Standing outside of the hotel room, Lucas watched the scene playing out in front of him before going in. He preferred to observe first, make his own assumptions. It was too easy to be swayed by someone else’s preconceived notions.
The one time he stayed in Bonnie Mitchell’s inn, he had a first floor room. Except for an entirely different color scheme—the room he rented when he first moved out of his and Caity’s place was more wintry grey than springtime peach—this one was set up just the same. Two chairs, two dressers, a nightstand and a very wide window. Then, of course, the large bed that took up much of the space.
Lucas’s attention was drawn immediately to the still figure sprawled flat on his back. The tail end of the rope tied around the dead man’s neck spooled on the thick, cream-colored carpet. Ligature strangulation, if he had to take a guess.
Caitlin was standing at the foot of the bed, a notepad in one hand and a pen in the other. Most unusually, her long red hair was hanging loosely down her back; it was her habit to wear her hair plaited away from her face when she was working. She was also wearing a tinted pair of shades, despite the fact that they were indoors and the curtain was still drawn.
Taking the medical bag from its place slung over his shoulder, he set it down by Caitlin’s feet. If the sheriff was standing there, it was a safe bet that he wasn’t going to contaminate any evidence if he joined her.
“I’m here. What do we have?”
At the sound of his voice, she winced, like he was speaking too loud. When she answered, though, she was as succinct and professional as he could’ve hoped.
“Male vic. Twenty-six years old. Caucasian, brown and brown. License in his wallet lists his stats as 5’11”, 215 pounds. Identified by same ID as James Sullivan, also known as Jack. Confirmed by his wife. Both of them outsiders.”
Of course, she would have to make that point. To Caitlin—and most of Hamlet—being an outsider was as much as a descriptor as age or height or weight. You couldn’t change it, not really. It just was.
“How’d he die?”
From his first glance, it was fairly obvious. Lucas wanted to hear Caitlin’s opinion anyway. It wouldn’t change his mind—only an autopsy and further testing might—but it didn’t hurt to ask someone with a practiced eye. Maybe the sheriff saw something that he hadn’t.
Using the tip of her pen, she gestured at his throat. “It’s gotta be strangulation. Someone snuck up on this guy, tied him up tighter than a twine knot. From the look of him, and the level of rigor mortis, I put TOD at at least a couple of hours ago. You’ll get a better read in the fridge.”
He stiffened at her last comment. “That back room might be small, so what? It serves its purpose as a mortuary, Caity. It doesn’t have to be fancy. I barely use it anyway.”
Her nonplussed expression seemed out of place at a crime scene. The sunglasses didn’t help. “It’s a fridge, Luc. I get the chills whenever I have to go there and not just because of the bodies. Don't fool yourself.”
She was goading him. Standing there, wound up tight and nearly vibrating in place from a mixture of fury and frustration, Caitlin was itching for a fight if only to let off some steam. It was how she always got whenever there was a problem she couldn’t fix with a snap of her fingers or a flash of her sheriff’s badge. She considered crime in her jurisdiction a personal insult.
This murder was an ultimate betrayal. Though outwardly she seemed calm and collected, inside she was spoiling to release some tension. He could oblige her, or he could get to work.
Lucas let it go. Hiking up his trousers, he crouched down low to get a better look at the victim.
Strangulation was never pretty. Jack Sullivan might have been a handsome man once but there was no sign of that in the caricature he left behind. Big brown eyes bulged, red splashing across the whites where blood vessels burst violently. Thick rope, common rope twisted around his throat. Lucas could see the purple bruises peeking out on his neck. No sign of scratches on his skin.
So he hadn’t struggled. Strange.
Lucas reached behind him for his medical bag. After digging through it, he found a pair of latex gloves. “How many guests are staying at the inn right now?” he called out as he snapped them on.
The sheriff hesitated in answering. She knew where Lucas was going with this. A lifelong fan of mystery novels and true crime, her ex was detecting. Out of spite, she wanted to ignore his question. But since it helped her to talk out a case, she obliged him.
“Just two. Both outsiders, our vic and his wife. Bonnie was off for the night, her back aching from the storm. She was in her third floor room all night. Her daughter had the desk ‘til two a.m. when she dragged Roy out of bed, made him take over until she then relieved him at eight this morning. Body was discovered at about half past nine.
“Even if I thought they had it in them, surveillance clears all three. I’ve already been down to see the tapes. It backs up their statements. They’re not involved. Just bad luck that they own the place.”
Lucas leaned in closer, peering at the dead man’s hands. “Anyone else pop on the video?”
“Only the wife. Caro says she left around ten p.m. last night. Tapes confirm it. They have her coming back in at nine a.m.”
“It took her half an hour to find the body?”
“She thought he was still sleeping. Took a shower first, got ready, then got the shock of her life when she went to wake him up.”
“What about the room?”
Caitlin flipped through her notes. “Couple reportedly requested a private room. Caro gave them a far room on the second floor because it best fit their request. Unfortunately for us, the cameras don’t reach that far. We have no visual of anyone going in and out of this room. She did say that she had cause to use the boards for Sullivan’s room in the middle of the night.” Using the point of her pen, Caitlin scanned her notes, circling part of Caroline’s statement when she found it. “As of 1:47 a.m., we have confirmation that he was still alive. Me and my team just gotta figure out what happened to change that.”
Lucas knew her well enough to know when he was being dismissed. But Caitlin knew him well enough to know that he wouldn’t be shut down until he was ready.