Trace Evidence

Trace Evidence

Carla Cassidy

www.millsandboon.co.uk

Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Epilogue

Chapter 1

“Got a job for you, Clay.”

Clay James looked up from the microscope where he’d been studying a piece of fiber found on the latest murder victim of the killer who the local newspapers had dubbed the Shameless Slasher.

He frowned irritably at Glen Cleberg, the chief of police in the small Oklahoma city of Cherokee Corners. “I’m in the middle of something here. Whatever it is, can’t you get somebody else to take care of it? I’m trying to identify a fiber found on Sam McClane’s body.”

He was certain that would make Glen leave the small police lab and him alone. The chief had been chewing on his butt to find something, anything that might clue them into the killer’s identity before a third murder took place.

“As important as what you’re doing is, I still need you on this other case.”

Clay shut off the high-powered microscope, fighting against the foul mood that seemed to grip him tighter and stronger minute by minute, day by day. “What other case?”

“A break-in at the high school.”

“Since when do we process something like that?” Clay interrupted impatiently. He had a hell of a lot more important things to deal with, like unsolved murders and a missing mother.

A stab of pain ripped through him as he thought of his mother, missing now for just over a month with few clues to follow to discover her whereabouts or if she were still alive or dead.

“Since the classroom that was broken into belongs to Tamara Greystone,” Glen replied.

Tamara Greystone, local artist, teacher and Cherokee Corners’ claim to fame. The fact that she was Native American, like Clay himself, and a close friend of the mayor’s family was about all Clay knew about the woman.

“Clay, it’s already after seven, past time for you to knock off for the day. If you’d just go by the school and check things out, you’ll keep the mayor off my ass. He’ll be happy to know I have my top man on the job.”

Fighting a weary sigh, Clay nodded and stored away the specimen he’d been studying. Maybe some time away from the lab would give him a new perspective.

For the past two weeks he’d been putting in fourteen-hour days, studying, analyzing and cataloging trace evidence from the two murder scenes. That didn’t count the time he was putting in on his mother’s case. A little break away from the lab and intense work might be good for him.

“I’m on my way,” he told his boss, who grunted and disappeared from the lab door.

Within fifteen minutes Clay was in his van and headed toward the high school on the outskirts of town. The July sun was still hot and he could almost taste the dust in the air, stirred up by a faint evening breeze.

He flipped the air conditioner in the van on high and tried to empty his head of thought. But that process had been next to impossible since the night almost six weeks ago when somebody had come into his parents’ house and nearly killed his father, Thomas, with a blow to the back of his head.

Clay’s mother, Rita Birdsong James, had been nowhere to be found. A suitcase had been missing along with some of her clothes and personal toiletries. The official speculation had been that Thomas and Rita had had one of their legendary fights and this time things had spiraled way out of control. The authorities believed Rita had hit her husband, then panicked and ran.

The James siblings had known that was impossible. As much as their mother, a beautiful, petite Cherokee woman, and their father, a big, brawny Irishman had fussed and yelled, screamed and cursed each other, it was merely part of their chemistry.

Rita and Thomas James had loved each other as passionately as they’d fought with one another. There was no way one could harm the other.

If that wasn’t enough to fill his mind, there were the two murders to stew about. Greg Maxwell and Sam McClane had both been stabbed to death and left naked. Greg’s body had been found in front of the public library and Sam had been left behind the post office.

They had been vicious killings, filled with rage and there had been little left on and around the bodies to aid Clay and the other crime-scene investigators in finding clues to the killer.

He felt as if in both cases he was fighting the ticking hand of a time bomb. If they didn’t find his mother in time, she would probably eventually be found dead. And if he didn’t find who the serial killer was, there was going to be more bodies.

Ticking time bombs, that’s what he had on his hands and nothing was falling into place as it should. He tightened his hands on the steering wheel in frustration.

As the high school came into view, all thoughts of his mother and the serial killer fled from his mind. Two patrol cars were already in the parking lot and Clay shook his head as he pulled up and parked next to one of them.

Apparently it paid to be friends with the mayor. He could never remember a break-in anywhere that had warranted two cop cars and a crime-scene investigator…not in this small town.

Tamara Greystone must have pulled a handful of strings to get this kind of response. She was a big fish in a little pond here and he had a feeling she was probably one of those self-important divas in the art world.

He got out of his van and grabbed the metal suitcase that sometimes felt like an extension of his body. His irritation level had just ratcheted up to a dangerous degree.

The Cherokee Corners High School was a two-story brick building, with wide front steps that led up to the front door.

Clay had gone to high school here seventeen years ago. His high school days hadn’t been awful, but they hadn’t been terrific, either.

