“How did you know that her place isn’t posted?” Carter flashed Kane a knowing look. “Have you been there before?”
“No, but I just had a memory. It was the flash of my headlights sweeping an open gate. There were no signs anywhere.” Rio stared at Kane. “My cruiser was there, so I must have driven there, right? Maybe my memory is coming back.”
“Yeah, you know darn well you parked just inside the gate.” Kane frowned. “You must have walked up the driveway. Why didn’t you follow procedure and drive by the house using your vehicle for protection?”
“I have no idea.” Rio shrugged. “Maybe I saw someone and wanted to get the jump on them.”
Kane stared at him. “So, from that glimpse of memory, we can be sure you drove without any problems to the house. You know, I’ve checked your vehicle. All the prints are yours and the GPS has the victim’s address as the last place you entered.” He sighed. “Your prints are on the front doorframe, so you rested your hand there before entering the house. Unless you blanked out and murdered the woman, we must assume someone administered the drug as you entered the house.”
“If I remembered, don’t you figure I’d tell you?” Rio let out a huff of exasperation. “How much longer do I have to sit here? I have the headache from hell. I need coffee and something to eat.”
Kane’s phone buzzed. Wolfe was calling from just down the hall. “Yeah?”
“Can you come to the lab. You need to see this.”
“I’m on my way.” Kane disconnected the call and turned to Carter. “I’ll be right back.”
TWENTY-NINE
Kane walked to the examination room with the red light glowing outside. He flashed his ID and the doors whooshed open. The drop in temperature hit him and he walked to where Wolfe was peering at a readout of tests on a computer screen. He peered over his shoulder. “Find anything interesting?”
“I have a ton of conflicting evidence.” Wolfe spun his seat around to look at him. “It’s very unusual. The victim has a few fibers on her clothes but not a great deal that match. I know she’s in the quilting circle, so she might have handled different fabrics at any time.” He frowned. “On Rio’s clothes are carpet fibers, which match the victim’s carpet as if he rolled around the floor or was dragged. Not what I’d usually see, especially as the same drag pattern is on the victim.”
Kane scratched his cheek. “So that would tell us that both the victim and Rio were dragged over the carpet?”
“Yeah.” Wolfe pointed to the images of bloody footprints. “This evidence added to everything else is enough to convict Rio. The prints were made by Rio’s boots, there’s no doubt.” He took an evidence bag from a pile containing Rio’s blood-soaked clothes and held up a pair of socks. “Rio was wearing his boots when we found him, so how did blood get onto the toes of his socks?”
Kane examined the evidence. “His boots were removed but he didn’t walk in the blood, did he? There’s no blood on the bottom of his socks or on his bare feet.” He stared at Wolfe. “Are you saying, someone removed his boots, put them on, and then dragged the victim into the hallway?”
“From the lack of other footprints, it suggests Rio was unconscious before the killing. The killer put on Rio’s boots and murdered the victim. Dumped her in the hallway and then dragged Rio through the blood. His feet were on the edge of the blood spatter when we found him. The killer replaced his boots and left. I found fluff from towels on the carpet, same as at the Agnes Wagner crime scene. The killer used them to leave the house without leaving a blood trail. They likely burned their clothes. I’ll check the incinerator when I go back this afternoon and look for any blood spatter from the killer outside the house.” Wolfe had a determined look on his face. “Talk to Jo. We’ve assumed that the killer gets his kicks from frightening the old ladies before he kills them. If this is what happened, then the killer had Mrs. Carson restrained or held at gunpoint when Rio arrived.”
Processing all the information, Kane rubbed his chin. “This would mean Rio was set up. What else have you got?”
“Or he is a killer trying to hide his tracks. He could just as easily have killed the woman, dragged her into the hallway, and then removed his boots to fabricate the evidence to match the first murderer’s MO.” Wolfe brought up a blood analysis on his screen. “Rio is symptomatic to a date rape drug. What is available on the streets right now is gamma-hydroxybutyric acid, commonly known as liquid ecstasy. It’s easy to transport and inject. I tested specifically for that and got a hit. I’ve run tests for everything I can think of, but the results will take time and are probably unnecessary.” He shrugged. “I checked the victim for trace evidence and found nothing under her nails but the incisions to her forearms and hands indicates she faced a frontal attack and tried to protect herself. I’ll be able to give you specifics after the autopsy tomorrow.”
Kane blew out a long sigh. “So, we still don’t know if he’s in the clear?”
“We’re dealing with a superior mind here, Dave.” Wolfe met his gaze. “Let’s just check out a few more things before we make a decision. Take him to the showers and when he’s done, wrap him in a towel and I’ll examine him from head to toe. If someone injected him, we’ll find a needle mark. It would have had to have been a fast-punch type of jab, so they usually tear. Also, it will be likely on his back. I have to be sure he hasn’t done this to himself to cover his involvement.”
Thinking for a beat, Kane ran the possible scenario through his head. “Liquid ecstasy would drop him immediately, wouldn’t it?”
“Going on the size of the dose, and the time he was unconscious, yeah, it would happen very fast. He’d likely stagger around and then collapse.” Wolfe pointed to the results on the screen. “From the residue still present in his blood, it was enough to drop a horse. He’s lucky to be alive.”
“Okay.” Kane stared at the screen. “So where is the syringe? He wouldn’t have had time to dump it somewhere.” He imagined himself in the same situation. “Unless he injected it and threw the syringe into the yard, then staggered back inside the house, or threw it out a window.”
“He could have just as easily injected himself in the bathroom, flushed it, and then staggered into the family room. It was a few feet.” Wolfe shrugged. “It’s possible and what I’d do. But using this drug as an alibi is way too risky.”
Kane stared at him. “How so?”
“It’s life threatening in high doses and its use as an alibi is too dependent on the timeframe. We might not have found him for hours.” Wolfe rested his head in the palm of one hand. “If this was a setup and we assume the killer is familiar with the drug, then they wouldn’t expect me to detect it. Liquid ecstasy has a very narrow temporal window and they didn’t bank on me taking a blood sample within eight hours of the drug’s administration. Once that time has passed, there’d be no evidence to prove anyone drugged Rio, making him appear guilty. Same as if he used it for an alibi, he’d have to bet on us finding him within eight hours for it to work in his favor. If we find a needle stick injury in his back, it will prove someone else administered the drug.”
“So, he can go for a shower and then we bring him in here?” Kane could feel the cold seeping through his clothes. “That would be barbaric. I don’t know how you work in these low temperatures.”
“I’m used to it.” Wolfe smiled. “Not getting soft, are you? Maybe it’s time to run you through another training session.”
“The dunking in the ravine was enough for me.” Kane chuckled. “Trust me, everything is working fine.”
“Take him back to the sterile room. At least it’s warmer in there. I’ll roll in the equipment I need and be ready when he’s finished.” Wolfe stood. “If I find a needle mark, I’ll know if he jabbed himself or not. Another thing,