Major Crimes by Michele Lynn Seigfried Read Free Book Online Page B

finished taking her photos, so I tilted the paper towel and slid the ring back into the bag. Chelsey gazed into my eyes. “I have something to ask you.”
    I instinctively leaned in closer. Chelsey was only about five foot two. I towered over her. I almost thought she was going to kiss me with the way she stared at me.
    “Were you or Archie carrying the night Archie was shot?”
    “Why would you ask a question like that?”
    “I was just wondering why Archie was stabbed instead of shot. If he had his gun or you had your gun, then why wouldn’t the killer take one of your guns? Shooting is easier than stabbing and if both of you were incapacitated…”
    “No, I wasn’t carrying. I suspect Archie wasn’t either.”
    “Are you allowed to carry a gun when you’re off-duty?”
    “The LEOSA law allows me to carry my gun all the time. In theory, I should be carrying it at all times. I’m a cop twenty-four seven even if I’m not on duty.”
    “Then why weren’t either of you carrying?”
    “There are protocols. At the bar, leave the gun in the car.”
    “Huh?”
    “You don’t want to be caught drinking and shooting someone.”
    “Why not? What if you were having a drink at the bar and there was a hostage situation? What if you could shoot them and save the day?”
    I sighed. Chelsey didn’t understand. “There’s a mandatory alcohol and drug test when you shoot someone.”
    “Really? I didn’t know that.”
    I saw the light go on in Chelsey’s head.
    “There are also rules about not firing a government-issued weapon inside a building packed with people. There is too much liability.”
    “So where was your gun?”
    “Locked in the glove box of my car.”
    The mood for a little tongue wrestling was killed. I shouldn’t have had relationship stuff on my mind anyway. But I couldn’t help myself. I blamed it on testosterone.
    “Are you good now, Chelsey?”
    “I had just got to thinking…Archie was stabbed forty-three times with moderate force.”
    “How do you know that?”
    Chelsey grabbed the newspaper that she had placed on the counter and showed me the front page. “Since the paper says there were no defensive wounds and Archie probably didn’t have his gun on him, he was probably drugged too.”
    “I gathered that’s what you thought when you said we were both ‘incapacitated’. You’re talking more and more like a cop, my dear.”
    “I worked on a case that Freddy gave me about someone who was stabbed. The man didn’t die because the wound didn’t involve the brainstem, which would’ve caused death instantly. But this person who was stabbed was still able to run away from the assailant, climb a flight of stairs, and dial nine-one-one before he collapsed. Archie didn’t do anything.”
    “So yes, maybe Archie was drugged also. I couldn’t tell you for sure. I was the other victim in the debacle.”
    “Well, how about the moderate force thing? Could that indicate a man or a woman?”
    “No. There are too many factors involved. Type of knife. Sharpness of the knife. Speed and direction of the delivery of the stab. A mild to moderate force is all that’s necessary to cause a fatal wound. Some men are weak, some women are strong. It doesn’t indicate anything.”
    “He was stabbed forty-three times. It had to be someone he knew.”
    “That’s the presumption I was going on. Something like eighty percent of murderers were friends or family members of the victim.”
    “Bryce, I think I can get more info on the stab wounds. Maybe that would help us create a profile of the murderer.”
    I chuckled. “Now you’re a profiler?”
    Chelsey put her hands on her hips. “If you don’t want my help, there’s the door.” She pointed to it.
    Sometimes I didn’t know how to keep my trap shut, and it got me in trouble. I reached for Chelsey’s waist and hugged her. “Sorry, babe.” I brushed my lips against her ear.
    Chelsey held the hug longer than what I’d consider innocent. Since