At the top of the stairs, Burt Creighton stood next to the door, looking bored and out of place in his khaki police uniform. He greeted Clay with a wry grin. “I joined the police department looking for danger and excitement. What do I get? An assignment to stand on the high school steps in the dying heat of the day.”

“Why are you stationed here? Summer school has been over for several hours.”

Burt shrugged. “Apparently Ms. Greystone teaches an adult education class at seven on Tuesday and Thursday nights. The class members have been arriving and I’ve been getting each person’s name and address before sending them back home.”

Clay shifted his kit from one hand to the other. “Seems like a lot of trouble for a classroom break-in. Who’s inside?”

“Ed Rogers. He’s guarding the classroom door, making sure nobody goes in until after you’re finished in there.”

“Anyone else there?”

“Ms. Greystone and that’s it. It’s room 230.”

Clay nodded and entered the building. He was instantly assailed by scents of the distant past…the smell of chalk and teenage sweat, of industrial floor polish and bathroom deodorizer.

He took the stairs to the second floor two at a time, a new irritation growing inside with each step he took. This was ridiculous, to be called here to process what was probably a simple case of classroom vandalism by some disgruntled student.

He had so many more important things to be doing…like trying to find his mother…like trying to find a serial killer. He didn’t give a damn who Tamara Greystone thought she was, this was a waste of his time.

Ed Rogers greeted him at the top of the stairs. He motioned down the hallway. “Room 230 is on the left. Ms. Greystone is in room 231 across the hall. I wrote up a report, but I doubt we’ll ever find out who did this unless some tough guy decides to brag.”

Clay nodded. He’d already come to that conclusion. Still, he had a job to do. He headed down the hall, his heels silent against the polished tile floor.

Although he would have preferred to go directly to work, he turned into classroom 231 first. She stood, facing the doorway as if she’d heard his silent approach.

His first impression of her was one of grace and delicate beauty. She wore a traditional calico Cherokee tear dress. The dress had three quarter length sleeves and fell to her calves. It was sky blue with red-diamond-shaped accents around the yoke.

Her long hair was coiled in a careless knot at the nape of her neck, but it was her eyes that captured his attention more than anything. Large and more gray than black, they radiated kindness and peace. She certainly didn’t look like an arrogant, artist diva.

“You must be Officer James.” She took a step toward him and help out her hand. “I’m Tamara Greystone.”

“Nice to meet you,” he said as he gave her slender hand a quick shake, then released it. “I understand there’s been a break-in into your classroom. What can you tell me about it?”

Clay liked to get as much information as he could before he actually processed a scene. He never knew what tidbit of information a victim might tell him that would reveal a clue to what he saw and discerned from the crime scene itself. He gestured her to a nearby student chair.

Once she was seated, he took the chair next to hers and withdrew a pad and pen from his pocket. Even with the distance between them, he could smell her. The scent was earthy and mysterious. It surprised him. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d noticed the scent of a woman.

“There really isn’t much I can tell you,” she said. “I left the school this afternoon just after four and went home. The classroom was fine at that time. I returned this evening just after six and found the room had been destroyed.”

“Was anyone here when you left at four?” He kept his gaze focused on his pad.

“I think I was the last one out. I usually am. We have three periods of classes for summer school. Math is at ten, English is at noon and my class is at two.” She offered him a smile that curved the corners of her full lips.

“What about the cleaning crew?” He looked back down at his pad, finding her smile far too appealing. What was wrong with him? First her smell, then her smile. For some reason he was finding her very distracting.

“The cleaning crew consists of Vernon Colby. He doesn’t come in until about nine and works through the night. I’m not sure what his schedule is during the summer months.”

“Vernon Colby? I didn’t know he was still alive.” He’d been cleaning the high school when Clay had gone to classes here, and Clay had thought him ancient then.

“Have you had a fight with any of the students? Flunked anyone who might have a temper?” he continued with the questions.

“No. Nothing like that.” She shook her head, making tendrils of her dark hair come loose. “Well, technically most of the summer school students are in the class because they’ve flunked a class or need an additional credit to graduate.”

He wondered if those tendrils would feel like silk between his fingers. Clay put his pad and pen away, recognizing that whatever other information he needed would probably be in the official report Ed had written up.

Besides, he needed to get out of here and away from her.

“I’ll just get to work now.” He picked up his kit and headed out of the room and across the hall.

Maybe he was having some sort of a mini-breakdown, he thought. He’d never found a woman who could hold his attention like an intriguing crime scene.

He’d expected overturned desks, torn books, perhaps a smashed window or two, but when he looked into room 230, shock held him momentarily motionless.

He’d seen vandalism before, but nothing to the extent of what lay before him. Desks were not only overturned, but also smashed and broken into pieces. Torn books and papers littered the floor like confetti after a parade.

