Page 46 of Three Girls Gone

BTW, I heard from Katherine, and if you want to pass it along that I’m still working on her thing, I’d appreciate that.

Amanda keyed back a quick response that she’d received his message and would get back to him on justification for a warrant. Then she looked over the partition and passed along Briggs’s message for Katherine.

“Thanks. I didn’t expect a miracle overnight.”

“Then you don’t know Briggs, because that man has pulled them off before.” She smiled, hoping that the expression would lift her friend’s spirits. Katherine put her head back down and was looking at her laptop.

So much for cheering her up…Though, in her place, it would take more for her. Amanda shook off the low-energy vibe and turned to the next email. Not that it helpedher mood. Rideout’s autopsy report for Hailey Tanner. Amanda plucked out the highlights, which were more accuratelylowlights for their depravity. She stopped at the first point.

Evidence of sexual assault. No DNA or condom residue.

Could it be that Katherine was on to something with the perp being a woman? In Amanda’s opinion, Wilson M deserved more attention. After all, Mara Bennett placed him atThe Nutcrackermaking a fuss over Hailey. If only they could establish his identity, they may be on the way to tying him back to Julie Gilbert.

She returned to Rideout’s email.

Concluding that cause of death was manual strangulation. The scarf was not used. The bruising provided an estimated handspan that would belong to a full-grown adult—man or woman. However, it’s not distinct enough to provide a measurement that could be relied upon.

Time of death, as estimated before, is fixed between 11 PM Sunday to 5 AM Monday.

X-rays showed no broken bones or history of such.

Articles of clothing and scrapings from under the nails were sent to the lab for further processing.

Amanda processed one key takeaway. Nothing confirmed a man had done this.

She closed Rideout’s email and saw that a new one had come in from CSI Blair. The subject wasTanner Evidence.

Amanda opened it and took in the bullet-point list that the investigator had laid out.

Carousel: public playground equipment. DNA and fingerprint evidence too plentiful to behelpful. A search of the immediate area never turned up anything of serious note.

Men’s public restroom: garbage bag empty. Nothing definitive as evidence connected to the perp.

Hailey’s clothing: Tutu and slippers showed no trace or DNA other than hers. Female DNA was recovered from the chiffon scarf and run against elimination samples of Jean Tanner, Mara Bennett, and Susan Butters. None were a match. Also no hits in the system, period. But there were a few hairs on it that came back belonging to a rabbit.

Tanner residence: Passed along from CSI Stuart (seems you made an impression…) DNA swabs from the closet door came back a match to Hailey and Jean Tanner. Also the ballerina tutu and slippers were a match to the ones found on Hailey Tanner in style, size, and brand. This makes it likely they came from the girl’s closet. The scuff mark tested from the trellis is a match for rubber used in the soles of commercial running shoes.

Amanda sat back, focused on the one finding associated with the scarf.Female.

A woman’s DNA was on the scarf. But it could have been purchased by a man after a woman had tried it on and returned it to the rack. Or a man could have stolen it from somewhere as yet unknown.

“Amanda?” Trent was standing next to her. Based on the way he looked at her and the volume he’d used, he’d tried to get her attention already.