I reread the top of the report to confirm I was looking at the right document.
Related to: Ryan Redmond
Crime: Murder
Forensic Case Reference: 2532CR000425
Investigating Officer: Officer Matthew Monroe
Examined: Cigarette
Results: Non-Match
Scarlett placed her hand on my back, nearly making me jump out of my skin. I wasn’t sure how long I stared at the screen, but it was long enough to make her concerned.
“What is it? What does it say?”
I couldn’t find my voice for a moment. It was proof. Indisputable proof that someone had tampered with the case file. The document that was submitted and logged in to evidence clearly stated that the results of the DNA test on the cigarette were inconclusive. It meant that Redmond couldn’t be implicated in it, but it was no exoneration either. A non-match was entirely different. If it wasn’t Ryan’s cigarette, whose was it? Who left those marks on her body?
“The report,” I said. “It’s different.”
I turned the laptop to face her. It only took a moment for her to read the important stuff. There were more details pertaining to how the evidence was analyzed and what thefindings indicated, but that wasn’t what I cared about right now.
This was a different version of the same report.
“Isn’t that supposed to say ‘inconclusive’?” She pointed to the spot on the screen where the results were written in bolded caps lock. I was speechless, staring at the report, willing it to change back to the document that we had on file.
Even during this investigation, all the times I had thought about us having a dirty cop on the force, I thought I was prepared for this outcome. But now that it was sitting in front of me in black and white, I realized I wasn’t as ready to face the facts as I thought I was.
“Do you have a printer?” I asked.
“No, but the Delano Library does.”
I nodded. That was a good plan.
“Eat first, babe.” She slid a biodegradable to-go container to me. My stomach roiled at the thought of food right now, but I tried to get a few bites down.
“I have to go. I’ll be back in a bit.”
The library was mostly empty at midday on a Tuesday. The toddler and preschool programs were usually done in the mornings, while study groups and adult-ed technology classes were scheduled for later in the day.
I popped my head into Claire’s office since I was here.
“Hey, Claire. You busy?”
“Luke!” she said, taken aback by my arrival but genuinely happy to see me. “What are you doing here? And no, not too busy. What’s up?”
“Do you have a printer I can use?”
“Of course,” she said brightly.
Claire let me log in to my email account from her computerrather than directing me to one of the public ones. I quickly printed three copies of the report. One for me. One for Wes. And one for safekeeping. I was probably being ridiculous, but I would rather be too cautious than not cautious enough.
“Thanks. You and Reid still coming out tonight?”
“Oh, yeah. We’ll be there. Reid has been dying to ask how things are going with Scarlett. I think he’s more excited for you guys than anyone,” she laughed.
My baby brother was one of those people that, now that he was in love, wanted everyone else to be in love too. As it turned out, I could understand that sentiment now. Life was just better when you were with someone you loved, even when the rug was pulled out from under you and it felt like the reality you knew was crumbling—especially then.
