Dead Guilty Part 28

"Chevron one encoded," said the technician at the viewing screen. A few of the onlookers laughed, some rolled their eyes, most looked puzzled.

"You're a Stargate Stargate fan," said Diane. fan," said Diane.

"Ya, sure, ya betcha," he quoted from the TV series.

"Me too," said Diane.

The mummy moved back and forth through the CT ring, and images of the skull cavity began appearing on the monitor.

"Look at that."

"Amazing."

"That had to hurt."

Everyone commented at once when the upper jaw and its abscesses were revealed.

"You're right," said Lynn. "That must have been what killed him."

"Why didn't they just pull the teeth?" asked one of the doctors.

"I don't know," answered Jonas. "They had den tistry methods, but they rarely did extractions."

A cell phone rang and three-quarters of those pres ent turned at once, searching for the offender.

"You are supposed to turn those off in the hospi tal," said a nurse. "They interfere with the equip ment." She had zeroed in on the culprit, the journalist.

The young woman smiled and shrugged. "It won't be but a minute."

"Now!" said the nurse.

But the young woman wasn't listening. She had crumpled to her knees in tears.

Chapter 32.

Diane was the first to her side. She put an arm around the sobbing girl and took the phone out of her hand. She read the text message before she turned off the power.

OH G.o.d, WHERE R U? KACIE MURDERED! AMY.

"I'll take care of her," said Diane, pulling the woman to her feet and helping her out the door. The photographer started to put down his camera and leave with her. Diane turned to him. "You stay and finish."

He stopped in his tracks. "Oh, okay, sure." Diane took her to the nearest lounge and sat her down in a chair. She found a paper-cup dispenser and got her a drink of water.

"What's your name?" Diane asked, after the woman took a drink.

"Madison. Madison Foster."

Madison had blond hair arranged back in a single braid. She pulled at her short khaki skirt as she talked. Her white tee-shirt had a drop of blood on it.

"Your nose is bleeding." Diane dug in her purse for a tissue. "Put your head back and pinch your nose."

"I've always gotten nosebleeds. It happens when I cry." She put the tissue to her nose and put her head back.

"Do I need to get a nurse?"

"No. This happens a lot. It'll go away soon."

Diane gave her several moments before she said anything. When the bleeding seemed to have stopped, she spoke to her in a low, calm voice.

"Madison, are you a student?"

"Yes. A journalism student at Bartram."

"You knew Kacie Beck?" asked Diane.

Madison looked at her for a long moment. "You read the message?"

"Yes."

"Kacie was my best friend." She took a deep breath and seemed to collect herself. "I need to call Amy. Maybe she's playing some kind of trick. She has an odd sense of humor sometimes."

"No, Madison, it's not a trick."

Madison's brow puckered into deep furrows as she looked at Diane. Wondering, no doubt, how Diane could possibly know.

"I'm head of the crime lab for Rosewood."

"Oh, I think I knew that."

"My team is over at her apartment now."

"Oh, G.o.d, it's true." She started sobbing again.

Diane handed her another tissue, went to the bath room and came back with wet paper towels. Madison wiped her face with the towels and took a deep breath.

"I don't believe this. Who would want to kill her? Right after her fiance', Chris. And them arresting her. Oh, G.o.d. Why did this happen?"

"Madison. I would like to ask you some questions. It will help us find out who did this."

Madison nodded.

"How well did you know Kacie?"

"We grew up together in Columbus, Georgia. We came to school here together."

"Did you know Chris Edwards?"

"We met him up here."

"Kacie had on a ring."

"I saw it right after he gave it to her. She was really proud and couldn't wait to show it to her family. They didn't like Chris very much."

"Why?"

Madison shrugged. She dabbed her nose with a wet towel. "It's not bleeding again, is it?"

"No."

"Her father's a doctor. They wanted her to marry a doctor. Her parents are real sn.o.bs. They're nice, but sn.o.bs."

"Do you know if it was a real diamond?"

Madison looked at her wide-eyed. "Why wouldn't it be?"

"Diamonds are expensive. Do you know how Chris was able to buy it?"

"I just a.s.sumed he put it on his card."

Madison wasn't being much help. Diane thought perhaps she wasn't asking the right questions. She should have just pa.s.sed her along to Garnett, but she really didn't think he would fare much better.

"Did Chris have a second job?"

"Besides his forestry job? I don't think so. He was working hard on his thesis and his job-and seeing Kacie. He didn't have time for much else."

"What did you think of Chris? Did you think he was good enough for Kacie?"

"Oh yeah. He was a great guy. Sweet. Good sense of humor. He wasn't self-centered like most guys."

"Do you know his friend, Steven Mayberry?"

"Steve. Yeah, sure. A little. We've gone out a cou ple of times."

"What is he like?"

"Not like Chris. He talks about himself a lot. Has big plans for getting a job in his uncle's paper com pany. He always talks like he has a lot of money, but I don't think he does. At least he never spent any on me. We ate out mostly at fast food places."

"Who are Chris and Kacie's other friends?"

Madison shrugged. "I don't know, really. The guys in their department, I suppose."

"Do you know if they had any friends who are missing?"

"Missing? What do you mean? Like Steven, you mean?"

Diane had made smaller copies of Neva's drawings to carry in her purse. She pulled them out and showed them to Madison.

"Do you know any of these people?"

Madison looked carefully at each one. "They don't look familiar. Who are they?"

"Have you heard from Steven lately?"

"Not for about a week-since he's been missing. What's all this about?"

She looked at Diane with large, liquid brown eyes- she wanted answers, Diane could see. She needed some meaning to all this. Diane needed meaning too.

"When was the last time you spoke with Steven?"

"Spoke with him? Not for a long time. He left a message on my voice mail about a week ago. He wanted to go out, said something about having a ship come in. I have no idea what he meant. I didn't call back. I really don't like him very much."

Ship come in. That was the first sign that anything was going on. She was surprised at the sense of relief she felt. Finally, something. That was the first sign that anything was going on. She was surprised at the sense of relief she felt. Finally, something.

"Did Chris or Kacie mention anything about what he might have meant?"

"I didn't tell them. It was just a voice message. It didn't really mean anything."

"Did you get a sense that Chris was about to come into some money?"

"Well, he got the ring-but then, I just thought he charged it."

"He'd need one big credit limit."

"When you're a student, that's pretty easy. They send you cards in the mail by the dozens with huge limits. My dad's an accountant, and he's lectured me from the time I was three about owing money, so I don't use them big time, but some people do."

"Did Chris seem especially happy about something?"

Her face brightened. "Yes, now that you mention it. Kacie did mention that he'd been really happy lately- almost manic. She didn't know why-she figured he'd gotten a really good job and was going to surprise her."

"Did any of them seem to be frightened of anything?"

"No. Just after-you know-Chris died, Kacie was a basket case, as you can imagine. She had nightmares and was taking Valium."

"Were her nightmares about anything specific?"

Madison looked at Diane as if she were an idiot. "She found Chris."

"I know, but I thought her dreams might have some clue that her subconscious was trying to bring to the surface."

"She didn't say. It was always about finding Chris like-like that."

"Madison, if you remember anything, however small, give me a call." Diane fished a card out of her purse and wrote on it. "I put my cell number on here, and the number of Chief Garnett. He's the detective in charge. Call him or me if you remember anything or need to talk."