seniority counted more than usefulness. She’d seen examples of it in every department she’d ever worked for.
The evidence room was crammed with metal shelving. On the shelves were boxes marked with the names of the investigations they corresponded with. Along the back wall was a large cabinet filled with long guns and other weapons including a samurai sword and a chain saw. Every item was tagged and marked.
The deputy emerged and placed a large white legal box on a table beside his desk. It was marked kleinsasser, blake.
Before he cut through the sealing tape with a box cutter, he turned to Cassie. She knew that it would be resealed and marked when they were done and the record of it being opened was to be signed by Murdock and date-stamped by the deputy.
“Stand back.”
Cassie took a step backwards. As she did she felt the vibration of an incoming text from her phone in her pocket. She glanced at it quickly. It was from Ben.
Call me when U can.
She pocketed the device.
*
The deputy sliced through the tape and removed the items one by one. He made it a point to make sure the evidence number on each tag was clearly visible. Cassie recognized all of the items from the evidence list as she photographed them, including:
• The largest item, a cast of tire tracks found on the dirt road outside the house on the ranch where the assault took place. It allegedly matched the tread from Blake’s rental car.
• Individual fingerprint cards in glassine envelopes identifying both Blake’s and Franny’s prints.
• Empty and half-full liquor bottles that had been found in the rental car, the structure on the ranch, and Blake’s motel room were placed in a row on the table.
• Two smudged glasses in Ziploc bags, which the deputy put on the table in front of the bottles. Cassie recognized them as the glasses from the ranch house with both Blake’s and Franny’s fingerprints and DNA on them. They were heavy cocktail glasses as opposed to drinking glasses.
• Thumb drives of closed-circuit video in clear plastic sleeves placing Blake at the Corvallis and Hayloft bars prior to the assault.
In all, Cassie thought, the accumulation of physical evidence was overwhelming. She took several shots of the entire table to emphasize that fact.
“Got it all?” the deputy asked her.
Cassie nodded but then paused. “Is this all the evidence?”
“How much more do you want?” the deputy said with a laugh.
“I was hoping her phone would be in there.”
The deputy checked his sheet again and shrugged. “No phone,” he said.
“Where is her underwear?”
Murdock looked up in alarm. The deputy shrugged. “I’m guessing they’re still at the lab in Missoula. They probably haven’t sent them back yet.”
“But you don’t know for sure?” Cassie asked.
The deputy reddened, but walked over to his desk to review the list of exhibits associated with the box. It took him minutes to check each item by pointing a stubby fingertip on the list and then visually checking each exhibit on the table.
Finally, he said without confidence, “That has to be what happened. The lab hasn’t sent them back yet.”
“Could you confirm that and let me know?” Cassie asked. She knew her tone was strident.
“I’ll check with the sheriff,” the deputy said without meeting her eyes.
When Cassie looked over to Murdock she noted that the woman seemed poised to add something. Instead, she remained silent.
*
“That might be a problem,” Cassie said as she followed Murdock back toward the front of the department.
“It’s probably nothing,” Murdock said without conviction. “Mistakes happen. Things get misfiled or lost in the mail. I’m sure the evidence will be located. The sheriff is a stickler about that kind of thing.”
Cassie nodded. Then asked, “It looked like you were about to say something back there. Is there anything else?”
“No,” Murdock said. “Nothing else.”
Cassie gave Murdock her card. “My cell phone number is on there and so is my email address. Feel free at any time to contact me.”
“About what?”
“Whatever it is you think I should know,” Cassie said.
*
She retrieved her phone to speed-dial her son while she walked toward her Jeep in the parking lot. It was 9:15 a.m. and she knew he had an open-study period from nine to ten and she assumed that he wasn’t studying.
After she talked to him to find out what the problem was, she planned to touch base with Rachel and give her an update. It roiled her stomach to do so because she knew the missing underwear could be seized