Free To Die For by Kathy Braidhill Page B

left the homicide scene, his third, thinking he had been as thorough as possible. He slid his hands into the latex gloves from the evidence kit that he kept in his trunk, put the items in paper lab envelopes, and labeled them.
    Greco worked as quickly as possible, not wanting to prolong his task as Van Owen looked over his shoulder. When Van Owen suggested that he also collect four knives in the kitchen and a pair of kitchen scissors, Greco agreed. The knives and the scissors had been laid out on the kitchen counter and could contain fingerprints.
    How could we miss this? Greco thought. He wasn’t sure if Van Owen knew about Norma’s murder, or the fact that she had been stabbed, but judging from Van Owen’s anger and stony silence, he probably did. Greco wanted to tell him that he’d used all the resources available to him and that he’d even tried to call the FBI, but decided to keep his mouth shut.
    Before he left, he exchanged a few words with June’s other daughter, Linda Dorsey, who lived in San Diego. The victim had spent her birthday weekend with Linda and left for home on the afternoon of Sunday, February 27, her birthday. The last time Linda heard from her mother was when she phoned to say she’d arrived home safely and to remind Linda to take the chicken stock off the stove. June was murdered the following day.
    On the drive back to his office, Greco felt the strain of being watched at every turn. Not only were the public and his entire department monitoring his every move, but Van Owen, who had many more years of experience than he did, was literally looking over his shoulder. He knew he couldn’t ask Van Owen for help because it would only confirm Van Owen’s suspicions that he really was incompetent. Greco tried hard not to sink into self-destructive thinking again; he would be paralyzed by fear.
    The more Greco thought about it, the more angry he became that Van Owen was judging him on his looks. Yes, he looked young. But he wasn’t a kid anymore. He had a wife and three children. He had done well in his career and had even been honored for his work. Just because he hadn’t investigated many homicides didn’t mean he couldn’t solve this one. He deserved a chance.
    When Greco returned to the office, he booked the evidence, then tried to call Jeri. No answer. He’d tried to reach her the day before with no luck, so he left another message. He wanted to see what Jeri had to say about why Norma’s housekeeper, Ila Tingley, was on June’s prayer list. Greco also found it interesting that June lived right around the corner from Jeri. He’d made a mental note of that when he went to the crime scene that night, and had later plotted their homes on a map of Canyon Lake just to eyeball the locations. Out of curiosity, he also plotted Norma’s condo and Alice’s house. Norma, June and Jeri all lived within a few blocks of each other.
    Greco was convinced that Jeri was not a killer, but he felt she had some kind of connection to the killings. He had dropped by Jeri’s house several times since Norma’s murder to plumb for more information, and had completed the victimology—the summary of Norma’s life, work, marriages, children and family connections. The only remarkable aspect was the fact that Jeri had taken on the responsibility of caring for Norma in her later years. Jeri had married Norma’s son in 1952 and had three children, two boys and a girl. He died of a stroke in 1982 and Jeri assumed the responsibility of taking care of Norma. Jeri and Russell, her second husband, were married in 1986. Jeri’s grown sons lived in a nearby county. Russell had a grown daughter who lived nearby.
    Jeri said that her grandson had borrowed Norma’s car over the Christmas holidays with the understanding that he had no obligation to return it immediately. In late January, the car was stolen from his house in Hollywood. Police later