Page 171 of Forever Dead

Selena took out her phone and opened the photographs Price had transferred for investigative use. The first showed the fragment beneath the couch before collection. The second was the close-up on the evidence tray.

Foss took the phone carefully.

“Well.”

“This one has stitching.”

“So, it does.”

“Connor saw the killer wearing a stitched mask. We think this came from it.”

Foss enlarged the photograph.

“I heard reports about a mask. This is what they meant?”

“Pieces sewn together. Different shades. Heavy stitching. Connor could see his eyes through openings concealed among the folds and seams.”

“And the material?”

“It resembles the earlier fragments. We still need the laboratory comparison.”

Foss continued studying the screen. “And this piece came from the mask?”

“We think Nora Ellison tore it loose during the struggle.”

He looked thoughtful. “Nora Ellison. The woman killed last night?”

“Yes.”

Foss removed his glasses, polished them with a handkerchief and put them back on.

“This is much more useful than the fragments Blethan sent,” he said.

“That was my hope.” She felt excitement brewing. If Foss was as good as Blethan said, perhaps he could now unearth something tangible about the killer. Something Selena could use to track him down once and for all.

Foss enlarged the stitching again.

“Interesting.”

“What?”

He did not answer immediately.

Selena waited.

“I’ve seen something similar,” he said eventually.

“Where?”

“I wonder...” He handed the phone back and stood. “I need to compare this to something. Come with me.”

Foss headed toward the hallway.

Selena reached for the cane. “Lead the way.”

His laboratory occupied the same room at the back of the house. A microscope, two covered trays and a rack of small specimen tubes occupied the stainless-steel worktable, with packets and boxes of supplies arranged at the far end. Cabinets lined one wall. Medical texts filled shelves opposite them, mixed with binders labeled by year.

Foss crossed to a filing cabinet.