Lia crossed her arms as she studied the murder board. “Dottie, why do you have this DNA evidence?”
“I thought it might help prove Eddie’s innocence.”
Lia shook her head. “No, I mean, why is it in your refrigerator instead of at the police department?”
Dottie pinned Lia with her gaze. “Why would it be at the police department? I’m the one who collected it.”
Lia’s eyes narrowed. “Isn’t that against the law?”
“No. At least, I don’t think so.”
“But how did you get it?” I asked. “Did all these men just give it to you?”
Dottie laughed. “No, they didn’t just give it to me. Although that would’ve been super helpful.”
“Then how did you get it?” Lia asked.
Dottie lifted a shoulder. “Oh, you’d be surprised what you can get with a little eyeliner and miniskirt.”
I stared at Dottie, filled with a mixture of horror and admiration. “Are you serious?”
“Absolutely. These guys are pretty basic. I just followed them into a bar, flashed a little cleavage, and giggled at their stupid jokes. Next thing I knew, they were buying me a drink, and voilà.”
“Voilà?” Lia raised her brow. “One of the glass jars in your refrigerator contains a tooth. How in the world did you get someone’s tooth?”
Dottie sighed and rested her hand on a picture of a skinny man with large ears. “That was Michael. Getting his tooth was pure luck. I flirted with him forever. We were at the seediest bar you’ve ever seen, and I just wanted to go home, take a bath, and put on my pajamas. I didn’t think I was going to be able to get his DNA, and I almost gave up.
“Then a bar fight broke out, and he jumped right in. The whole thing was crazy. I started to leave, but as he lay on the ground, bleeding, he called out to me. When I turned to look at him, he spat out his tooth. It was all bloody and disgusting, but I hustled over there, picked it up with a napkin, and stuck it in my pocket.”
“What did he say?” I asked, fascinated.
“He called me a sick fool and tried to kiss me. Luckily, he was too drunk to catch me, so I ran out of there as fast as I could.”
“I can’t believe you did that.” My admiration for Dottie tripled. While I could see Lia doing something crazy like that, I could never be that brave.
“You do what you have to do,” Dottie said.
I glanced at Lia who’d returned her attention to the murder board. She had a lot more experience with criminal matters than I did. I desperately wanted to know what she was thinking, but I didn’t want to ask in front of Dottie.
Instead, I asked about the strands of hair I’d seen in the refrigerator that were now listed on one of the index cards. “How’d you get those?”
Dottie smiled. “That was Gene. I simply plucked those hairs from his head.”
“Really?”
“Yup. I kept waiting for him to go back to shooting pool with his buddies so I could swipe his beer bottle, but he wouldn’t leave the table. Finally, I ran my hand through his hair. I told him how much I loved blond-haired men, then I plucked out a few strands.”
“No.”
“Yes.” Dottie laughed again.
“What did he do?”
“He yelped and covered his head with his hands. He said, ‘Hey, what’d you do that for?’ I just laughed and tried to come up with something seductive to say about his greasy hair making me lose control. Then I excused myself to powder my nose and snuck out the window.”
“Oh no.” I pressed my hand to my mouth.
“All the way home, my hands shook so bad I could barely hold the steering wheel. I thought for sure a cop was going to pull me over for suspected drunk driving. But I made it home in one piece.”