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“I don’t know. I came in, but then made my way upstairs. I didn’t look around.”
Calloway sighed. I knew that he was silently debating whether he should process the whole place. It would mean bringing someone down from Tucson again, which was his prerogative, but, to me, it didn’t seem necessary.
“Lots of people touch the front door, Sheriff. I really didn’t sense anything else was disturbed.”
“How’d someone get in and leave a bone under a turtle’s foot?”
“Either I left the door unlocked, which wouldn’t be like me, or someone slid a card in the opening and broke in,” I said. “Oh, hang on!” I fumbled with my phone. “I put up a camera.”
“You did?” Calloway said as he looked over my shoulder. Verro joined us and did the same.
“I put it out front.” I looked up at Calloway. “I aimed it across the street, toward the space next to the diner. I did that because of the scarf and boot. It might not catch someone at the door.”
“Let’s look anyway,” Calloway said.
I opened the app and scrolled to the views. The camera only recorded when some sort of motion set it off. I’d only put it up the night before but any movement by the diner should turn it on.
“There are only three things,” I said. “That can’t be right.”
“Let’s look at them.” Calloway took the phone from my hands. Normally, I would argue, but I just let him have it.
“It looks like the recordings are from this morning. Trisha going into work. Pearly leaving the diner and heading up toward the post office. And a dog. That’s it.”
I took the phone back and looked at the bottom of the screen. The battery indicator showed that it was dead. “Well, that didn’t work. It’s an old camera. It didn’t hold a charge for long. I’m sorry.”
Calloway shook his head. “It’s okay. It was a good idea. We need more cameras around town.”
“I’ll pull prints off the door,” Verro offered. “We’ve got a kit in the office. We might find something we can use.”
Calloway nodded at the chief. “Thanks.”
“I’ll be right back,” Verro took quick steps out the front door.
It was only four-thirty in the morning, still dark. Once Verro left the room, I turned to Calloway. “Are you including him on things?”
“Sure. His call to me regarding the scarf helped.”
I gave the sheriff a half smile. “He has to prove himself?”
Calloway shrugged.
The distant sound of an owl’s hoot came from the back patio.
“Hang on.” I stepped around Calloway and made my way to the sliding glass door.
“Stop!” Calloway commanded as I reached for the handle.
“We looked at this door,” I said.
“But not from this angle. Look at the handprint.”
I didn’t see a handprint from where I stood. I moved back by Calloway.
“I know that door was locked, and it’s not an easy slide to open,” I said. “Whoever was in here didn’t come in through that door.”
“Maybe not, but they still might have touched the glass. That print does not belong to you.”
He was right. The hand that had touched the glass was significantly bigger than mine, with thicker fingers and a wider palm. Could it have been Sonny’s? I didn’t want to say that out loud. Time would tell.