Part 4 (1/2)
He couldn't see me nod, so I explained. ”Uranium gla.s.s really does have uranium in it. It was added to the gla.s.s prior to melting, before the melted gla.s.s was pressed into the b.u.t.ton molds. And when a UV light is s.h.i.+ned on an object with uranium in it-”
”Cool!” Jason was obviously a science nerd. ”It glows. Hey,” he added for Nev's benefit, ”when it comes to b.u.t.tons, she really knows her stuff.”
Jason was right.
But only if I found the uranium gla.s.s b.u.t.ton.
Keeping the thought in mind, I swept the light over the ground near our feet, and when I didn't see a thing, I moved a couple steps and began the sweep all over again. As I mentioned before, the courtyard wasn't big, but looking through it inch by careful inch still took time. The minutes ticked by with me, Nev, and Jason walking side by side, scanning the ground, and after a while, we were nearly to the center of the courtyard.
Nearly at the spot where I'd found Angela's body.
Darn it, I tried my best to act like it was no big deal, but before I could control the reaction, my spine stiffened and my breath caught.
He didn't say a word, Nev just slipped his arm through mine.
I didn't thank him. For one thing, Jason was standing on Nev's left, and for all I knew, he hadn't noticed Nev's gallant gesture. For another...well, I was afraid if I tried to speak, my voice would crack and the raw emotions I was hiding would come tumbling out.
This wasn't the time for that.
Though it was most definitely the place.
I skimmed the black light over the pavement where, hours before, Angela had been sprawled on her back, her eyes staring up into a clear morning sky she couldn't see, her mouth gaping in an expression that was at once a sign that she'd been gasping for air and an indication of how surprised she'd been by the attack.
Now, of course, the body had been removed, and nothing remained to show the horror that had happened at the spot the night before, nothing more than the chalk outline of Angela's body.
”No...” My words were tight in my throat, and I coughed. ”No sign of the b.u.t.ton here,” I said, and I kept on looking.
Jason wasn't convinced. Not that I could say for certain, of course, since it was nearly impossible to see his face in the dark, but I heard the little click of his tongue that told me that while he might be impressed by the mumbo-jumbo of the black light as a way to locate the uranium b.u.t.ton, he wasn't one hundred percent certain it was going to work.
”If there were still b.u.t.tons here, we would have found them,” he said. Jason might be enthusiastic when it came to the theories of science, but obviously he wasn't all that thrilled about the grunt work. He was bored, and when Nev and I stepped forward, beyond the park bench and into the back part of the courtyard, he hung back. ”A gla.s.s b.u.t.ton. Isn't that what you said it was?” Jason asked. ”It was sunny this afternoon, remember. If there was a gla.s.s b.u.t.ton out here, we would have seen it s.h.i.+ning in the light.”
”Not if there wasn't much of it left to s.h.i.+ne.” I guess Jason heard the very real relief that washed through my voice because he hurried over to stand at my side and sucked in a breath of wonder when he looked at the ground where the light was trained.
The brick there was coated with what looked to be a dusting of particles that glowed an eerie green in the black light.
”It got stepped on and broken!” Jason almost made this sound like a good thing, as if the fact that the b.u.t.ton wasn't whole-and whole b.u.t.tons were what his team was looking for-actually made a difference.
”It's still evidence,” Nev reminded him, and though it took a couple seconds for the fact to register, the kid finally got the message. He dashed inside for another evidence bag, and the brushes and such he would need to make sure he picked up all the specks of the smashed b.u.t.ton.
”That...” Nev waited until Jason was gone before he put his hands on my shoulders and turned me to face him. ”That was amazing.”
I didn't try to hide my smile. ”It was pretty cool, wasn't it?”
”n.o.body else would have known about the b.u.t.ton glowing in the black light. n.o.body!” Even through the gloom, I saw the wink of Nev's smile. ”You're-”
”The world's greatest b.u.t.ton expert?” I hitched my hands around his waist.
