Lullaby for the Nameless by Ruttan Sandra

Author:Ruttan, Sandra [Ruttan, Sandra]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Canada
Publisher: AmazonEncore
Published: 2009-11-23T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

The room was all stainless steel and white walls. Johnson was perched at a sterile counter in a room that actually had more personality than he did.

He looked up as they entered, his gaze already shifting back to the file in front of him before he processed what his eyes had seen and did a double take.

It gave them enough time to reach the other side of the counter before Johnson had even straightened up. The way his hand fell on the scattered photos hinted at Johnson’s desire to slap the folder shut and conceal its contents from their eyes, but he hadn’t been quick enough.

Not quick enough to hide the split-second deer-in-the-headlights look in his eyes either.

Johnson compounded the issue with a wide smile that was as phony as a three-dollar bill. “You won’t believe this, but I was just about to head over to your office.”

“I guess that makes you the lucky one,” Ashlyn said. “We saved you a trip.”

Johnson’s smile dimmed. “Sometimes it’s nice to get out of the office.”

“Sometimes you get out and you get called back,” Tain said.

“I had nothing to do with that crank report,” Johnson said.

Tain glanced at Ashlyn, who arched an eyebrow. He set his hands down on the side of the counter and nodded toward the file.

“What do you have for us?”

“Well, not as much as you’d like. The team is still sifting through the contents of the Dumpster, and we’ve identified a few items we think could be connected to the victim, but we haven’t had a chance to chase anything down.”

“That’s okay,” Tain said. “That’s part of our job.”

For a split second, Tain thought he saw Johnson’s eyes narrow, and then the hard lines that had surfaced in his expression were smoothed over again. Still perched on the stool, hand resting on the photos, he looked like a man who’d been caught off guard, one who knew he was supposed to be handling the case more than investigating and felt uneasy that the officers he was supposed to manage were pressing him.

“Is this the report?” Ashlyn asked as she reached for the folder.

Johnson hesitated.

“Well?” Ashlyn said. “You don’t mind, do you?”

He sighed and pushed the folder across the counter.

It took Tain only a few seconds to realize it was a condensed version of the real report. Ashlyn went through the pretense of flipping pages, then riffled through the pile of photos and double-checked a few things against the papers before looking up. “There seem to be a few things missing.”

Johnson blinked.

Ashlyn held up a photo. “No details for this item or”—she flipped to another picture—“this one. The report’s missing the distance from the body, suspected source, fingerprints. There’s no information at all.”

As she’d flipped the photos, Tain had noticed some seemed to have duplicates.

Johnson swallowed. “I know. That’s why I got held up. I was going through the photos, trying to sort out which ones didn’t match the file.”

“What do you mean?” Ashlyn said.

“It’s possible these photos are from another crime scene…”

Ashlyn flipped one over, then another and another.

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