Judy said, “Maybe our guy knows how to ask a little more persuasively.”
“By paying someone off,” Keller replied.
Judy didn’t flinch. “I wouldn’t call it that. And I can assure you, we broke no Mexican laws.” She snapped her fingers while simultaneously pointing at her oversize handbag, which was just out of reach. Ira passed her the bag, and Judy fished out a tablet. “But things work differently down there.” Judy swiped at the tablet. “They’re more free with investigative materials.…”
“You have their investigation file?” Keller asked. This was important because Keller had received diddly-squat from the Mexican authorities. The local cops in Tulum had snubbed the FBI’s Mexico legal attaché, and the consular officer had been astonishingly unhelpful.
“If you can call it that,” Judy said. “They’re just a small-town force. I doubt they get training about much of anything, let alone how to manage a crime scene or investigate homicide.”
Homicide.
“So what’s in the file?”
“Photos of the scene—they at least did that much.”
Keller swallowed. The Adlers had postmortem photographs of the Pine family. Keller didn’t want to look at them, but she had to. She eyed the tablet and nodded for Judy to pull them up.
A few swipes later and Keller’s breath was stripped from her lungs. Mrs. Pine, even more beautiful than in the photos Keller had seen, was lying on the couch, a book resting on her chest. She looked like she was taking a nap.
“I don’t see any signs of foul play,” Keller said. “It looks consistent with a gas leak.”
“Look again,” Judy said.
Keller moved her face closer to the tablet, studying the screen. Olivia Pine’s face was peaceful. Her long legs—she was a runner, by the looks of them—stretched out on the sofa. There was no blood or obvious signs of trauma. Next to the sofa was an end table. On it, a lamp and coaster. Nothing seemed disturbed or as if there’d been a struggle.
Keller could feel Judy staring at her, waiting for her to see. Then she did.
“The book,” Keller said, touching the novel on Olivia Pine’s chest with her finger. “It’s upside down.”
Judy gave an exaggerated nod.
Keller thought it over. If Olivia Pine had passed out from the gas while she was reading, the book would have fallen in place. It wouldn’t be upside down.
“It’s staged,” Keller said.
More nodding from Judy.
“That doesn’t mean she was murdered,” Keller said. “The cops could’ve bungled the scene and put the book back on her chest to cover themselves.”
Judy didn’t respond. Instead she reached for the tablet, swiped, and handed it back to Keller.
Keller’s heart sank at the sight of the girl, Margaret. Matt called her Maggie. She was on her stomach on top of the bed.
This time Judy didn’t wait for Keller to see it. She pointed her index finger at the screen. On Maggie’s wrists there were tiny bruises, like fingerprints, as if she’d been held down.
“What about the father and little boy?” Keller asked.
“No signs of struggle with the boy. But the father, his body was found outside on the back porch. I’ve gotta warn you,” Judy said, swiping the tablet, “the photos aren’t for the faint of heart.”
Keller tried not to gasp. Evan Pine was little more than a bloody stump. An image fit for a horror movie. “What the hell…”
“Wild dogs, apparently,” Ira Adler chimed in.
Dear God. Keller needed to warn Matt in case the Mexicans required him to personally ID the bodies. Keller looked away from the image, thinking. That Evan Pine was outside supported the Adlers’ foul play theory. He confronted someone trying to get in from the back of the property, they killed him, and the dogs got to the body. The intruder then subdued the rest of the family and cut the gas line. At the same time, Evan could’ve realized there was a gas leak and stumbled outside before succumbing to the toxic air. But there was an alternative theory. Keller’s mind jumped back to the suicide searches on the family’s computer. Was this a botched suicide? Or worse, a murder-suicide? She kept those thoughts to herself.
“I’m going to need copies of the photos,” Keller said.
“Our lawyer says we don’t have to give them to you, not without a warrant anyway,” Judy said.
Keller let her stare show her displeasure.
“But maybe we can help one another,” Judy said.