”I was going to say...well, you know. But if you'd rather be known as the world's greatest b.u.t.ton expert...”
”How about the world's greatest fabulous b.u.t.ton expert?”
”Done.” He leaned a hairsbreadth nearer and I thought he might kiss me, but the sounds of Jason scrambling his way back down the alleyway put an end to that. I dropped my hands, and Nev backed away.
”Can I use the black light?” Jason asked, his voice high with excitement. He swallowed down what apparently sounded even to him like too much of an unprofessional reaction. Jason cleared his throat and forced his voice down an octave. ”I mean, of course, it will be easier for me to retrieve the shards of gla.s.s if I can use the UV light to find them.”
”Of course.” I handed him the keychain and we left him to his work.
Back inside, Nev walked right over to the desk, retrieved the photo of the uranium gla.s.s b.u.t.ton, and plunked it down in an empty spot on the nearest table. ”When Jason brings what's left of that b.u.t.ton in, we're ready for it,” he said.
He was right. ”I only wish...” I strolled over to the nearest table, automatically letting my gaze roam over bag after bag after bag of b.u.t.tons. ”I wish we could figure out if it means anything.”
”You mean the b.u.t.tons that are missing?”
”I mean the charm string being used as a weapon in the first place.” The thought creeped me out, and I s.h.i.+vered. ”Who would do such a thing?”
”Professional opinion?” Nev almost perched himself on the edge of my rosewood desk, but he stopped and reconsidered. It was a delicate antique, and he knew better than to press his luck. ”My guess is the murderer didn't come here to kill Angela. If he had-and I'm only saying he in a general sort of way, not because we know anything about the killer-if he had, he would have brought a weapon with him.”
”So it could have been random.”
Thinking, Nev scrunched up his nose. ”Weird random. He obviously lured her into the alleyway, and what woman in her right mind would allow something like that to happen?”
”Except Angela wasn't in her right mind. Not last night. I told you, she was really upset.”
”n.o.body's so upset they completely forget about safety.”
”So what you're saying is that you think she knew her killer.”
”I think...” Nev pressed a hand to his stomach. ”I think I didn't have time to eat lunch today and I'm starving. After Jason gets these b.u.t.tons packed and out of here, let's get a burger.”
I wasn't about to argue. Now that I thought about it, I hadn't eaten lunch, either. At first, I was too upset. Then, I was just plain too busy printing out all those photos and helping the techs match them to the proper b.u.t.tons. Hungry or not, though, I wasn't done wondering. ”Could it have been robbery?”
Nev shrugged and I knew how much he hated to do that in answer to a question about a case. ”There was no purse found with the body.”
I closed my eyes, thinking back to the night before. ”I don't think she had one with her.”
”And that seems odd, doesn't it?”
It did, and I tried again to picture everything that had happened when Angela came for the charm string. ”She had her car keys in her hand,” I said.
Nev nodded. ”We found those under the body.”
”And when I handed her the hatbox that she'd brought the charm string to me in...” I walked through the motions of all I remembered, stepping back toward the workroom, then out again into the shop, my hands out as if I were carrying the box. ”I handed her the hatbox, and it wasn't like she had to hoist her purse up on her shoulder to take it from me. Or move it from one hand to the other. She just grabbed the hatbox and got out of here. I'm pretty sure I'm right. She wasn't carrying a purse.”
”Which, unfortunately, doesn't prove much of anything. Maybe Angela's money is what our killer was after, and when he realized she didn't have any, he got angry. Or maybe he thought there was something of some real value...OK, I'm sorry!” He rolled his eyes and groaned. ”I know you think the b.u.t.tons are valuable, but a street thug sure wouldn't think that. He might have seen Angela carrying the hatbox, figured there must have been something worth stealing in it, and gotten mad when he realized there was nothing inside but b.u.t.tons.”
I s.h.i.+vered. ”That takes a special sort of cold person, doesn't it?”