Part 5 (1/2)
She gave him a weak shrug. ”Never mind that now. I'll explain everything later, but we have to see if we can find who was in here. It might have been the killera”” She broke off when she spotted something lying on the floor. ”What's that?”
Cullen glanced in the direction she indicated. He walked over and bent down. ”Looks like a test tube.”
Elizabeth came to stand above him. The empty gla.s.s vial was about four inches long and three-quarters of an inch in diameter, capped with a rubber stopper.
”Cullen!” In her excitement, Elizabeth placed her hand on his shoulder, then immediately removed it. ”Whoever was in here must have dropped it.”
”You don't know that. Someone on the mortuary staff could have left it.”
”But you are going to send it to the lab, right?”
No sooner had the words left her mouth than she saw what Cullen was doing. He'd withdrawn an evidence bag from his coat pocket, and using his pen, expertly flipped the vial into the bag without touching the gla.s.s.
”If it doesn't belong to the mortuary staff, then why would someone bring a test tube into the cooler room?” Elizabeth mused.
Cullen stood. ”I don't know,” he said in a strange voice. ”Why don't you tell me?”
His words took a moment to sink in. Then Elizabeth put a hand to her chest in outrage. ”You think I brought it? That's ridiculous!”
He gave her a shrewd appraisal. ”Is it? Why are you here?”
She glared up at him. ”I can't believe you're standing here interrogating me when whoever was in this room might still be in the funeral home. He's the one who can give you answers.”
”Come on.” Cullen took her arm.
”What? Wait a minute.” Elizabeth tried to pull back. ”Did you hear what I said? The killer could be in the funeral home at this very moment. We have to search ita””
”We don't have to do a d.a.m.n thing,” Cullen said through gritted teeth. ”I can't believe you, Elizabeth. What the h.e.l.l were you thinking? Don't you realize you may have just tainted evidence?”
By this time they were at the door. He opened it and pulled her through, then drew her across the receiving area to the back door. Freezing air cut through Elizabeth's wrap as they hurried outside. A squad car was parked in the drive near the back door, and she could see an officer sitting behind the wheel. When he spotted Cullen, he opened the door and got out.
”Detective Ryan? Everything okay?”
Cullen gripped Elizabeth's elbow. ”There may be an intruder in the funeral home, Dewey. Go around and cover the front while I have a look around here.”
Officer Dewey glanced briefly at Elizabeth, nodded, and then took off.
Cullen opened the back door of the squad car and all but shoved her inside. For a moment, she tried to struggle away from him. Then she had to wrestle with her skirts, and by that time, Cullen had the situation well under control.
He leaned down, peering at her inside the car. ”I'll deal with you later. Right now, I'm locking you inside.”
Elizabeth tried to muster a little dignity. ”You can't do thaa””
The door slammed closed and Cullen disappeared back into the funeral home.
Elizabeth reached for the door handle, but, of course, there wasn't one. A wire mesh screen separated the back seat from the rest of the car. and she suddenly realized how helpless prisoners must feel, trapped inside with no way out. But there was one big difference in their plight and hers. She was innocent. She'd done nothing but try to help, and this was the thanks she got?
On the second story, lights came on in Ned Krauter's residence. Then one by one, lights came on in the ground-floor windows as Cullen and Officer Dewey searched the premises. The third floor remained dark, which somehow seemed ominous to Elizabeth.
Several minutes pa.s.sed before Cullen finally came back outside. Elizabeth was freezing by this time. She huddled inside her cloak, teeth chattering, as she watched Cullen and Officer Dewey speak in low tones just outside the squad car. She pressed her ear to the gla.s.s, but she couldn't hear a word they were saying. For a moment, she thought Cullen might have forgotten about her, and she considered rapping on the window to draw his attention. As if sensing her intention, he deliberately turned his back on her.
Elizabeth sat back against the seat, fuming. Smarting.
Finally, the door opened and he leaned down. ”You okay in there?”
As if he cared. ”I'm fine.” Elizabeth slanted him a sullen glance. ”Did you find anything?”
”No.”
”What about the third floor?”
”Krauter said it's rented to a fisherman, named Cross. Krauter says his boat went out a few days ago. Without a warrant we can't search his place, and without probable cause, which we don't have, we're not likely to get a judge this time of night to sign one. But the door was locked. No way the intruder could have gotten in.”
”What about the first floor? The chapela””
”We searched the d.a.m.n place from top to bottom, okay? If someone was in there, he managed to get awaya””
”Wait a minute.” Elizabeth said sharply. ”If? If? There was someone in the cooler room. I saw him.”
”Did you recognize him? Can you give me a description?”
”No...”
”Why not?”
”I didn't actually see him.” Elizabeth admitted. ”He was hiding underneath a sheet on the gurney. When I saw the sheet move, ita”it startled me, and I dropped my flashlight. The light went out so I didn't see who it was. But there might be fingerprints on the test tube. Or on the gurney. He shoved it into me.”
”You keep saying he.”
She gave a helpless gesture with her hand. ”Whoever it was.” When he didn't say anything for a moment. Elizabeth peered up at him. ”You believe me, don't you?”
”I'm sure you think you saw someone,” he said carefully.
Her eyes widened in indignation. ”I did see someone. Why would I lie about something like that?”
”I'm not accusing you of lying.” Cullen raked his hand through his short hair, spiking it even more. His breath frosted in the cold air. ”Look, you were alone inside a mortuary cooler room with a corpse. Considering everything, it's no wonder you were scared.”
”I never said I was scared. And considering what things?”
”You're young. Impressionable. And after finding the body earliera””
”I didn't imagine the test tube, did I?” Elizabeth demanded, anger flus.h.i.+ng her face. ”I'm telling you, someone was in that room with me!”
Cullen's gaze on her hardened. ”Which brings us back to my original question. What were you doing in there?”
Elizabeth stared straight ahead, refusing to meet his gaze. ”I told you earlier I wanted to have a closer look at the body.”
”And I told you to stay out of it. I could haul you in for interfering in an official investigation. Maybe even slap an obstruction of justice charge on you.”
She glanced at him then. ”You wouldn't.”