“If he felt threatened, then yes, I think he would lash out.”
Eric nodded. “Okay, go ahead.”
“I think Danny hit Mrs. LePlante with the candlestick and knocked her down here.” Kate had done a rough sketch of the murder scene in her notebook. She flipped it open and pointed to the spot where they found traces of blood. “There was blood found on the carpet, and I’d say it’s Mrs. LePlante’s. She touched her temple and left the bloody handprint there, got up, and went to the bathroom to clean it up and bandage it, or may have decided to check it out in the mirror. Mmm. The mirror is right in front of the shower. If someone had been hiding there, she might have seen him.”
“You think someone was hiding in the shower?” Eric asked, looking at the sketch.
“I do. I found some hair and fiber evidence there. Not many people wear clothes in the shower.”
“So, she sees him and then what happens?” He handed the notebook back to her.
“She turns and tries to run from the bathroom, but he catches her near the door and slams her against the full-length mirror. It breaks, he cuts himself and he strangles Mrs. LePlante.”
“Why?”
“That part I don’t know. Either it’s someone who hates her, or he was there for a reason.”
“Robbery?”
“Possibly. But I always thought of strangulation as a very personal crime. Putting your hands on the victim and all, getting satisfaction out of squeezing the life out of her. We’ll know more when Mrs. LePlante’s daughter has had time to go through things.”
“Is this what you’re going to give to Sanders, Parker, and St. James?”
“Yes, once I’ve had time to analyze the blood and the fingerprints.”
Eric rose. “Let’s get on that now.”
They went out into the lab to the computer. “I digitalized the fingerprints that we lifted from the candlestick, the kitchen, the bedroom, and the bathroom.”
“Have you tried to match them to the suspect and the victim yet?”
“No.” Kate sat at the computer and pulled up the file with the most prominent fingerprint. “There were a few fingerprints on the candlestick, some were obscured, but I got two good ones.”
“I have the fingerprint for Danny Hamilton that was taken when he was booked,” Eric said, setting the print into the scanner.
Kate split the screen. She looked at her watch. “This is going to take about sixty minutes. Why don’t you go to lunch?”
“How about you?”
“I have one more thing to do, then I’ll go.”
“Okay. See you.”
Kate went over to her workstation and picked up a piece of rope. For another case, she needed to see if a victim had committed suicide by tying her own hands behind her back.
The door to the lab opened and Kate was glad that Eric hadn’t left for lunch yet. She said without turning around, “Great. I need to tie your hands behind your back.”
“Then what are you going to do to me?”
Jericho’s deep voice set up reverberations so penetrating they seemed to liquefy her bones. She whipped around to find him standing in her lab.
How did he do it? Every time she looked at him, he took her breath away. He was dressed in a blue suit with tiny pinstripes of red. It was impeccably cut and tailored to his awesome frame. He was wearing a red tie and a stark-white shirt. He looked sharp and dangerous and oh so sexy.
She wished she could think of something equally sexy to say, but her mind was blank.
“What are you doing here?”
“I came to check your progress.”