Page 21 of Crime Lab Cold Case (Pacific Northwest Forensics #2)
Michael sat on the grass, Peaches’s emaciated body in his arms and the dew soaking through the seat of his pants. He felt none of it until Natalie shouted in his face.
“Michael! What does this mean? Why does Peaches have Alma’s bracelet from twelve years ago?”
Molly called from the house. “Did you two get lost out there or is there some hanky-panky going on?”
Michael closed his fist around the bracelet and held a finger to his lips. “Not a word about this to Molly…or anyone else. Not until we sort it out.”
Natalie started to talk, but he gripped her wrist before she could say anything. “I don’t understand, either, but we can’t discuss it now.”
He slipped the bracelet into his pocket, where it burned like a living thing, and he pushed up from the soggy grass with Peaches under one arm.
As he marched back to the house, he felt Natalie slip her finger in his belt loop, as if she needed something to keep her steady. Her touch anchored him, too, and he cleared his throat as he approached the house.
“Ivy was right. Never doubt a toddler.” He held up Peaches, and Molly squealed.
“That’s Peaches? She came home.”
Molly ran to pluck up Ivy from her playpen, and Ivy smiled from ear to ear, repeating Peaches’s name and patting the dog on the head. At one point, Ivy looked up at Michael. “Mama?”
The lump in Michael’s throat proved too big for words to slip past it, so Molly combed her fingers through Ivy’s hair and said, “Mama’s not coming home.”
Ivy hugged the little pug, smooshing her face into her fur. Michael would worry about fleas later. He could barely think straight, and he had three people eying him for answers.
Molly chewed on the side of her thumb, a habit she’d inherited from Mom. “You’re going to have to tell the police, Michael. This is huge.”
His sister had no idea how huge .
“I realize that.”
“You might even need to tell them before you wash the dog. I mean, you don’t want to destroy any evidence, do you?” Molly grabbed her phone from the coffee table and snapped several pictures of Peaches. “Just in case.”
He closed his eyes. He’d already removed the biggest piece of evidence from Peaches’s collar. “Peaches has been gone for over six months. She’s not going to yield any evidence worth having.”
Molly tapped her chin. “I get it—rain, dirt, mud. It would’ve destroyed any evidence from the, uh, thing.”
Michael cuddled Ivy in his arms, while she cuddled an exhausted Peaches in hers. He caught Natalie’s reflection in the window, her face a while oval. She hadn’t recovered from the shock yet, but in all the excitement Molly hadn’t noticed Natalie’s demeanor.
“I need to get Natalie back to the lab, so she can get her car and her laptop, and we never even fed her.”
“Don’t worry about me. I’ll figure out something. I can order a car on my phone to take me back.”
Molly jumped up from the floor. “Michael, don’t make her do that. I can take care of everything here. Ivy and I will give Peaches a bath and feed her. Do you have any dog food left?”
“Not any of the dry stuff, but I’m sure there are a few cans in the cupboard in the garage over the washer and dryer.” Michael left Ivy on the floor with Peaches and brushed off the knees of his pants. “I don’t want to dump all of this on you, Molly. Are you sure?”
“Positive. Just go take Natalie back, and then you can help me when you return. Ivy will be my assistant.” Molly ducked down and ruffled the top of Ivy’s hair.
After they settled everything with Molly, Michael walked with Natalie back to his car in silence. Neither of them spoke until he’d backed the car out of the driveway and hit the road.
Then Natalie went off like a teakettle. “What the hell just happened? First the dog that was with your wife when she was murdered returns home after six months, and if that weren’t astounding in and of itself, the dog has a dead woman’s bracelet attached to her collar.
Michael, tell me you’re thinking what I’m thinking. Or am I losing my mind?”
“If you are, I’m right there with you. The person who murdered Alma thirteen years ago and stole her bracelet is still at large, and he killed my wife.
The reason Raine wasn’t found with this bracelet is because it somehow got tangled with Peaches’s collar, or Peaches somehow got it from Raine’s body, or…
” He slammed his hands against the steering wheel.
Natalie put her fingers to her lips. “Or the killer attached that bracelet to Peaches’s collar.”
“Wait. We don’t know for sure.” Michael clapped a hand on his forehead. “Maybe that’s not even Alma’s bracelet. We just talked to Penny. We had that bracelet in our heads, and it materialized.”
