Good.
Shelley’s favorite vase, Waterford. A wedding present, no less.
Gone.
Just like all of them.
As she sat in the bathroom stall thinking about her fake mother, Brianna Connors wondered what she’d done to deserve a life that was so pretty on the surface but so ugly deep inside.
So fake.
Brianna didn’t feel sad that Olivia had died. Not really. She was kind of in awe about the irony of it all. Olivia Grant was a nobody in life and all of a sudden she was the girl everyone was talking about. All it had taken was the sharp edge of a knife.
Chapter 10
AFTER THE MURDER, the Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribal Police Department was an uneasy blend of business-as-usual with petty thievery, lost dogs, and a smattering of post-Halloween vandalism calls filling the dispatcher’s log sheet—and, of course, a murder investigation that had just swung into full, tragic gear. The department’s phones hadn’t stopped ringing from the first mention of the crime on a Seattle TV station.
“How are you holding up?” records clerk Tatiana Jones asked Police Chief Annie Garnett as she emerged from her office.
“I’ve had better days. You?” she asked.
“I’ve talked to six news outlets and at least a dozen parents wanting to know if alcohol was served at the party and, if so, would Brianna’s parents be charged with a crime.”
“They’re mad about that?” Annie looked over as the fax machine rang. She knew what was coming.
Tatiana, a slender African American woman with a luxurious, plump black braid that ran halfway down her back, had been taking criminal justice classes before she came to work at the police department seven years ago. She was analytical and direct.
“Yup. They want to lash out at Brianna’s dad for something. They’re upset that their kids weren’t being supervised during the party.”
Annie shook her head. “But they’re not concerned about Olivia Grant and what happened to her?”
Tatiana’s console started to flash like a row of ambulances. “Not really. Oh, they say they are, but as far as I can tell, not really. They’re just mad that their kid drank beer and they want to make sure that—”
“—that never happens again,” Annie concluded.
Tatiana’s braid swung like a pendulum, and she swiveled and picked up the phone.
“Yes, ma’am, the party was a bad idea,” she said, her eyes on Annie’s. “Yes, ma’am, I agree . . .”
Annie shook her head and returned to her office. She looked down as pages of forensic pathologist Birdy Waterman’s autopsy report rolled off the fax machine one by one. Her stomach was in knots. Looking at that sort of paperwork was never easy, and deep down, she was glad for that. The day that reading autopsy findings didn’t break her heart was the day Annie would need to find a new career.
It struck her that every time she studied one of Birdy’s reports, she couldn’t help feeling an overwhelming sadness that a person’s life had been reduced to nothing more than words on a page. They became evidence in a criminal case. She knew Birdy had a deep and abiding respect for crime victims and their families, but none of that was ever translated into her reports. Like Birdy’s autopsies, her paperwork was professional, clinical. No judgments. No tears. Just facts.
Before the Halloween party, Olivia Grant had been a lovely, vital young woman. It was hard to reconcile that with the reality of what was in front of Annie, rendered in clinical black and white.
Annie’s mind flashed to her recollections of Olivia: the first time they crossed paths in the General Store when Olivia had arrived in town in late August, Olivia with Beth Lee in line for ice cream, and Olivia at Kingston High’s fall safety fair where Annie was the featured speaker. The pretty, slender redhead with the charming British accent had been talking to someone, but Annie couldn’t remember who it was. One of the Ryan twins? Starla Larsen?
Annie had never spoken to Olivia. And yet in her mind’s eye, she could still conjure her up, alive and well, before she’d been cut open with a saw under the cool light of an autopsy suite in an old house-turned-morgue in Port Orchard. It was a world so far from London in every way. The only British things in the place were packages of salt-and-vinegar flavored potato chips from the Walmart on Bethel Avenue belonging to Birdy’s assistant, Terry Morris.
Grabbing the complete report from the beeping fax and taking a seat behind her desk, Annie read through each page, occasionally pausing and thinking about the dead girl’s tragic end in a place so far from home.
OLIVIA WARRINGTON GRANT
MANNER OF DEATH:
Homicide.
CAUSE OF DEATH:
Exsanguination due to multiple stab wounds.
TIME OF DEATH:
Between 1 a.m. and 2 a.m.
FINDINGS:
1. Generalized pallor and evidence of exsanguination.
2. Multiple stab wounds of neck, trunk, and upper extremities with one (1) stab wound penetrating the throat in a left to right direction; three (3) stab wounds penetrating into chest cavity and right lung in a slight right to left direction; and multiple wounds of upper extremities consistent with defensive injuries.
3. Stab wounds are consistent in size and shape, indicating one weapon, most likely a knife or thin-edged blade—although a double-edged blade cannot be excluded.
GENERAL APPEARANCE:
The body is that of a well-developed, well-nourished, white female who appears the stated age of 17 years. Body height is 68 inches. Body weight is 105 lbs. At crime scene, the body was warm to touch. There is obvious evidence of multiple sharp-force injury.
IDENTIFICATION:
The identity of decedent, Olivia Warrington Grant, was established by Brianna Connors at the time of the discovery of the body.
CLOTHING AND VALUABLES:
The body is admitted to the morgue wrapped in a sheet, within a body bag, and with the hands bagged. Clothing and sheet are very bloody and have tears and punctures matching those at the trunk. In addition, prior to removal of clothing, the body was examined concurrently by me and by crime scene technicians from the Kitsap County Sheriff’s Department, and trace evidence was collected from the body and clothing. See “TRACE EVIDENCE” section at end of report. The clothing consists of a slip, brassiere, and underpants. Valuables on or with the body include three gold rings, a pair of earrings, and a purse with $225 in US currency. The valuables will be released to the parents of the decedent while the clothing is retained as evidence by the law enforcement agency.
HEAD AND NECK:
The head is normally shaped. Scalp hair is long, red, and wavy in nature. The irises are green; the pupils are equal and round. The teeth are natural, and oral hygiene is good. Irregularities: A man’s tie, red in color, was extracted from the victim’s mouth.
TRUNK:
No natural abnormalities. No visible prior injuries. No evidence of sexual relations.
EXTREMITIES:
The extremities are symmetrical and without natural deformities. No bruising or evidence of bondage. The legs have no significant peripheral edema and no skin atrophy. The fingernails are all of medium length and coated with a silvery white nail polish.
SCARS, INCIDENTAL FINDINGS:
Old scars at the left knee.
INJURIES:
Multiple incised and stab wounds are present on the neck, chest, upper extremities, and hands.
PROCEDURES AND SPECIMENS:
EXPEDITED TOXICOLOGY: Blood, bile, urine, ocular fluid, and nasal swabs. Alcohol found present in blood, but less than the legal limit, the equivalent of one (1) beer. No other drugs were present.
TRACE EVIDENCE: One (1) black nylon fiber on right shoulder/chest; small, possibly glass fragment from left upper chest, three white, iridescent sequins in hair, and two frayed white polyester threads. Neither the threads nor the fiber match the deceased’s slip (Calvin Klein), which she was wearing at the time of death, or the sheet she was wrapped in.