Page 62 of The Bridesmaid

Chapter Forty-Eight

HOLLY

As we head for my hut, I fill Fitzwilliam in on the cake destruction.

‘The way it was hacked to pieces,’ I say, ‘seems way meaner than just a prank.’

‘Agreed,’ he says.

‘If Simone’s killer is one of the bridal party they’ve been close enough to Adrianna to kill her for years. Silky is the most likely suspect,’ I decide. ‘She’s the florist making the scaffold, and Simone was beaten with a scaffold pole. And from what Georgia just told me, she might be a little crazy.’

‘If her movies are anything to go by, she’s not just a little crazy,’ says Fitzwilliam. ‘That is a dark imagination.’

‘Silky had a freaky-looking notepad on the airplane,’ I say. ‘Filled with drawings of schoolgirls. I’m wondering if there’s something about Trinity in there.’

Fitzwilliam nods. ‘OK, let’s try to get hold of that notepad. I can ask in the staff quarters. Gain access to Silky’s room or luggage maybe. The cake said “Trinity is coming”, right? Like a threat?’

I nod. ‘Or a curse. Like someone doesn’t want Adrianna to get married.’

‘If that’s the killer’s motive,’ says Fitzwilliam, ‘we’re running out of time.’

It takes me a few moments to set things up back at the cabana. The faded gold birthday invitation lies neatly on a sterilized tray, ready for examination. I carefully take equipment from my luggage, from under my driver’s license, pentagram tokens and twenty-sided Dungeons and Dragons dice.

‘Nice picture,’ Fitzwilliam murmurs, eyeing my ID. ‘You do Halloween parties?’

I delve in my studded backpack, and remove my tweezers, ultra-violet pen, fingerprinting kit, magnifying lenses and various swabs and collection pots. Having my familiar forensic kit in my hands replaces any anxiety with excitement.

‘OK.’ I look close. ‘First observation. Someone has already fingerprinted this invitation.’

‘Simone?’

‘That would make sense. If you look close, you can see where there’s fingerprint powder remaining.’ I point to where the dust clings to a set of little swirls and think for a moment. ‘If Simone got a match, the results would be on file,’ I say. ‘At her office. Could you have Ortiz look it up for us?’

He nods. ‘Shouldn’t be a problem.’

‘If Simone left the powder on the invitation, it would have been for show,’ I say thoughtfully. ‘It would mean she found something worth explaining to camera. Let’s try an alternate light method,’ I add, flicking on my UV light. ‘See if there’s anything more to notice about these prints.’

I look closely for a few moments. ‘Lot of prints,’ I say. ‘But … they seem to be one set. Belonging to one person. Most likelyAdrianna, right? If she received the invitation, and her stalker was smart enough to use gloves.’ I stare a little longer.

When I look up, Fitzwilliam seems to be watching my face closely.

‘What?’ I ask.

‘Nothing. It’s just … interesting to watch you work is all – the focus.’

‘Let’s see what Ortiz comes back with,’ I tell him. ‘Maybe Simone got some partial that didn’t fit Adrianna.’ Something else occurs to me.

‘There’s fingerprint access to Adrianna’s bedroom,’ I tell Fitzwilliam. ‘The kidnapper would have had to override it somehow to get inside. But that never showed up on any of the police reports, did it?’

Fitzwilliam shakes his head. ‘It was checked,’ he says. ‘The night she was snatched.’

I look at the birthday invitation thoughtfully. ‘Maybe someone found a way to switch fingerprints somehow.’ I frown, not sure what to do with this information. ‘Can you get Ortiz to run these prints herself? Cross reference with what Simone put on file? Check they belong to Adrianna, and that the police records of Adrianna’s prints match the ones Simone would have taken?’

‘I can, but it’s eight p.m. in New York. We’re unlikely to get answers before tomorrow morning. Mark Li wants us gone by then.’

I sigh, taking out a few bottles of reagents and a sterile pad. ‘I’ll swab for DNA,’ I explain. ‘And use some reagents to see if there’s anything chemically unusual. Drugs. Gun powder residue.’

I notice a seam along the edge of the invitation that I didn’t see before.