“No, there was no love lost between Dr. Turner and his wife.” Kane shook his head. “The final domination before strangling her, do you think?”
“More likely, he strangled her during the attack.” Wolfe pointed at the thumbprints on Jeanette’s pale waxen throat and then turned the head to reveal impressed fingermarks on both sides of her neck. “A frontal attack, he wanted to watch her die and from the state of the apartment, she fought for her life. She didn’t stand a chance, once he’d secured her hands behind her back with the cord from her robe.” He lifted both bagged hands and indicated to the marks indented in her flesh. “The marks match the cord. He removed it to pose her but Turner isn’t a big guy, he must have had trouble getting her down the steps.” Wolfe frowned. “The stairs are steep and a dead body carried over one shoulder would be difficult, carried in the arms, impossible.” He looked at Jenna. “He didn’t drag her down the steps or roll her down. He
must have had help.”
Suspicion tingled up Jenna’s spine. “Is this a copycat or do you figure the killers of Laurie and Becky were involved?”
“Copycat.” Kane moved closer. “But he had some inside information, he knew about the strangling and that a pompom was involved but I figure he improvised the rest. It’s Dr. Turner. He has motive and we have evidence against him. If we find DNA on his ring, we have him dead to rights.”
“I have to agree.” Wolfe moved away from the body. “Emily is going to conduct the internal procedure under my supervision but I don’t believe we’ll find anything but the obvious. Everything points to asphyxiation by strangulation as COD: the marks, broken hyoid, and hematomas in the eyes. She hadn’t been drinking and I tested her for the usual drugs and found nothing although as usual a full tox screen will be conducted as routine.”
Unease crawled over Jenna. Her team was like a vault. Not one of them leaked information and somehow, Turner had discovered pertinent details and tried to make his wife’s murder look as if Laurie’s killer had committed the crime. She ran the contents of the media releases through her mind. Laurie’s had mentioned the naked body of a teenager but nothing about the strangulation or stabbing, Becky’s had mentioned a scantily clad teenager and nothing else, neither had mentioned cheerleaders.
The front door buzzer made a red-light flash inside the examination room. Jenna headed for the door. “That will be the personal effects.” She glanced at Kane and Wolfe. “Are we done here?”
“Yeah, Em can take it from here.” Wolfe followed her out of the examination room with Kane close behind.
Jenna could see Rio waiting outside the two sets of glass doors and hurried to let him through. “How is our prisoner?”
“Screaming for his lawyer when I informed him we have a search warrant and would be seizing his belongings for forensic analysis. I gave him a copy of the warrant.” Rio shrugged. “He’s acting like a lunatic but I observed duty of care and gave him a meal.” He handed over the envelope with Dr. Turner’s name on it and a code they used to identify people’s belongings. “Have you found anything to charge him?”
“Plenty.” Jenna led the way back to the hallway where Kane and Wolfe waited. “If her DNA is on his ring, there’s no doubt.” She handed the envelope to Wolfe. “Here, unopened since Turner placed his belongings inside.”
“Good.” Wolfe changed his scrubs, mask, and gloves. “You can observe through the window but I don’t want any evidence contaminated.” He scanned his card and went inside the laboratory.
Excited, Jenna slipped inside the small observation room. Each side of her, Kane and Rio towered over her both peering intently as Wolfe set to work. A tremble of anticipation slid over her as Wolfe placed a slide into the microscope. The few seconds he took to examine the slide seemed to take a year. When he looked up and gave them the thumbs up, she gripped Kane’s arm feeling the bunched muscles under her fingers and grinned at him. “He’s found something.”
They waited as Wolfe set up the DNA sequencer and then went back to the envelope and removed a watch with an expandable band. He examined the strap closely and pulled something out with tweezers. Jenna pressed the microphone. “What’s that?”
Wolfe moved to the microscope again and fiddled around. He secured the sample inside a plastic tube, sealed it, and then pulled down the microphone.
“It’s a few hairs caught in his watch strap.” Wolfe looked at them over the top of his mask. “They’re the right color, I’ll have to run a few comparison tests to see if they are a match for Jeanette Turner. The ring held skin and blood traces. The DNA results will take up to an hour. We have Mrs. Turner’s DNA on record, I’ll call you as soon as I have any information.”
Jenna looked at Kane. “I figure the next hour is going to be the longest in my life.”
Forty-Nine
Hopeful Wolfe would find DNA evidence against Dr. Turner but not taking anything for granted, Jenna and Kane headed back to the office to collect the paperwork for the search warrants. She’d taken the bunch of keys from Turner’s property envelope but would need to show the search warrant at the school to gain access to his office without causing a fuss. She snorted and smiled to herself at the thought of the woman on the counter trying to stop them executing her warrant.
“What’s so funny?” Kane glanced at her as they turned into Main.
Jenna shrugged. “Oh nothing, I was just thinking about raiding Turner’s office at the school.”
“And?” Kane gave her a puzzled look.
She giggled. “Well, if they didn’t like us invading his office, who would they call to complain? The sheriff?”
“I see your point.” Kane pulled into his space outside the sheriff’s department offices. “That’s why we do everything by the book.”
They walked inside and as Jenna made her way to her office, Rowley hurried to her side. She went straight to the coffee machine. “What do you have for me, Jake?”
“All Wyatt Cooper’s friends say he was with them on the night of Becky’s murder but every one of them was vague about time. Apparently, they went into Aunt Betty’s Café at some point but were all having a good time and didn’t check their watches. Two recalled visiting the wood carving exhibition, which I checked started at eight-thirty in the city hall. So, it seems the group, all on the football team, went just about everywhere. I spoke to them all individually and kept them separate before questioning them. The principal remained in the room throughout as well as a representative of their parents. Not that it was necessary.”
Jenna filled two to-go cups with coffee and added the fixings. “So, in fact none of them can verify Cooper’s whereabouts between eight and ten?”
“Not exactly, no.” Rowley scratched his head. “Not being able to pin any of them down on time made it difficult but they were all forthcoming.”
“Hmm.” Kane rested a hip on the edge of Jenna’s desk. “So, if he was the killer, the defense will use that as reasonable doubt. We can’t put him at the scene of the crime. He may or may not have been in the area at the time Becky was killed.”