Page 56 of Forever Gone

Oliver’s shoulders began shaking again.

“Oh, God. Who could do something like that? Poor Ruth. Poor Ruth.”

Chuck placed a hand against the back of the armchair, close without touching him.

“She’s just through there,” he said, nodding toward an open doorway at the end of the hall.

Selena turned to Chuck, took a few steps with him and lowered her voice. “Keep recording Oliver’s account. Don’t ask about details he couldn’t have seen from the hallway.”

Chuck reached for his notebook. “I’ve got it.”

Connor stood. Together, he and Selena moved toward the study, with Kelly following several steps behind.

Disposable shoe covers and gloves came from the kit Arnold had left near the approved route. Selena pulled them on, then waited while Connor did the same.

A strip of blue painter’s tape marked the section Chuck had crossed during his welfare check. Beyond it, the hallway opened into a compact room lined with bookcases. A desk faced the side window. Filing boxes sat beneath one wall, each marked with a year and client category.

Ruth Keller lay on the floor between the desk and a low cabinet.

Her body rested partly on one side, knees bent, one arm stretched toward the doorway. Blood had soaked the front of her blouse and spread beneath her torso. Several drops formed a broken line across the floorboards near Connor’s right shoe.

He started to step forward.

Selena caught his sleeve.

“Careful.”

Connor froze and followed her gaze. The toe of his cover hovered less than an inch from a small bloodstain.

He shifted back onto the taped route. “Thanks.”

From the doorway, the similarities to Karen’s death were already visible. Ruth’s mouth remained open. Dried blood marked her jaw and neck. The wound inside was partly hidden by the angle of her head, but Selena did not need a flashlight to understand what had been done. Nearby, a lump of flesh, which could only have been her severed tongue, lay on the floor like a decapitated snake.

A framed photograph lay broken beside the desk. Papers covered the floor around it, though the desk itself appeared otherwise intact. No obvious second act of destruction like there was with Karen Sloane’s word processor.

A closed laptop remained on the desk beside a charging cable with no phone attached.

Selena took in the desktop without crossing the threshold. “I don’t see her phone.”

Connor checked the room from the marked route. “Neither do I.”

“Have Matt confirm whether it’s somewhere else in the house. Karen’s phone was missing too.”

Kelly approached behind them and stopped at the threshold.

“This looks like Karen Sloane’s murder.”

“It is,” Selena said. “Her tongue’s been removed.”

Connor stared at Ruth. “Same type of wounds?”

“Several to the chest. Defensive cuts on one hand, from what I can see. We’ll wait for Blethan before drawing the rest.”

A vehicle stopped outside.

Seconds later, the front door opened, and Matt Price's voice carried through the house.

“Tell me nobody walked through the scene.”