Chief Jones’s philosophy was if you couldn’t handle working with Veronica, how could you handle all the stress of being a cop or training police dogs and their handlers?
Chief Jones barked out orders for Marlton to fetch standing lamps and Bucks to call the coroner and start documenting the scene. “Donaldson, gather forensic evidence.”
Officer Marlton left and returned a few minutes later with two huge freestanding lamps. Within moments, pools of sharp glaring light replaced the darkness.
Shane and Bella stepped out of the way as Ryder and his dog moved past. Shane could only imagine Ryder was remembering his wife’s murder. But in this case they had a clear suspect. They would solve Veronica’s murder.
Chief Jones pinned Shane with a questioning look. “Have you cleared the building?”
“No, sir, I was waiting with Gina.”
Earl turned to Ryder. “You good?”
Taking a deep breath, Ryder nodded. “Yes, sir.”
“Clear the building,” the chief instructed. “And, Ryder, be careful.”
“Yes, sir.” Ryder and Titus headed toward the training facility door, keeping a wide berth around the dark, bloody trail.
The chief ran a hand over his graying hair. “I’ll need to let her brother, Lee, know. He’s the only family she had left.” He shook his head with sadness.
“Is he here in town?” Shane asked. He hadn’t known Veronica had a brother.
“No, he’s in the state prison. He was convicted of larceny a few years back.”
Shane bit back his surprise as he turned his attention to Gina. Seemed she wasn’t the only one with brother issues.
Officer Donaldson squatted down in front of Gina. “Honey, I need to swab your hands for gunpowder residue.”
A stricken look crossed Gina’s lovely face, making her already pale complexion even more so. “I didn’t shoot her. I don’t even know how to handle a gun.”
“It’s procedure,” Officer Donaldson explained as she worked. “Our department isn’t large enough to employ a crime scene technician, so all of us officers have been trained to do basic forensic collection.” She bagged the pad that she’d swiped over Gina’s hands and face.
“I touched Veronica to see if she—” Gina turned away.
“I’ll send everything gathered to the lab in Flagstaff. As long as the particle count is twenty or less, then you’re fine. Cross contamination happens.”
“But even if you don’t find any sign of gunpowder on Gina, the lack of forensic evidence could be explained away,” Shane said. “Someone wearing gloves when they pulled the trigger wouldn’t have any residue on their hands. There could be some blowback on the perpetrator’s clothing.”
Gina whipped her attention to him.
“True,” Officer Donaldson said. “The lab won’t be able to process Gina’s clothes until she’s able to surrender them.”
The flash of a camera burned Shane’s eyes. Officer Ken Bucks snapped shots of Veronica’s body.
“Marlton,” the chief called to the older officer standing off to the side, observing.
“Yeah, Chief,” Dennis Marlton answered, but didn’t step closer. He had his arms folded over his potbelly as if protecting his paunch. He was shorter than his coworkers and had gray, thin hair and watery blue eyes that squinted at the chief.
“You and...” Earl frowned as he glanced around. “Where’s Harmon?”
Dennis shrugged. “Late as usual.”
The chief harrumphed. “Bucks, go with Marlton to canvass the area. See if anyone saw anything that might be helpful.”
Bucks looked at the chief, his face glowing a pasty white in the light of the lamps. “I’m taking photos.” He pointed to the trail of blood. “You said to document everything before we lose any evidence.”
“Right. Stay on it.” Earl turned his sharp steely eyes back on Officer Marlton. “You can handle the interviews alone.”
Officer Marlton sighed heavily and unfolded his arms. “Fine.” He trudged off, mumbling about having to do everything himself.
Shane watched him. His father, a police chief in Flagstaff, would never have stood for such disrespectful behavior from his men. First Harmon not showing up, then Bucks defying an order and Marlton making it clear he wasn’t happy doing his job.
There was a rumor going around that Chief Jones would be retiring soon. Perhaps that was why the chief wasn’t strict with his employees. Or it could be the grief and shock of Veronica’s death.
“I’ve gathered what I can from Gina,” Officer Donaldson remarked as she held on to the evidence bags.
“Thank you, Louise. We’ll get Gina’s clothes bagged. Would you track down Harmon and then start a search for Tim Perry? Build a profile. I want to know where he’s been and what he’s been doing.”
Louise nodded, her usually serious expression even more grim on her pale face. “On it.”
Earl squatted down in front of Gina. “When was the last time you saw your brother?”
Her hazel eyes looked too large for her petite face. “Do you mean before tonight?”
Shane frowned. “So you did see him tonight.”
She kept her gaze on the chief. “When I returned home from the potluck, he was in my bedroom. He had a knife. I ran downstairs hoping to get to the phone but he was too close so I escaped out the front door and ran this way, hoping to make it to the station, but then I found...” She closed her eyes.
“Why were you hiding in the shrubs when Bella and I arrived?”
Her eyelids popped open. “I was afraid you were Tim.”
Or was she hoping she could slip away undetected?
A car pulled up. Shane yanked his gaze from Gina to see Sophie Williams, another trainer at the center, emerge from behind the wheel. Tall, earthy and willowy, the former K-9 cop’s normally confident demeanor was lacking as she hurried over.
Her shoulder-length blond hair was tied back in a messy ponytail, and her hazel eyes were anxious as she took in the scene. She and Veronica had clashed many times during Shane’s weeks of training. He watched Sophie closely. Was her shock real? Could she and Gina have come up with a plan to off their boss?
Sophie halted beside Shane, but her gaze was on Veronica. “Oh, no. Is she...?” She clamped a hand to her mouth. Tears leaked down her face.
“Sophie, what are you doing here?” Earl asked, clearly puzzled by her presence.
“I heard on the police radio that something had happened at the center,” she explained.
