Williams said, “But he’d know more than a layperson. And the sad truth is, there are sources of illegal drugs everywhere.”
“But if you’re going to kill yourself, you’re looking to get it right the first time. Bottom line: heroin isn’t a good choice for suicide. But more importantly, I found two small superficial puncture wounds in the center of Kyle’s chest. I hadn’t noticed them at the crime scene because of the poor lighting.”
“What sort of punctures?” said Bailey.
“Like tiny needles set barely an inch apart. It’s some sort of patterned injury.”
“Like from a syringe?” asked Michelle.
“No. And you wouldn’t use a syringe on your chest. Arms and legs are by far the best locations for injection purposes.”
“Well, what do you think it is, then?” asked King.
“I’ve seen a case like this before in Richmond, after a riot. A man went into cardiac arrest and died after police incapacitated him with a Taser gun. A Taser would leave twin marks like I saw on Kyle where the electrified darts impacted the body.”
Bailey said, “So somebody shoots him with the Taser and then injects him with an overdose. That’s why there was no sign of a struggle.”
“I can’t be absolutely certain about the Taser, but there’s more. I also found small petechiae and hemorrhages in his eyes and mouth.”
“That’s a sign of asphyxia, of being smothered,” said Michelle.
“Exactly. The hemorrhages occur as one struggles for air. Now, there was no evidence of strangulation at autopsy, so I’m thinking he might have been suffocated with an object that would leave no such traces, like a pillow. And heroin is a respiratory depressant; his breathing would already have been very shallow, and that would have aided the person trying to kill him by suffocation.”
“So if he was murdered and the person tried to make it look like a suicide, who has the motive to kill him?” asked Bailey.
“Well, the woman he was selling drugs to at the Aphrodisiac for one,” said Williams. Bailey looked at him questioningly, and the police chief filled in his colleague.
Bailey said, “So she gets the money back, why kill him?”
“What if Kyle learned who she was and was trying to blackmail her?” suggested Sylvia. “That would be a prime motive for murder: fear of exposure.”
“So we need to find this woman, and fast,” said Williams.
Michelle and King exchanged glances.
“We know who she is,” he said.
They all looked at him in surprise.
“Well, who the hell is she?” asked Williams.
“Dorothea Battle. And she’s got no alibi for the time Kyle was killed.”
“Dorothea Battle?” The police chief rose from his chair. “Why the hell didn’t you tell me this right away, Sean?”
“We just found out ourselves. She admitted it to us.”
Williams pulled out his cell phone. “Well, we’ll pick her up pronto, then.”
“She’s at her house.”
“You mean you hope she is. If she’s flown the coop, I’m holding you responsible.”
“I don’t think she killed Kyle, Todd.”
Williams ignored this and spoke into his phone, ordering the arrest of Dorothea Battle. When that was done, he looked at the private investigator. “And what do you base that conclusion on?”
“Gut instinct.”