Dead Wrong

“Keep looking,” Joa

All in all, it was a quiet day at the Cochise County Justice Center. Food deliveries had resumed and everything in the jail seemed to be ru

Toying with her food, Joa

“What’s wrong?” Butch asked as he walked Joa

“It’s nothing,” she said.

“I know my mother’s a handful,” he said. “The way she talked about Junior! I wanted to wring her neck. Try not to let her get you down.”

“I won’t if you won’t,” Joa

“That’s a lot harder,” Butch said.

Joa

“You’ve already collected prints from down in Douglas?” Joa

Casey nodded. “And it was just like Ernie and Jaime predicted it would be. I found lots of the victim’s prints and a few that belong to his landlady. If there’s been anyone else in Mr. Evans’s apartment at some time in the distant past, it’s long enough ago that they left no trace or else they wore gloves.”

“What’s the program here?” Joa

“I talked it over with the Double Cs,” Casey said. “The game plan is for me to go over the outside first, but I don’t think that’s going to be particularly helpful.”

“Why not?”

“The truck has been sitting on that vacant lot for a number of days. Some of the prints may belong to whoever came by and looked at the truck thinking they might want to buy it. It could take a very long time, if it’s even possible, to eliminate the ones that aren’t co

“With any luck there should be some,” Joa

Back in her office, Joa

“Are you okay?” Maria

Joa

“Prenatal blues, I guess,” Joa

“That’s to be expected,” Maria

“Jeffy was perfect,” Joa

Maria

“No. It’s not that. It’s just that…”

“It’s just what?”

“Butch’s parents are here,” Joa

“You mentioned that yesterday at church,” Maria

“She told Je

Maria

“You cope,” Maria

Her outspoken comment made Joa

“Some people require strong opinions,” Maria

“Tomorrow,” Joa

“He’s the one you should talk to about this,” Maria

“Will do,” Joa

Late in the afternoon Joa

“Look at this,” Dave said. He held up an evidence bag. Peering through it, Joa

“What is it?” she asked.

“I found it hung up on the tailgate latch,” Dave said. “I won’t know until I do my analysis, but I’m guessing it’ll be from the tarp I already have in the lab, the one Bradley Evans’s body was wrapped in. I noticed there was a tear in it when I did my preliminary exam. But the big thing is the Luminol.”

“You got a hit?”

“You bet,” Dave said. “Take a look at this.” He switched off the overhead light. Peering under the camper shell, Joa

“Someone made a real effort to clean up the mess, but they didn’t do a good enough job in the cracks where the sections join together. Without more tests, I can’t say for sure that what we found in those cracks is blood, or if it’s human blood or even if it’s Bradley Evans’s blood. We’ll find that out later.”

“But you’re saying that the back of the truck might actually turn out to be the crime scene?” Joa

“It’s possible,” Dave replied. “Or maybe not. It all depends. I didn’t find any visible spatter patterns, but it’s conceivable the killer managed to wash them away. I think it’s likely that the truck was only used for transporting the body.”

“Did you find anything else?” Joa

Dave gri

“Look at this.” He produced another evidence bag. Inside Joa

“This was wedged in under the passenger’s side of the seat. There are twenty-four shots per camera. Only sixteen of them have been exposed. Casey lifted plenty of prints. Her preliminary determination is that the prints on the camera belong to the victim.”

“Which may mean Bradley Evans is the only person who used it,” Joa

Dave nodded. “And he stuffed it under the seat in hopes of making sure no one saw either the camera or what it was he was taking pictures of. I talked to Jaime a little while ago. He’s still out in Huachuca City trying to find out exactly when the pickup showed up on the lot and who may have put it there. The Double Cs are sending Debbie Howell here to pick up the camera. She’s going to take it to that One Hour Photo Shop out in Sierra Vista.”