“So what do we have?”
“The vic’s daughter came over for dinner and found the apartment unlocked, and her mother in the bathroom.” Sienna looked down at her notepad. “A Mrs. Marie LePlante.” She walked into the hall as she talked. “She has an abrasion on her temple, but no other marks on the body.”
“How much blood?”
“Not much at all.”
There was a flurry of noise, and her partner stuck his head in the doorway. “Kinda fancy for a crime scene, Kate,” Eric Banner said, looking her up and down.
“Yeah, yeah, I’ve been hearing it all night. I was at a party.” She waved him off, knowing Eric would keep up the teasing for some time. He was tall, dark, and handsome. She was asked by many of her female coworkers if there was anything between them. But Kate wasn’t interested in Eric that way. They were just good friends and had an excellent working relationship. “Has the ME been here yet?”
“Been and gone. Said she’s only been dead half an hour to an hour. I really like the new look,” he said with a smirk.
“Thanks. Photos done?”
Eric nodded, giving Kate the green light to collect evidence.
“I’ll take the bathroom and the vic, Eric.”
He reached out and handed Kate her kit. She immediately pulled out her crime scene booties and secured them over her sandals. “Sure. I’ll take the rest of the apartment.”
“I’ve already had a good look at the vic. I’m going to start talking to the neighbors. You’ll get me your notes when you’re finished?” Sienna asked.
“Yes, but it may take a couple of days.”
“No problem,” Sienna said and left.
Tom went to walk out the door but stopped. “I like the new look, too, Kate. Very classy. Don’t listen to Banner.”
Kate smiled at the man old enough to be her father. “Thanks, Sanders.”
He smiled back and slipped out the door.
Kate took her time examining the bathroom, noted where the shower doors were, the towels that were lying on the floor, and the disarray of the sink. Shards from a broken full-length mirror next to the sink lay on the floor. On closer examination, Kate saw blood on several pieces of glass. The vic had struggled with her attacker. Kate made copious notes on a wire-bound notebook she’d removed from the bag and photographed the whole bathroom, including the broken mirror and the tiny droplets of blood on the sink.
She opened her kit and reached for a set of rubber gloves and pulled them on. Grabbing the chalk, she ran a quick line around the body. She examined the fingernails and took scrapings. She paused in her examination of the body for other forensic evidence; she’d have to make sure that she got the clothes bagged and returned to her.
The flap of the robe covered the woman’s neck. Curious, Kate took a pen and pushed the flap back. Faintly, she could see marks just forming on the woman’s neck. Looked as though she’d been strangled, but Kate never jumped to conclusions until the ME gave his report.
She picked up each bloody shard from the floor with tweezers and set them in a row to dry. She gathered samples of blood off the sink.
Next, she moved to the shower and took a moment to look inside. Squatting, she noticed dirt and hair fibers. Using her tweezers, she collected the hair, making a mental note to vacuum in here before she left.
Rising to her full height, Kate rubbed at her neck and rolled her shoulders. She looked at her watch and saw that it had already been three hours since she’d walked into the crime scene. She lifted one foot out of her classy black sandal, then the other. They did great things for her legs and were very sexy, but right now, she wished for her comfortable flat-heeled shoes.
She went back to her kit, pulled out her measuring tape, and started the tedious job of measuring and sketching every part of the room.
“Hey, you done yet?” The EMT put his head into the room, careful not to walk into the area.
“Yes, you can take the body.”
After securing her kit and her evidence, she walked out of the bathroom to give the two EMTs enough room to maneuver. Eric was in the living room, gathering fibers from the rug.
“I need to vacuum the shower.”
“It’s on the kitchen table but be careful, there’s water on the floor from a leak in the sink. We’ve turned off the water.”
Kate walked into the kitchen and picked up the vacuum and did what she had to do in the bathroom.