Free Suspicion of Vengeance by Barbara Parker

four-foot chain-link fence, then pine woods.
    About fifty yards away Fletcher Road ran parallel and ended a quarter mile east at a small county park. The killer could have left his vehicle on the road or at the park and come through the woods. Kemp ordered the road sealed off. He wanted photographs of tire tracks, if any, before more vehicles passed through. A more thorough inspection would have to wait for sunrise.
    Earlier, teams had been organized to canvas the neighborhood. Had any of the neighbors heard or seen anything unusual during the day? Any strangers going through? They suspended their efforts at 11:30 p.m.
    Amber Lynn Dodson's body was taken away at 3:15 a.m. Kemp and his team remained on the property for another five hours.

    "Gail, does CCR have copies of the crime scène photos?"
    "They have the autopsy photos. I didn't ask what else they have."
    "When you speak to Denise Robinson on Monday, find out. You want every photograph taken by the police."
    "All of them?"
    "Every photograph. Videotapes as well, if they made them."
    "That's going to cost a lot."
    "I told you. Capital appeals are expensive."

    Tuesday, February 7

    That morning both The Stuart News and The Palm Beach Post ran the story on page one. MOTHER MURDERED, BABY FOUND DEAD IN PALM CITY. The story was repeated on all three local TV stations. Calls from alarmed citizens flooded the sheriff's department switchboard. In a press conference, Captain Garlan Bryce said they were working on several leads. He reassured the public that the person responsible would be arrested and brought to justice.
    Kemp spoke with the victim's parents. The Mayfields had moved to Stuart in the late 1950s. Fred worked at the Evinrude plant, and Rose owned a small shop downtown, Mayfield Antiques. They said their daughter and son-in-law's marriage was happy. They knew of no one who would have wanted to harm Amber. Everyone loved her.
    Gary Dodson's secretary confirmed that Dodson had arrived at the office just before nine on Monday morning, and that he had not left during the day. He had taken his lunch downstairs. Kemp sent a detective to speak to the waitress in the coffee shop. She remembered selling Dodson a cup of coffee around nine o'clock. He came back for lunch. Police searched nearby trash bins and found nothing relevant. If the time of death was accurate, Dodson's alibi would hold.
    Interviews with neighbors continued. The retired couple living next door, the Grigsbys, had left at 7:30 a.m. on Monday for the Sandpiper Restaurant, which offered a senior citizen breakfast on weekdays. They had not noticed anything unusual at the Dodsons'. Mrs. Grigsby said that the widow across the street, Mrs. Chastain, had gone out of town on Monday afternoon. Her daughter in Atlanta had just had a baby. Kemp left his card in Mrs. Chastain's mailbox.

    Wednesday, February 8

    There were several reports of strange vehicles in the area the morning of the murder. At the county park, a dark-colored pickup truck with fender damage. Driving through the neighborhood, a car with tinted windows, two black men inside. A silver Honda Prelude in the Dodsons' driveway that morning.
    The Honda belonged to Amber's younger sister, Lacey Mayfield. Detective Kemp remembered seeing it at the Mayfields' house when he and his partner had gone over on Tuesday to speak to Amber's parents.
    On the second visit, the house was full of friends and relatives. Kemp and his partner asked to speak privately with Lacey Mayfield. She was twenty-one years old and lived in an apartment near the fitness studio where she worked. Lacey had called Amber's work that morning to talk about a party for their parents' anniversary. Told that Amber was at home with the baby, Lacey decided to drop by and say hello. When she arrived at 9:30, Amber's car was there but she didn't answer the door. Assuming that Amber was sleeping, Lacey drove straight to the studio in time for her ten o'clock class. Except for lunch, she had been