Scattered Graves

would have made a safe walkway through the
house—a trail that had been scrutinized for all the
evidence they could discover.
‘‘How are things going here?’’ she asked. ‘‘Real good. David found something interesting.
He’ll tell you about it. Actually we could have found
it in the lab, but we just now got to taking a closer
look at the pictures.’’
‘‘That sounds intriguing,’’ said Diane. ‘‘Anything
else?’’
‘‘Gee, boss, you expect a lot.’’ Jin grinned. ‘‘I’ve
mapped the blood pattern and taken lots of samples.
I was just getting ready to go back to the lab. I
checked the rest of the house for blood. I found some
in the guest bathroom sink on this floor. There’s a
guest room back in the corner off the living room.
Anyway, I think the shooter got a little spray on him
and he washed up. The last team in here didn’t think
to check all the bathrooms for blood.’’ Jin sounded
cocky on the last comment.
‘‘That’s why we’re here,’’ said Diane. ‘‘I knew you
would be thorough. Think maybe the shooter was
hoping the guest bathroom would be skipped?’’ Jin nodded. ‘‘That’s what I think. There’s a divider
in front of the door, so it’s kind of hidden—in a way.’’ ‘‘You have any luck with Sutton?’’ said Jin. ‘‘Yes. Quite a bit. I’ll tell all of you about it later,’’
she said.
‘‘Sure thing, boss. We’ve done the downstairs, so
you can walk freely. The front stairs are done and they have half the second floor done. The others are up there now. They’re teaching Rikki about search patterns. Izzy’s in the study going through the books.
He wanted to help, so David set him to work there.’’ ‘‘What is Izzy doing here?’’ asked Diane. ‘‘He just showed up. I thought you told him to
come,’’ said Jin.
‘‘No. I suppose the chief of police sent him,’’ said
Diane. ‘‘How is Rikki doing?’’ she asked as she
walked back to the front door with Jin.
He took off his coveralls and removed the covering
on his shoes and head and put them in a disposable
bag from his crime scene kit.
‘‘Complaining. But she’s doing what David and
Neva tell her.’’ He lowered his voice. ‘‘Has anyone
really looked at her educational background? I can’t
believe she had a minor in biology but has no concept
of scientific method—and I can’t believe she’s ever
had a course in criminology.’’
‘‘You know, I haven’t checked. We need to do
that.’’ Diane shook her head. ‘‘My brain’s not work
ing,’’ she said.
‘‘Probably from being hit on the head,’’ said Jin. ‘‘Thanks.’’
‘‘Sure, boss. See you back at the lab.’’
He started for his car, then suddenly turned around. ‘‘I’m glad to have you back in charge of the crime
lab,’’ he said. ‘‘We all are, especially David. This guy’’—
Jin gestured at the Jefferies’ house—‘‘he knocked the
world off its axis for a lot of people. You’re going to
make it right again.’’ Jin turned and went to his car. Righting the world. Diane wished she could. She
feared that her people expected more from her than
she could deliver. She closed the front door and
turned her attention back to the crime scene. Jefferies’ study and library was just to the left of
the foyer. It had been labeled as a parlor on her floor
plan. The door was half closed. She opened it and
went in. Izzy, dressed in the coverings they wore to
protect the crime scene from contamination, sat at a library table looking through books. He looked quite
different in a shower cap.
Unlike the rest of the house, the study was mainly
wood. The bookcases, paneling, desk, and library table
were all rich brown colors of various kinds of woods
buffed to a high sheen. The glass doors to the banker’s
bookshelves were raised and slid back into the case.
The shelves were empty. Most of the books were
stacked on the floor, table, and desk. She remembered
it being like this when she was here before with Colin
Prehoda—when they had discovered Edgar Peeks’
body with Garnett standing over it.
‘‘Hi,’’ Izzy said. ‘‘David put me to work down here
among the books.’’
‘‘I’m surprised to see you,’’ said Diane.
‘‘Janice is working with another partner on this now.
This has priority in the department, so I’m helping.’’ Diane noticed that his answer was a tad carefully
worded for Izzy. He never really said who sent him.
Curious.
‘‘We’re