The blackboard was cracked in half, but it was none of these things that sent a shock of adrenaline racing through him. What captured and held his attention were the marks that slashed high across the walls. Deep, gouging marks that were red with what appeared to be fresh blood.

Any irritation he’d felt about being sent here vanished as he stepped into the classroom and pulled a camera from his kit, the woman across the hall already forgotten.

This was where he came alive—in the middle of the chaos of a crime scene. Work was his life, and when he worked was the only time the anger inside him subsided, the only time the guilt silenced, the only time he was at peace within himself.

She watched him from the doorway as he walked around the room, taking pictures of the damage from every point of view. Tamara Greystone knew far more about Clay James than he thought he knew about her.

She’d worked with his mother at the Cherokee Cultural Center and Rita had often confided in Tamara her worry about her eldest child.

He was a sinfully handsome man, with rich black hair and sculptured features that were traditionally Native American—high cheekbones and a proud, strong nose, dark straight brows over intense black eyes. He had thin lips that appeared to have never curved upward in a smile.

Tall and lean, he had shoulders just broad enough to hint at wiry strength. As he moved around the room he displayed a natural, sleek grace that belied the fact that she knew he spent most of his days cooped up in a laboratory.

“Quite a mess, isn’t it?” she said.

He started, as if he’d forgotten her presence, and it was obvious from his look of irritation that he’d like to continue to forget her presence. “Yeah, it’s a mess.”

He put the camera down on the metal suitcase he’d carried in and looked at her once again. “There’s really nothing more you can do here. You’re free to go on home.”

“Thank you, but I’ll stay until you’re finished.”

His frown turned from irritated to positively daunting. “Look, Ms. Greystone. It really would be best if you’d just leave me to do my job.”

“That’s exactly what I intend to do.” She smiled. “Surely you understand my need to be here. I’m sure if somebody had come into your lab and done something like this, no matter who was processing the scene, you’d want to be there. This is more than just the place where I work, Officer James. This classroom is a part of my heart.”

“Then just stay out of my way,” he said curtly.

“I’ll do that.” She remained standing in the doorway as he got back to work.

The initial horror of what had been done to the room had worn off, but the senseless, extensive damage still sent a small wave of disquiet through her.

Who could have done this? And why? She’d always tried so hard to maintain good relationships with her fellow teachers and students.

She focused her gaze at Clay, watching as he studied the marks on the walls. He seemed completely and totally absorbed in his work. That’s part of what had bothered Rita about her son. According to Rita, her only son had no life beyond work, had turned his back on his Native heritage and had become a bitter, angry man with a chip on his shoulder.

The chip wasn’t visible at the moment, but his total concentration on his work was apparent. She knew he’d forgotten about her as he scraped bits of the material that looked like blood into a vial.

She supposed his total absorption in his work was what made him so good at what he did. Rita had always overworried about all her children, not only Clay, but also his sisters, Breanna and Savannah.

Rita. Thoughts of the missing woman filled her with grief. She missed seeing Rita’s beautiful face at the Cherokee Cultural Center, missed her exuberance and enthusiasm for the work and education that the cultural center afforded their community.

“These look like some sort of animal claws,” he said as he studied the marks that rode high on the walls.

“How would an animal have gotten in here?” she asked.

“No animal has been in this room,” he said in direct counter to his previous statement. “If an animal had been loose in here there’d be additional signs, such as odors and waste material.”

“Then how did the claw marks get there?”

He frowned. “That’s what I need to figure out.”

“If animal claws made the marks, can you tell what kind of animal it might be?”

“Not just by looking at them. I’ll have to take plaster casts and get them back to the lab to do some comparison study. There are bits of fur embedded in the marks, so that will make identification easier.”

Apparently he’d talked himself out, because for the next hour he didn’t say another word. That was fine with Tamara. Silence never bothered her. Her parents had taught her as a child that silence was to be respected and revered. It was a time to observe and learn from what was inside you and what surrounded you.

Clay James was far more interesting to watch than listening to her inner thoughts. He radiated a fierce intensity, a focus that was assuring. She had no doubt that his expertise and tenacity would eventually identify the culprit.

“That’s all I can do here,” he finally said as he packed up his samples and tools. “Have you spoken to Will Nichols and let him know what’s going on?”

Will Nichols was the principal of the high school. “Yes, I called him. He stopped by earlier, saw the damage and told me to keep him posted.”

“You won’t be teaching in this room any time soon. I want it left locked for the next couple of days in case I need to come back and take some more samples.”

“I noticed you didn’t try to get any fingerprints.”

