Free Dead Guilty by Beverly Connor Page B

with
its dead stare and protruding tongue. Even with the
distortion of death, she recognized the face.
‘‘Oh, my God,’’ she whispered.

Chapter
9
    ‘‘You
know this kid?’’ Garnett asked.
‘‘I know who he is.’’ Diane shivered—not from the
gruesome
scene—the
room
was
cold.
She
tore
her
gaze
away
from
the
dead
face
and
looked
at
Chief
Garnett.
‘‘It’s Chris Edwards. He’s one of the two men—the
timber
cruisers—who
discovered
the
bodies
hanging
in the woods.’’
She looked around the bedroom, the single bed with
its sheets pulled away, the chest of drawers open with
its
contents
spilled
out
over
the
sides
and
onto
the
floor. A bloody hand weight lay in the middle of the
bed.
‘‘We need to contact the other man who was with
him.’’
Chief
Garnett
moved
to
the
living
room
and
di
rected
his
attention
to
the
woman
sobbing
on
the
couch.
‘‘Miss... Beck, Kacie Beck?’’
She
pushed
her
blond
hair
out
of
her
face
and
rubbed
her
red-rimmed
eyes
with
the
tips
of
her
fingers.
‘‘Miss Beck,’’ said Garnett, ‘‘do you know . . .’’ He
turned to Diane.
‘‘Steven Mayberry,’’ supplied Diane.
‘‘Steve?... Yes.’’
‘‘Where does he live?’’
‘‘Over on Udell. He has a trailer over there.’’
‘‘Do you have his telephone number?’’
‘‘Telephone number? No . . . Chris knows it.’’ She
started sobbing again.
Garnett
pressed
a
rapid-dial
number
on
his
cell
phone. ‘‘Steven Mayberry, did you say?’’
Diane
nodded.
She
motioned
to
Whit
as
Garnett
called for the address.
‘‘We need to get Miss Beck out of the crime scene.
She can sit in my car until Garnett questions her. I’ll
call my team to start working this. . . . And I’ll need
a warrant.’’
‘‘Garnett has one coming.’’ Whit pushed his straight
black
hair
from
his
forehead
as
he
glanced
back
at
the bedroom. ‘‘You think this is connected with your
other case?’’
‘‘I don’t know. If not, it’s an amazing coincidence.’’
Whit
was
escorting
Kacie
out
of
the
house
when
Garnett got off the phone.
‘‘Got
an
address.
I
called
for
backup
to
meet
us
there.’’
Outside,
Diane
slipped
off
the
shoe
covers
and
rang David.
‘‘Yeah?’’
David obviously had been asleep, as Diane wished
she was.
‘‘David, Diane. I need you again tonight.’’
‘‘Gee, Diane, if I’d known you’re this demanding,
I’d
have
gotten
myself
a
woman
with
less
energy.
What’s up?’’
Diane explained, and he was quiet for a moment.
‘‘Can’t be a coincidence.’’
‘‘I’ll call Jin. You’ll have to wait for a warrant be
fore you can go in.’’
‘‘Sure.’’
A
young
woman
answered
Jin’s
phone.
‘‘Just
a
minute.’’
Her voice sounded sleepy, and Diane heard the rus
tling
of
covers
as
she
waited
for
Jin
to
get
on
the
phone.
‘‘Yo?’’
‘‘Jin, this is Diane. We have another crime scene. I
need you and David to work it tonight.’’ She gave him
the address. ‘‘I’m sorry to do this to you.’’
‘‘No problem.’’ Jin sounded wide awake.
Diane turned to the chief. ‘‘I’d like to ride out to
the Mayberry house.’’
He gave her a curt nod, and she climbed into his
Lexus and buckled herself in.
‘‘These
murders
.
.
.’’
Garnett
paused
a
moment.
‘‘It’s going to be a test of our new crime scene unit.
I
don’t
need
to
tell
you
how
important
it
is
to
get
it right.’’
Several ways of answering him flitted through Diane’s
mind.
Sarcastic
was
right
up
front,
considering
that
it
was
he
and
the
mayor
who
had
virtually
blackmailed
her into housing the new crime lab and heading it up.
But when she opened her mouth, it was her good friend
Gregory’s wisdom that tempered her tongue.
‘‘It’s a good unit with good people. We’ll find all
the evidence that’s there to find.’’
That seemed to satisfy him. He said nothing for the
remainder of the trip. Instead, he tapped the steering
wheel with his fingers as he drove. Diane was glad