Smoke, Mirrors, and Murder

Rickman, an investigator with the Selmer Police Department with a quarter century of police experience, was one of the first to arrive at the parsonage. He saw that Matthew Winkler had apparently died where he lay. He wore a red undershirt, a green long-sleeved shirt, and what could be called either pajama or lounging pants. The minister’s arms were flung out, with his right hand touching the bathroom door and the left extending under the bed. His right leg was straight and his left leg was bent at the knee so that his ankles were crossed.
    At first glance, there wasn’t much blood apparent, save for the froth from his mouth, which probably indicated some sort of injury to his lungs. But when the investigators turned the husky minister over, they found that he had lost almost all the blood in his body, bleeding out from a gunshot wound located to the left of his spinal column in the lower thoracic area, just above his waist. The bedding and the carpet beneath it were soaked with mostly dried blood. Whatever internal wounds Winkler had, his immediate cause of death would probably have been through exsanguination. He had bled to death.
    He could not have survived such an injury, even if emergency medical care had been summoned immediately, but it was possible that he might have been alive and conscious for a very brief period after he’d been shot. Only an autopsy could discover the full extent of his injuries.
    There was, of course, immediate concern for Mary Winkler and their three little girls. They weren’t anywhere in the house, and the family’s Toyota Sienna minivan was missing from the driveway. Had Matthew Winkler died trying to protect his family from someone who had broken into their home during the night before?
    Were Mary and the girls now hostages of a maniac?
    Every scenario that came to mind was terrifying.
    While most members of church congregations revere their ministers and their families, there are always those whose mental balance is a bit off center. Was there someone in the Fourth Street Church of Christ who had snapped suddenly, or even harbored a long-held hatred for the preacher? Had he killed Matthew before abducting his family? Or had some stranger broken into their home the night before? Both were ominous possibilities.
    If Matthew had been killed in a home-invasion robbery, something should be missing. And yet the detectives saw his money clip on the dresser with a good-sized wad of cash still in it. His driver’s license was there, too.
    A check of the other rooms in the house was a tiny bit reassuring; there were no signs of blood or struggle anyplace but in the master bedroom. Still, Winkler’s family was gone, and Mary hadn’t called to summon help for her husband. No one had heard from her—and that was frightening. One small woman and three little girls might be at the mercy of a killer, hurtling over highways hundreds of miles from home.
    The parsonage was cordoned off with crime-scene tape; officers were stationed to protect the outside premises throughout the night; and investigators worked inside to gather any evidence they could find that might lead to the person or persons who had shot the young preacher in the back with a high-powered weapon.
    The beginning of rigor mortis and the temperature of Matthew Winkler’s body indicated that he had probably been dead for more than twelve hours.
    In twelve hours, his family could be anywhere.
    John Vinson, the medical examiner of McNairy County, ordered the removal of Winkler’s body to Nashville, where a postmortem exam would be done as soon as possible.
    Tennessee Bureau of Investigation agents Chris Carpenter and Mike Frizzell arrived near midnight. From the appearance of the single wound in Matthew Winkler’s back, all the detectives felt the death weapon had been a shotgun, fired from some distance away. There was no gun in the house or yard, though, which meant his murderer must have taken it along with Winkler’s family and vehicle.
    Investigator Rickman gathered and labeled some physical evidence carefully so the chain of evidence could be tracked. Dr. Vinson gave him a single shotgun pellet that he’d found on Winkler’s stomach when he lifted his shirt.
    TBI criminalist Donna Nelson, along with Lauren James, Erica Catherine, and Francesca Sanders, would process every corner of the crime scene. Briefed by Chris Carpenter on what was known so far, the forensic technicians would not find much that would help the