    “We have a warrant to look for your size ten and a half Oliver steel toe safety boots,” said Diane, locking her gaze with his.
    She had surprised him. He was startled, but recovered quickly and started to speak, but Tyler beat him to it.
    “Put down your gun, Granddad, or I’ll shoot.”

Chapter 61
    “What the hell you talking about, boy?” said Everett.
    Tyler held the gun straight out in front of him, pointing it at his grandfather.
    “I don’t like the way you been saying that all the evidence is on me. Put it down or I’ll shoot. You been telling me I need to be strong. This is me being strong. Put down the gun.”
    “I could shoot you before you could shoot me,” said Everett.
    “Go ahead, risk it.” Tyler sniffed.
    “That’s liquor courage, boy. It ain’t real,” said Everett.
    “It’s real enough. Now put it down,” he said.
    “Better think about what you’re doing, boy,” Everett said. “We’ll get out of this.”
    “I am thinking. I want to hear more about how I didn’t kill Ellie Rose. All these years you been holding it up to me,” said Tyler.
    “Can’t you see what she’s doing? She’s lying,” said Everett.
    “This is the last time. Put it down on the floor,” said Tyler. “If she’s lying and I sense it, you can have it back.”
    Everyone looked back and forth between them as if they were watching a tennis match. Tyler’s hand wavered and Diane thought his grandfather was going to