There were pros and cons to it. The pros were that Owen was definitely on the same wavelength as May. They were good friends, they thought the same way. They shared the same values. May admired Owen’s integrity and his dedication to the job, and his intelligence. Also, he was definitely cute.
But the cons were more complex. Being in a romance would change things. Ever since her divorce five years ago, after a short marriage that had been a disastrous mistake in every way, May was scared of going down the same destructive path again.
And what if it affected their ability to work together and she lost the harmonious partnership with her trusted co-investigator?
May had to stop herself sighing aloud as she considered how many factors there were to worry about. It was better to forget about them all, and make sure she was one hundred percent immersed in this important investigation.
Having paced carefully over the grass, May and Owen turned their attention to the boathouse itself.
Now, in the darkening evening, with the wind gusting and the clouds obscuring the moon, the little wooden boathouse had an eerie, abandoned feel.
There was a short wooden jetty, and they both walked out to it.
But May could see nothing along its painted boards. She had a feeling there was nothing to find.
“Let’s go back and see if Andy has anything to tell us,” May said.
Feeling disappointed that the search of the area had yielded nothing, and that the surroundings looked undisturbed, she headed back.
Andy and his team were working under floodlights, too. Emily’s body had been removed from the raft and placed on plastic sheeting on the grass. From there, May knew, it would be transferred to a body bag and taken to the pathologist’s office. The raft itself was also going to be transported to the police department. Three gloved officers were busy carefully lifting the crude wooden structure, wrapping it in thick sheets of plastic.
May knew that this could hold important evidence. The way the wood had been cut, the nails used—everything might add up and point the way to the killer.
Even the candles were being carefully removed from the wood and individually bagged.
May stepped forward to speak to Andy.
“Do you know how she died?” she asked. “Are there any signs at all?”
He raised his eyebrows from behind his mask.
“It looks as if she was suffocated or smothered somehow. But there are no signs of a struggle so I am wondering if she was sedated, given some kind of medication first. I’m going to check the blood and run the toxicology report to see if I can get a clearer picture.”
“There’s no sign of a struggle?” May said.
“No. Absolutely no sign. Not as much as a broken nail. No bruising. So whatever was done, it was done in a way the victim didn’t fight it. And her body does not look starved or dehydrated. She must have had access to food and water in the weeks since she went missing.”
May shook her head. This was all extremely disturbing. An undamaged body, a bloodless death, no evidence of trauma or struggle.
And then, finally, she noticed something unusual. It was just the tiniest blip in the picture of this otherwise perfect, yet macabre, scene.
“Look there, look at her feet, Andy,” she said.
He stared in the direction she was pointing.
“She’s wearing mismatched shoes. That’s strange, isn’t it? One shoe looks much smaller.”
They were both white sports shoes. But one was bright white and larger. The other was scuffed, a different model, and smaller.
“Yes. That’s a good point.” Andy moved closer, looking down at the shoes. “They are definitely different, and I would say the one on her left foot is the correctly fitting shoe. The one on the right looks to be much too small.”
“What could that mean?” May wondered.
“I don’t know. The whole scene looks strangely ritualistic so maybe this is a part of it. I won’t remove the shoes here. I’ll wait until I’ve got her inside, so we don’t miss any evidence that might be on, or in, them. But I’m glad you saw that as I’ll prioritize it,” he said.
“Thank you.”
It was a tiny clue, but May felt it was important. It was part of this staged scene.