Murder of the Sheriff

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Murder of the Sheriff - book excerpt

Chapter 1

The crime scene had not been disturbed. Only the forensics techs had been allowed into the jail cell where the body of West Feliciana Parish Sheriff Clem Drake was found earlier. The technicians had not dusted for prints. The cell had hundreds of prisoners run through it since it had last been washed and scrubbed.

Niki Dupre stood at the open cell door staring at the blood still splattered over the iron bars, the two cots, and the floor. Louisiana's most famous private investigator was asked to assist in the probe by Detective Steve Harris, Clem Drake's probable replacement. The strawberry blonde had just wrapped up the murder of Clem's niece.

"What do you see?" Harris asked, looking over her shoulder.

Niki held up a hand in silence and continued to stare at the scene. Then she shifted positions and resumed her vigil. After twelve minutes of silence, she turned to Harris. 

Chapter 2

"Two attackers," she said. "And one guy watched from outside."

"We weren't sure if there were two or three," Harris admitted. "I'm not sure I can take your word for it, though."

"What if I show you how I came to that conclusion?" Niki asked. "If you come to the same conclusion, then we'll agree."

"Sounds good, but I have to warn you. Eighteen years on this job has made me a contrarian. I don't believe anyone until they can prove their side of the argument."

"Fair enough," Niki said. "Let's get the simple stuff out of the way. Let's start with the two guys that killed Clem."

"I'm all eyes and ears," Harris said. "Lead the way."

"Look at the footprints on top of the blood. How many sizes and styles do you see other than Clem's?" Niki asked.

Steve Harris took almost as long as Niki had studying the floor. After a long period of silence, he turned to her.

"I see two of the same style, but different sizes. I also see some that are blurry. They left no prints."

"Those would be from the forensics technicians that removed Clem's body. Some blood had not completely dried, and they stepped in it with those plastic booties they wear."

"Okay," Harris nodded. "I'm on board so far with you."

"Now the guys on the outside. Look down at your feet, a little to your left. What do you see?" Niki asked. "I see some blood, but not a lot," Harris responded.

"Do you see anything strange about the pattern?"

Harris looked down again. He did not want to be shown up by an amateur detective and struggled for the right clue.

"The only thing I can see is it isn't consistent. There are some spaces with no blood. So, I guess, the blood came from different sprays. Clem's body must have been re-positioned for them to be that close to each other."

"I see another scenario," Niki said. "Do you mind?" 

Chapter 3

"Not at all, but remember that I'm cynical. Please don't get upset if I don't agree with your theory," Harris said.

"Not a problem," Niki said without looking at him. "Let's look at the entire splatter outside the cell in segments."

Harris nodded.

"This show is yours to lead."

"All right, let's start with this one," Niki said, pointing to the one on her left. "It is more concentrated closer to the cell and becomes less dense the farther away it got. A familiar pattern, correct?"

Again, Harris nodded.

"There is more blood closer to the source. It dissipates with distance. I think Isaac Newton called it the law of gravity."

"Very good," Niki laughed. "Let's forget the one in the middle for now and look at the one on my right."

Harris shifted his focus. He stared for a while and then switched positions. A frowned cause wrinkles on his forehead.

"I'm sorry. I don't see any significant difference between this one and the other one. I hope you're not basing your theory on those."

"I am," Niki said. "It should be almost the same. It was made at the same time with Clem's body in the same position. That's why they look similar."

Harris had not yet caught up with Niki. He was still staring at the two blood splatters, trying to understand any significance Niki could ascertain from them.

"Okay," Niki said. “Let's look at the middle patterns.”

"All right, but I don't see what we can tell from it. There isn't much to it."

"I think there is a lot we can see. But I need your help."

"Whatever, but I'm now more cynical than before," Harris said. Niki moved over and grabbed Harris by shoulders. She led him to the spot outside the cell where the three blood splatters appeared. She placed the detective just inside the two outer streaks. Then she went back inside the cell.

"Move over that way about half an inch," she said, studying his position.

The long-legged private investigator waited for Harris to move. She crouched down with bent knees and looked at his positioning.

"Do you like my pants, or are you staring at my crotch?" Harris said with a forced laugh.

"Neither one interests to me," Niki said without a laugh. "Now, suppose I have a bucket of water, and toss it at your leg. What part of the floor would get wet?"

"Uh–over here," Niki pointed to his left. "And over here, and I guess a little. It’ll get wet between–."

The cop's face turned red.

"Dammit, somebody was standing right here," Harris said.

"Exactly," Niki said. “He'll probably wash his pants and wipe his shoes. But blood is almost impossible to clean off a pair of boots. There are too many places for it to seep.”

"So I need to pull the boots off every prisoner we have," Harris said. "We'll get all three of them that way."

Niki shook her head.

"You'll get the two that stabbed Clem, but you want to get the onlooker."

"Why not? You just said it was almost impossible to wipe all the blood from a boot. Why wouldn't I get all three?"

"Because the onlooker wasn't a prisoner. He was one of your corrections officers. Somebody had to have the keys." 

Chapter 4

"Anything else you want to humiliate me more with my own crime scene? I’m regretting ever asking you to take part in this investigation. You're making me look bad."

"As far as I am concerned," Niki said, "we're discovering all this information together. I don't plan to write a report. I think that will be better left to someone in an official capacity."

Harris brightened noticeably. That approach would let him look like a hero instead of a goat. It might also play a key figure in his aspiration to replace Clem as the sheriff.

"I can live with that," he said. "What else did we find?"

Niki laughed.

"We found the bigger of the two assailants use a long, thin shiv. The shorter one had a triangular blade, maybe a shard of glass."

"Okay, I'll bite," Harris chuckled. "How did we come up with that conclusion? I might need to include that in the report."

"If we examine the position of the footprints in the blood, the small guy was in front of Clem. The sheriff must have been putting up a good fight. The little guy didn't get in many good licks on him." Niki pointed at the floor as she talked.

"I can buy that," Harris said. "Clem could still defend himself well. How does this mean a short triangular shard? We haven't looked at the autopsy report yet."

"Because of the spray pattern, or more specifically, the lack of one," Niki said.

Harry shook his head.

"I guess that I'm a slow country deputy. I don't see any connection between the two."

"What happens if I use my fingernails to scratch your arm? What kind of spray pattern will I get?"

"None, until I slap the–until I slap you back. Then some of the blood will make an arc depending on which direction I swing my arm to hit you."

"Good," Niki said. "You're more than a country cop. We can agree that the short wounds will give us curved spray patterns if there is a struggle involved."

Harris nodded, then understood. "All the spray patterns in front of Clem have those characteristics. So the little guy attacked Clem from the front, and the big guy slipped behind him."

"Absolutely what I was thinking. You’ll see the arterial spray behind were Clem was standing. Hence, the big guy behind the sheriff was using a long, slim shiv of that penetrated Clem’s vital organs."

"You know," Harris chuckled. "Together we make an excellent team."