His jaw muscle tightened, as if he thought she was questioning his expertise. “It’s pointless to print a room where so many people pass through on a regular basis. If this had been a murder scene, or the scene of an assault, then I might have considered it. But this room could potentially hold the prints of students that had passed through over the years. It would take us months to find out who they belong to.” His gaze was cold as it met hers. “Is there anything else you think I’ve forgotten?”

Prickly, she thought. Definitely prickly. “Officer James, I wouldn’t begin to tell you how to do your job. Just as I wouldn’t expect you to come into my classroom and take over my job.” She offered him a smile. “I just watch a lot of television and it seems on the crime shows everyone is always taking fingerprints.”

He grabbed his kit and walked toward where she stood in the doorway. “You shouldn’t believe everything you see on TV.”

He turned off the light in the room and watched as she locked the door. “I have a spare key.” She fumbled with her key chain until she worked a key off the ring. She held it out to him. “This way if you need to get back inside, day or night, you have access as long as somebody can unlock the front school door for you.”

He took the key from her and slid it into the back pocket of his tight jeans. Together they walked down the silent hallway toward the stairs. Ed and Burt had both stuck their heads in the classroom earlier to tell Clay they’d questioned Vernon and they were leaving.

Vernon Colby was waiting for them by the front door. “Damn fool kids…nothing but meanness in them nowadays,” he muttered as he unlocked the door for Clay and Tamara to exit.

Night had fallen outside and overhead the bright, sparkly stars were companions to a three-quarter moon. Parked in the lot were two vehicles, the van that Clay had driven and the rusted-out pickup that belonged to Vernon.

“Where’s your car?” he asked.

“I don’t drive to school,” she replied. “I always walk to and from work. It’s just a little over a mile walk.”

He raked a hand through his thick hair and stared out into the darkness of the night. “I’ll drive you home.” It was obvious it wasn’t something he particularly looked forward to doing.

“That isn’t necessary,” she demurred. “I’m used to walking home and the darkness doesn’t frighten me.”

“It should,” he snapped. “You should be afraid of what the darkness holds. People can be perfectly safe in their own homes one minute, then dead or missing in the next.”

She knew that he was talking about what happened to his parents and her heart went out to him. But she had a feeling that Clay James was a man who didn’t appreciate empty platitudes.

“Thank you, I’ll accept the offer of a ride home,” she said.

He opened the passenger door for her and she slid inside. The interior of the van smelled like him, a combination of clean-scented cologne and breath mints.

He got in and started the van. “Which way?”

She pointed to the left. “Go down the road about a half a mile. There’s a dirt road. Turn right there and I’m at the end of the road.”

He didn’t speak again until they turned on the dirt road where thick trees crowded in from either side. “I didn’t even know this was here,” he said.

“Most people don’t. I found it two years ago when I returned to Cherokee Corners from New York. I like the woods and the solitude.”

He slowed as they came to the end of the road, and his headlights shone on the little cabin she called home. A faint light shone from behind the living room curtains.

“I know it doesn’t look like much,” she said. “But it’s a perfect artist retreat, an adequate home and holds a sense of spiritual peace that is comforting.”

“You don’t have to apologize to me for your living conditions,” he said as he pulled to a halt before the place.

“On the contrary, Officer James, I wasn’t apologizing. I was merely trying to make pleasant conversation.”

She hesitated a moment, then continued. “I’m sure you’ve put in a long day. Would you like to come in for a cup of coffee?” She wasn’t sure what had prompted the invitation. He certainly hadn’t been overly sociable and there was no reason for any further contact with him.

He stared at the cabin for a long moment, then, to her surprise shut off his van engine and turned to look at her. “A cup of coffee sounds good.”

Chapter 2

He had no idea why he’d agreed to go inside her home and drink a cup of coffee. Maybe because he didn’t want to go back to the lab just yet. Maybe because he didn’t want to go to his own home, which would be far too silent and allow him far too many thoughts and recriminations.

“It’s pretty isolated out here,” he observed as they walked up the three steps that led to a long front porch. The small cabin was in the center of a copse of thick trees and brush.

She laughed, the sound echoing like birdsong in the air.

“That’s the difference between a cop and an artist. A cop sees isolated, an artist sees secluded.”

Despite the irritation that had filled him earlier, he felt himself relax a bit, as if the pleasant sound of her laughter had worked like a balm on a sore wound. “A cop sees lots of hiding places. I suppose you see lots of things to paint, Ms. Greystone.”

“Exactly, and please call me Tamara.” She unlocked her door and pushed it open. “Welcome to my secluded little cabin in the woods.”

He stepped into the door and felt as if he’d been swept into a different world, a different universe. The room was a visual wonderland filled with shapes and colors.

The beige sofa held an array of throw pillows in a variety of colors. Paintings covered the walls and a half-finished one rested on an easel in front of a side window that would catch the morning light.