Chapter 30

Chief Nettles asked Perry to join us, since the house belonged to him. We walked through each room, and thoroughly looking it over. I couldn’t see where anything had been disturbed. The television, stereo, VCR and other marketable items were still in their places. When we got to the bedroom that Melinda was murder in, I couldn’t go through the door.

The Chief reassured me all that everything was fine. “Miss Rosewood, the victim is on her way to the Coroner’s office. Don’t touch anything. Remember this is a crime scene.”

He handed Perry and me a pair of plastic gloves to wear so we wouldn’t accidentally contaminate anything important. Chief Nettles went in first, followed by Perry, but I still couldn’t enter the room. The earlier image of Melinda lying with a halo of blood around her was too bright in my mind. Perry looked back and saw my ashy pallor.

He strode over to me, “Kerrie, are you going to faint? Do you need to take a break?”

I looked into his face, which was so pale and sad, “I’m sorry this happened.” Then I began to cry. He embraced me, letting me cry for a few minutes. I felt a wet splash on my nose and glanced up to see him crying too. I reached up and touched his cheek for a moment, and then he pulled away. I moved my hand away, feeling the sting of his rejection. The Chief let us get composed, before he pressed us to look around the room.

The first thing I noticed was that someone had placed removed the stained carpet, probably the crime lab. Dusting power covered the vanity. “Did your guys plunder through my jewelry case?” I asked, because it was open and my jewelry was all over the vanity.

“No, they didn’t move anything. Everything is just like Wade found it.” The chief said.

I took a gloved finger and moved some of the pieces around. “Nothing looks to be missing. I didn’t bring any valuable jewelry with me on vacation.” I continued to make observations. “The drawers have been opened and rifled.” Someone had searched the bedroom very thoroughly. The clothes in the closet were disturbed, some of my dresses hung by one strap onto the hangers. My shoes had been tipped over.

“I’m not missing any personal items. My laptop computer is still here. It looks like whoever went through everything was looking for something.”

“Did you manage to find any usable fingerprints?” Perry asked the chief.

“Yes, we found some on the closet door. Miss Rosewood, we might want to get a fingerprint sample so that we can exclude you. I’m sure that your prints are everywhere in this room.”

My calm had returned and I could think levelly. “Was there a forced entry? I didn’t see any windows or doors broken, as we went through the house.”

“We found these on the deck.” He showed me a clear plastic bag that held my car keys.

“Hey, those are mine. I left them hidden in my car, when I went for a walk. I didn’t have a pocket on my sundress and really didn’t plan to walk so far.”

“We’ll need to keep these, Miss Rosewood. Do you have a spare car key? If not, we’ll make a copy for you.”

“I’ve got an extra set hidden in my luggage someplace I think.” Then it occurred to me that my gun was under the pillow. I casually picked up the pillow and found the gun wasn’t there.

“Oh no, my gun’s gone. I keep it here under this pillow.” Someone had my gun. I was stricken. What if someone was killed with it? I knew I shouldn’t have accepted it from Gene. I had always disliked guns. Now I truly despised them.

“I’ll need a description. Do you have a permit?” I nodded as I walked to the closet and to pull down my briefcase, which I had hidden on the top shelf behind some extra blankets. But it wasn’t there. “I can’t find my briefcase.” I stood on tiptoes trying to feel with my hands.

“Let me look. I’m taller than you are, woman.” He moved the blankets and found the case, which had been fallen to the very back of the shelf.

I opened my briefcase on the bed and shuffled through papers until I found the gun permit and other papers for the gun. I was thankful to have them because I had no idea what type of gun it was. A small blue velvet ring box caught my eye. It was David’s engagement ring. If the ‘thief’ had taken this I wouldn’t have minded. Whenever I saw it, I felt bile rise. I snapped the briefcase shut before I let thoughts of David flood my mind.

Eventually the Police left. I stood on the back deck, looking out at the night, trying to count the many tiny dots of light that peppered the water. Fishermen were out night fishing. I wished I were aboard a boat, or train or plane, anywhere but here. Wade and Perry were talking down in the garage. Their voices floated up occasionally. But I didn’t try to piece the words together.

Melinda was dead. Someone had killed her. Someone had rummaged through my belongings looking for something, maybe the gun and…David was on the island. Were all of these situations connected?