“Well, give me your wrist.”
“Not yet, but let's keep that option open.” I looked back down the stair. “I'm staying up here a minute or two. I want them to think I'm in conference.” I just hate it when attorneys get involved so soon. They belong in a courtroom, not at a crime scene.
Finally, as Hester and company continued on the second floor, I returned to the parlor, carefully stepping over the chalk marks in the second-floor hall. Looking back at them, they seemed to be just about perfectly located in front of Edie's bedroom door. Damn. That could be a problem. They didn't lead anywhere. Just the way they would if she'd been brought here, and then they sat her down while they opened the door. No indication of direction.
Downstairs, Borman was just standing in the parlor doorway. “I think,” I said to him, certain that I would be overheard, “we're just about done up there on the second floor. Or, should be within an hour or so.”
Borman said, “Good, and then up to the third floor?”
“Oh, yeah,” I said. “No problem at all.”
“So, what,” asked Junkel, “have you heard from the county attorney?”
“I'll be talking to him again shortly. We really are trying to be accommodating with this, but we also have a duty, and a higher obligation to the court.” I shrugged. “You know how that goes.”
By pulling both Borman and myself off search duties, we had probably lost two or three hours by now. We'd done it to be accommodating to Jessica Hunley in the first place. I'd hoped Ms. Hunley would have arrived, smiled, handed over the keys to the third floor, and left. Not to be. We'd tried to be accommodating when we simply should have taken the lock off one of the doors to the third, and reimbursed the owner.
There's always an upside, though. Although it had been in the back of my mind, I was quite aware that we had also kept Jessica Hunley from talking to the other residents of the house. I knew they'd talked on the phone, but so far they hadn't been able to sit down and exchange information as a group.
FOURTEEN
Sunday, October 8, 2000
17:50
By 17:00, we decided we were ready to proceed to the third floor. Hester and I approached Jessica Hunley with two questions.
“First,” I said, still in my friendly mode, “now that your attorneys are present, I'm going to ask again if you have a key to the third floor.”
Junkel answered. “Yes, she does, but that doesn't imply that she either gives permission for its use, nor if she does allow its use, that she willingly acquiesces to this search.” He looked at Hester. “Who's this?”
Hester said, “Hester Gorse. Special Agent, Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation.” She produced her badge, and showed it to Jessica first.
“With the mobil crime lab, then,” said Koch.
“No. I'm a general crim agent.” She replaced her badge in her pocket.
“He,” said Junkel, meaning me, “told us he was in charge.”
“He is,” said Hester. “We assist departments with primary jurisdiction.”
“So,” I said, “may we use the key for the third floor? To limit damage.”
“Yes,” said Koch.
“Now, then,” I said, again directly to Jessica Hunley, “what sort of things are up there? I'm asking to see, I guess, if it's a fully furnished floor, or partially, with empty rooms.”
“Don't answer that,” said Junkel.
“Then we have to assume the worst, as far as the length of time it will take to search it. Okay.” I turned to Hester. “Then we better feed the crew before we go up.”
“Right,” she said, with a twinkle in her eye. “There's no other choice. We have to assume it'll be a long one.”
“Want me to go get the food?” offered Borman.
“Nope. We'll order out.” I looked at Hester. “It can be delivered to the reserves outside, since nobody else is allowed in. They can bring it in to us.”
“It's already after five,” said Jessica.
“We'll go for supper,” said Junkel, in that special, accommodating way attorneys have with wealthy clients. “We'll be back in about an hour and a half or so.” He, Jessica, Tatiana, and Koch, in that order, headed for the door.
Payback time.
“Stop right there,” I said. With authority, the way we were taught to do verbal crowd control at the Academy. It almost always works, and it certainly did this time.
I had their full attention. “If you choose to leave, you will not be allowed back in. You will leave the key to the third floor when you go.”
“I don't think so,” said Junkel.
“And,” I said, “you will undergo a personal search before you leave. As expressly permitted under case law.” I stared at him. “You should know that.”
Both attorneys knew I was absolutely correct regarding the search. Although it was originally an outgrowth of drug cases, where individuals were present when the door was broken down and would try to leave with the contraband on their persons, it also had application here. We were looking for trace evidence, including such things as rags or sponges that could have been used to wipe up bloodstains. They could also be concealed about the person, and removed from the scene. Well, maybe not under Tatiana's leather outfit. But the four of them would have to be searched when they left.
Playing the good cop/bad cop at the same time, I said, “But if you like, we will have our officers transport food in for you.”
Jessica Hunley had had just about enough. “Thank you. We accept your offer. Now, can we just hurry all this up?” Junkel started to say something, but she just glanced at him and he closed his mouth.
We all ate in the parlor, with introductions all around for the lab crew and Chris Barnes. Chris introduced himself as a crime scene reconstruction specialist. That got the two attorneys talking between themselves. Good.
It was a strange sort of meal. We had four large pizzas, and cans of Coke and Diet Coke. They had full dinners, including salads and desserts, with bottled water.
I sat beside Hester and we started dividing up a pizza.
“Hey, Houseman, isn't this bad for your cholesterol?”
“Mumpbfh.” That was sort of a “so what?,” but with my mouth full of hot pizza it came out a little garbled.
“I thought so,” said Hester.
I swallowed, took a swig of pop, motioned her to lean closer to me, and whispered, “There's something bothering me… ”
“Mushrooms?”
“Nope. No, I have this feeling that we've forgotten to do something.” She looked at me. “Well… that I've forgotten to do something, I guess.”
“You've got your inventory sheet?”
“Yep.” I took another bite of pizza.
“Just cross-check yours with the application, and see what doesn't fit. That might do it.” She picked up a slice, and started it toward her mouth.
“Wonder where I put that?” I said absently. She stopped in mid-bite, and put her hand over her mouth. “What?”
I grinned. “Just kidding.”
By the time we got to head up to the third floor, it was completely dark outside. I checked my watch, and logged us at the locked main door at 18:51. As often as she looked at her watch, I could probably have just asked Jessica.
There were two ways up to the third floor. Simply following the main stairs up from the second floor, and unlocking the door at the third-floor landing reached the primary entrance. The second path was from the main floor, at the back of the house, via what was originally the servants' stair. Jessica, intending the servants' stair to be used as a private entrance to her apartment on the third, had hired carpenters to seal the door on the second floor. There were, according to her, locks both on the entry door on the main floor, and on the third-floor stair door as well.
Hester, Chris, and I conferred for a moment. We all felt that the main entrance to the third would be the place to start, as it was the most likely for Edie to have used. After all, like I said, “If you want to sneak off to be alone, why traipse all the way down to the first, and then back up to the third, when you just have to walk out of your door and go up one flight?”