Page 48 of Lost Hours
Nolan wanted to pound something, anything, but he shoved his free hand into his hair instead. “Was there anything of interest in her accounts at all?”
“She was close to her dad, as we suspected. Lots of pictures of them doing things together. Not many friends. Two who seemed really close. I’ll interview them in person this morning. The others were more like acquaintances. I’ll get their phone numbers and give them a call after the interviews.”
“Anything else?” Nolan asked, as his phone sounded a text that he ignored for now.
“Not for me, but Hayden’s about to call you with an update. So stay tuned.”
“Roger that,” Nolan said and ended the call. So they couldn’t confirm that Beccawasout of town, but they also couldn’t confirm that she hadn’t gone out of town. They were really still stuck on square one.
He checked the text to find the list of family and friends that Daisy promised to provide. He replied with athank youand then forwarded the list to Reece to begin researching.
He stowed his phone and entered the house. All three of the occupants turned to look at him. He shared the information from Jude.
“Mina has updated us on this situation,” Sierra said. “I’m sorry that you weren’t able to confirm good news on Becca.”
“Then we move forward with the forensics and prove where this pool of blood came from.” Nolan stopped to the left of the blood. “The footprint outside the window along with the bull’s-eye in the window says the shooter was outside when he fired his weapon.”
“Grady can confirm that for us.” Blake pointed at the slug in the wall. “Of course he’ll also give you the ballistics information for that bullet too.”
“The mayor’s fatal wound was a through-and-through,” Nolan said. “We’re suspecting that’s the bullet that killed him.”
Sierra gave a firm nod. “We could potentially get DNA from the bullet. Not only the mayor’s, but the shooter’s as well. After Grady removes it, we’ll be sure it’s top priority for processing.”
Odd.“Grady has to do it?”
“Removing a bullet from the item it’s lodged in without damaging it can be tricky.” Sierra lifted her shoulders. “We want to be sure we take every opportunity to preserve the slug so Grady can analyze it and we can try to locate that DNA. And since he’s here, we should let him handle it.”
“How likely is it that you’ll get DNA?” Nolan asked.
“It happens, but not as often as we would like. Grady can give you more information on that.” Sierra frowned. “The thing that we have to keep in mind here, is that even if we locate DNA samples, that doesn’t mean they’ll match to anyone in the CODIS database.”
Nolan was familiar with the Combined DNA Index System, the FBI’s national database that stored DNA profiles to help solve crimes and identify missing persons. He’d used it when hunting down the suspect who’d tried to kill the governor. He wished he had access to it for his missing persons work, but only law enforcement officers and labs like the Veritas Center could access it.
Blake’s expression tightened. “Odds of matching to the database are better if a random burglar committed the murder.”
Mina nodded. “He’s most likely to have his DNA in the system.”
“So true,” Sierra said.
Nolan didn’t like being the only person in the room who didn’t understand this conversation, but he wasn’t going to let his lack of knowledge embarrass him. Not when he needed to know this information. “I don’t follow.”
“Unless a murder is a crime of passion,” Mina said, “it’s likely that the shooter is someone who has been involved in other crimes before that. Criminals don’t generally start right out committing murder but have a list of lesser crimes that escalate to a level where they’re comfortable with taking someone’s life.”
“Oh. Right. Gotcha,” Nolan said. “So the odds are good that they were busted somewhere along the line and their DNA will be in the system.”
Blake nodded. “You should be proud of your sheriff. She’s looking at all avenues and not forming a single theory, then setting out to prove her theory.”
Mina blushed under his compliment, but Nolan was indeed proud of her.
Sierra jotted a note on her pad and stepped deeper into the room. She turned to face them. “Was this portable air conditioner unit running when you arrived or was it turned on later?”
A flash of something crossed Mina’s face. Sierra’s implication that someone modified the crime scene probably didn’t sit too well with her, but also, she might be wondering if someone on her team had turned it on.
Nolan could end that worry. “It was on when we arrived.”
“Are you sure?” Sierra asked.
“Positive,” he said. “I remember thinking it was a bit early in the season to be running the AC, but then we’ve had some unseasonably warm weather, and it’s been humid too. So I assumed they were cleaning the humidity out of the house.”
