Jacobs said, “I think she was stabbed once down here and the killing took place upstairs in her bedroom.”
“Let’s go,” said Decker, not liking the two words I think.
They avoided the evidentiary trail on the carpeted steps and reached the second-floor landing, where Andrews led them into the bedroom.
“Killer didn’t step in the blood from downstairs?” asked White.
“No, he was careful about that,” said Jacobs.
Judge Julia Cummins was lying on her bed wearing a short white terrycloth robe. The robe was open, revealing the woman’s black underpants and a white camisole. Someone had put a blindfold over her eyes, but then cut out holes in the cloth where the eyes were. There was blood all over her clothing, and on the bedspread and also on her hands, the bottoms of her feet, and her knees.
“She’s been stabbed repeatedly,” said Jacobs. “Ten times by my unofficial count, not counting defensive wounds. COD was blood loss due to the stabbings.”
“So she was downstairs where she was attacked, ran up here, and the intruder came up and finished her off,” said White.
“Appears to be that way,” said Jacobs cautiously.
“Stabbing someone that many times is personal,” noted Decker.
Andrews interjected, “But we have a ways to go. It’s a complicated crime scene.”
Decker eyed the twisted covers and took in the fact that the mattress was out of alignment with the box springs.
White must have been reading his mind. “Looks like a struggle took place there.”
“You mentioned defensive wounds?” asked Decker, noting the cuts on the woman’s forearms.
Jacobs said, “Yes. It’s natural for a person getting attacked with a knife or blunt instrument to use their arms to block the blows. Multiple slashes. However, the wound to her lower sternum was probably the fatal one. From the location and depth, it likely cut right through her aorta. I’ll know for certain when I do the post.”
“Any trace under her fingernails?” asked White.
“None that I could find on a preliminary exam. I’ll look closer when I do the post.”
“Blood on her hands, knees, the bottoms of her feet?” noted Decker.
Andrews said, “Explained by the fact that she was attacked downstairs, stepped in her own blood, maybe fell, and got blood on her knees. Ran up here. Mark on the wall by the stairs where she no doubt put her hand to steady herself, and spatter on the stair runner.”
“Any signs of sexual assault?” asked Decker, who did not look convinced by this theory as the blood spatter images from the stairs and the study marched across his mind’s eye.
Jacobs replied, “I did a prelim. No signs of that. I’ll know more once I get her on the slab. But I don’t think she’s been sexually assaulted.”
Decker looked at the blindfold. “Nice of the killers to leave us this little symbol.”
Andrews stepped forward. “Why blindfold her but then cut the holes so her eyes are showing?”
“The blindfold was most likely put on postmortem,” noted Jacobs.
“Of course it was,” said Decker abruptly.
“You said symbolic?” said White, looking at the blindfold.
Decker said, “The lady was a judge. Justice is supposed to be blind. Only with her, I guess it wasn’t, or at least in the opinion of her killer, since they made sure she was seeing clearly, or as clearly as the dead can.”
Andrews sucked in a sharp breath. “Shit, that could be true.”
“Where did the blindfold come from?” asked Decker.
“From the judge’s closet,” answered Jacobs. “It was taken from a set of handkerchiefs she had.”
“Any trace of the killer left in the closet or here? Footprints, residue of blood spatter from stabbing the judge?” asked White.
“We’ve found nothing so far. We’re still dusting for prints, and we’ll take the prints of family and friends for elimination purposes, of course.”
Decker said, “So this might have been heat of the moment. The killing certainly seemed to be. And the killer used the judge’s handkerchief instead of bringing one already fashioned as a mask. What’d the killer use to cut the holes?”
“We’ve found nothing that had blood on it that would have been used.”
“The killer might have used the knife to do it and then took it with him or her,” said White, who then noted the card in an evidence bag next to the dead woman. “The card was found here?” she asked.
Jacobs nodded. “It was actually placed on her body.”
White looked at the card in the clear plastic bag. “‘Res ipsa loquitor.’”
She glanced over at Decker, who was watching her.
“Any paper or pen here match the card and the ink?” asked Decker.
“The pen is generic, but we’ve found no match here on the card so far,” said Andrews. “The killer might have brought it.”
“Any prints on the card?” asked White.
“No.”
“If the killer brought the card, that does smack of premeditation,” noted White.
“Yes, it does,” said Decker. “But that coupled with the mask and the frenetic stabbing makes this a very contrarian crime scene.”
Decker looked around the space and noted a photo on the nightstand.
In the picture was the deceased, and on either side of her a man and a teenage boy.
Andrews picked up the photo with his gloved hand and said, “That’s Judge Cummins, of course. And that’s her ex-husband, Barry Davidson, and their son, Tyler. Looks like this was taken at the club, judging by the background.”
“The club?” asked White.
“Harbor Club. It’s right down the coast, about five minutes. They were members. Well, the judge was.”
“And her ex and her son? Where are they?”
“We contacted Barry Davidson. He lives nearby.”
“Alibi?”
“He was with his son. It was the week he had him.”
“So his son is his alibi?” said Decker.
“Yes. I understand the boy is devastated.”
“How old is he?”
“Seventeen.”
“Do you know the ex and the son?” asked Decker.
“I’ve met Barry Davidson.”
“And you know this club, obviously, since you recognized it in the photo.”
“Yes. I belong to the Harbor Club, too.”
Decker eyed the man’s costly suit and shoes. “Is that your Lexus outside?”
“Yes, it is. What about it?”
“Nothing. Is the Mazda Draymont’s ride?”
“Yes,” answered Jacobs, looking anxiously between the two men.
Decker said, “So, what’s your theory on what happened here last night, Agent Andrews?”
Andrews glanced at White and then took a moment to compose his thoughts. “I think it seems reasonably clear. Since there was no forced entry, either one of the doors was unlocked or the person or persons was let in. The fact that the judge was in her underwear leads me to believe that Draymont was shot first. The judge, on hearing something from her bedroom, put on a robe, came downstairs, and was attacked. She ran back to her room, probably to lock herself in, but wasn’t able to. They killed her here. Then they left the card and put the blindfold on her.”
“If Draymont let the person in he must have known them. Either on his own, or because they knew the judge,” said White.
“But if the murders occurred between midnight and two, that would be pretty late for a visitor,” observed Decker.
“Could Draymont have been in on it, let the person in, and then had a change of heart, or the killer intended on leaving no witnesses behind?” said White.
Andrews said, “That’s certainly possible.”
“Who called the police about the bodies?” asked Decker.
“They got a call from the neighbor next door, Doris Kline. She went out on her rear deck this morning to drink her coffee and read her iPad, and saw the back door of Cummins’s house open. She went over to make sure everything was okay. It was after nine at that point. And the judge was normally on her way to court before then. Kline walked in the rear door, went into the kitchen and then through to the study, where she saw Draymont’s body. She ran back to her house and called the cops. They found the judge’s body, too, and called us in because of her federal status. I’ve already contacted the U.S. Marshals Service to loop them in. I’ve been busy here, but I plan to interview Kline next.”