After leaving Louie’s house, Jake went home, showered, and changed his clothes before heading to the station. He stepped into the squad room, smiling, as he took a look around. No one looked good except the captain. He picked up his murder book on Shanna Wagner again and started where he left off the day before.
“Hey, Lieutenant, you left early last night,” Burke said.
“Yep, I left for a special dinner engagement. She served homemade pasta and sauce with homemade bread. Who could pass that up?” Burke looked ill. “She also served homemade tiramisu. The best I’ve ever tasted. I enjoyed two helpings.” Jake grinned.
“God, don’t talk food right now, it could get messy. Got any Rolaids or Tums?”
“Amateurs,” Jake said, going back to his file.
The evidence was the evidence was the evidence, Jake thought. He’d read this file on and off for the last year—nothing ever popped out. He felt they’d missed some important fact. So he decided to start right from the very beginning, treating it like a fresh crime, everyone a suspect. Starting with the crime scene photos first, he laid them out on his desk. They were graphic—every insult, every trauma Shanna received prominently displayed.
Kids discovered her body in the woods at the end of a cul-de-sac of a new housing development in different stages of completion. None of the houses were occupied at the time. The body, left naked, landed face up. Her clothes were never found, nor the item used to strangle her. There were deep ligature marks around her neck. It appeared to be a sexual assault—bruising in and around the genitals. The ME thought the rape was committed with a long hard stick, not a man’s penis, due to the severity of the bruising. No semen found in or around the body. The killer used protection, if he did penetrate her. Thrown, not placed, Jake thought. She’d been in the field about four days according to the ME. There were no fibers under her nails. The scratches on the torso and the face were probably from being rolled down the short embankment. Trace didn’t find any skin or hair other than the victim’s. Fibers found on the body were consistent with the clothing she wore last. No jewelry left on the victim, a fact which always bothered Jake. He didn’t know if the killer was trying to make it look like a robbery gone bad, or if he tried to remove her identity, leaving her with nothing.
Pulling out his notebook, Jake wrote down new questions. A crime of passion or jealousy? Who would remove a person’s identity? Why? To delay identification? To humiliate? One killer or two killers? He always assumed one. Why not dump her further into the field to make it more difficult to find her? Killer not strong enough to carry her far? We should recheck pawn shops for the jewelry, Jake thought. Did the killer(s) keep the jewelry as a souvenir, especially the ring?
A family treasure passed down from grandmother to granddaughter, Shanna never took it off—an emerald ring surrounded by diamonds. Valued at fifty thousand dollars, it certainly provided motive. She also wore a gold cross with a diamond in the center, and a name bracelet her sister Chloe gave her; she varied her earrings. Ask Mrs. Wagner if Chloe got anything from her grandmother? If so, what piece of jewelry did she receive?
Re-do the timeline of each family member at the time of the murder. Did Shanna and Chloe fight often? Two sisters, close in age, each unique; not only in looks, but in personalities, friends, and interests. Did they hang out together? Did their friend’s crises cross? Did they dip into the same dating pool? Lost in thought when the captain called him into his office.
“Tag Louie, there’s a body in the trunk of a car at the Chevy dealer off exit 25,” McGuire said.
“Okay, I don’t think Louie will be in great shape,” Jake replied.