“Yeah, a Native American-style bracelet with seed pearls and sea turtles. That’s just so common.”
Michael lifted his shoulders, desperate for something to make sense. “Alma bought it at a Native American fair. They could’ve sold others.”
“Those must be some bad-luck bracelets, then.” She snorted. “Of course, it’s Alma’s bracelet, Michael, and Raine’s murder is connected to the others.”
“That’s impossible. It’s been too long since his previous murder.” His foot had been coming down on the accelerator, and he took the last turn way too fast. He eased off the pedal and loosened his grip on the steering wheel, flexing his fingers.
“We don’t know that. He could’ve been operating in another area. He could’ve been in prison. You know the score. It’s all too coincidental.”
“Raine is out of his age demographic. She was thirty, she had a child. She was strangled, for God’s sake. The other two were stabbed and shot.” Michael’s hand shook as he snatched up the water bottle in the cup holder.
Natalie took the bottle from him and unscrewed the cap. “Let’s see what Penny has to say about that bracelet. If she verifies that it belonged to Alma, will you believe Raine’s murder is connected to Alma’s and the others?”
“I guess I’d have to. There’s no way Peaches just happened to get tangled up with Alma’s bracelet thirteen years after her murder.
Peaches didn’t even disappear in the same area as Alma was discovered.
” Michael took the turn toward the lab. “Where was she? How did she survive out there? It doesn’t look like someone had found her or was taking care of her. ”
“Six months is a long time. Someone must’ve been feeding her. If she could only talk.”
Natalie tapped her fingers against her chin. “If this is the same killer, he would’ve taken a piece of jewelry from Raine. I mean, why change your MO when you’re trying to make a comeback. Was Raine missing any jewelry? Wedding ring?”
Michael spit out a breath. “She’d stopped wearing that, months before her death. You’d have to ask her boyfriend, RJ.”
Michael pulled into the parking lot of the lab sooner than he would’ve liked. He and Natalie still had so much to discuss, but he had to go home to his little girl and try to explain why Peaches had returned, but her mother hadn’t.
* * *
Natalie had to convince Michael that he didn’t have to wait for her to collect her things from the office.
She could tell he was anxious to get back to Ivy, and he’d already waved to Miles to let her into the building.
Several stray cars remained in the parking lot, so there had to be a few late-night stragglers.
Once inside, she strode toward the security desk and introduced herself to Miles. “Is there a cut-off point when the office closes? I’d like to do a little work while I’m here.”
“You can work here all night, if you like. Some do.” He tapped the desk. “You need to check out when you’re leaving, though, and exit through the front doors. I have to know who’s in the building.”
“Got it. Thanks, Miles.”
She made a detour to the lunchroom on the way back to her office. She never did get that leftover spaghetti at Michael’s house, but she did get something much more important. Could Katie’s abductor and presumed killer be back in Marysville, determined to pick up where he left off?
Had Raine been missing any jewelry when her body was discovered.
=? That seemed like a very important point right now, but she wasn’t about to interrupt his family time to ask him.
What kind of killer took a thirteen-year break?
Like she’d told Michael earlier—an ex-con, someone in the military, someone who’d recently returned to the area.
She inserted her debit card into the vending machine and punched a button for a bag of chips and a bottle of water. She collected her dinner and returned to the conference room. On her way, she didn’t see any other employees in their offices or cubicles, but they could be in their labs.
As she let herself into the room, her gaze swept the area, looking for anything out of place. Even though she’d locked up every day since getting the key, something always felt off in this conference room.
She dove back into her databases and added the details about Sierra’s bangle, the photo of Alma’s body showing a bracelet on her wrist and Penny’s assertion that Alma was also missing a bracelet. Then Natalie held her breath and created another file for Raine Wilder.
Michael had the bracelet wrapped around Peaches’s collar in his possession, but Molly hadn’t been the only one taking pictures tonight. Natalie had a couple of photos of the bracelet on her phone. She could send it to Penny right now and clear up any doubt…not that she had any.
Michael needed to know, too. The truth would bring him out of his denial that his wife’s murder was connected to the other homicides. The link would only benefit him, as it would completely establish his innocence.