Chapter 4
Detective Green struggled to open the door of the office he shared with Detective Matthews with his arms full of 9x12 manila envelopes and file folders routed from the forensics labs and labeled with the case numbers assigned for the funeral home incident. He dumped the load on his desk. Because of the scope of the event, information was already flowing from other investigators, which was something he hadn’t anticipated.
Opening an envelope labeled “Camera Contents (Copies) – Turin Raines,” he pulled out several unassuming photographs of potential attendees standing in line in what appeared to be outside front of the funeral home. Other photos displayed the food set up in the foyer. The most interesting photographs were those of family members taken by the camera’s owner in the chapel. He opened another envelope, this one titled “Camera Contents (Copies – William Sumner).” His review of the photos revealed the same image compositions of several attendees standing in line, probably friends or family of the photographer. With this set of photos imprinted with time stamps and metadata, Detective Green realized he could build a time line up to the fatal incident. The latest photo in the set noted the time 2:27. It showed quite a few attendees in the pews gazing up towards the ceiling. Several photos showed Stephen off in the background by one of the buffet tables and a couple with him randomly interspersed with the gathering of attendees.
Walking into the office, Detective Matthews found his partner sitting at his desk looking through the case files. “What you got there?” He asked.
Detective Green glanced up. Detective Matthews passed through the doorway with a cup of Dunkin’ Donuts coffee. “Did you get me some?”
“Didn't know you'd be here already. I came in early hoping I could look through some of the other evidence before we go back and talk to Stephen Williams,” Detective Matthews responded.
“Yeah, I had the same idea. Just going through some of it now.”
“Anything interesting?”
“Not yet.”
Detective Matthews sat down at his desk and grabbed several of the envelopes and folders from the stack on his partner's desk. Both of them, engrossed in viewing and analyzing the information, were a little startled when the phone rang. Detective Green answered, “Detective Green.”
A quick pause and he continued, “We're both here now.” After another lull, “We'll be right down.” He hung up the phone.
“What's up?” Detective Matthews asked.
“Lieutenant is calling everyone in for a special meeting downstairs. In 30 minutes in the briefing room.”
Both organized their desktops before heading down.
The Fallen and the Elect Page 7
