Some Degree of Murder by Frank Zafiro, Colin Conway Read Free Book Online

forensics team moves slowly to ensure there are no mistakes. Results take time.”
    I was lying. Most of the forensics were in several days ago. There just hadn’t been anything helpful. No fibers, no hairs, no fluids. Fawn Taylor had been strangled and possibly sexually assaulted. Probably sexually assaulted is how the actual report read and when Cameron wrote probably, he meant that it had happened but he couldn’t prove it absolutely in court.
    “It’s been two weeks,” he observed.
    “Yes, sir, I know.”
    “Do…these investigations…usually take a long time?”
    I could tell he was trying hard not to offend me or his wife.
    “It depends,” I told him. “Every case is different. In this case, there hasn’t been anything conclusive yet from the physical evidence at the crime scene. We haven’t had any luck with witnesses. When that happens, the best thing an investigator can do is start working backwards.”
    “Backwards?”
    I moved around the table, taking a seat on the edge of a white chair. “I need to go back in time and build a timeline of Fawn’s activities. Something may come up that can help. Even small details matter.”
    “Didn’t we do this right after she…after you came here the first time?”
    “Yes. But that was more general. This will be more specific. And I’d like to do this individually, if that’s possible.”
    “You mean separately?”
    “Yes.”
    Steve glanced at his wife and she nodded to him. “I’ll be in my office if you need me,” he said and walked out of the room.
    Andie Taylor didn’t watch him go. She motioned to her wine glass. “I don’t suppose you can join me in a drink, detective?”
    “I wish I could.”
    She smiled humorlessly.
    I flipped open my notepad and began the interview. She filled in a few small gaps for me, but none of them seemed to matter. Most of what she said was a repeat of previous interviews. I just hoped that as she spoke, maybe something new would shake loose from her memory. She explained that Fawn’s real father had been the result of a one-night stand and that he had never been a part of Fawn’s life. She didn’t know where he was now. She married Steve Taylor when Fawn was three years old and he adopted her two years later.
    “Did the biological father sign off on the adoption?”
    She shook her head. “No. I filed for abandonment. That’s why it took two years.”
    “When was the last time you heard from him?”
    “It’s been over ten years.”
    “What’s his name?”
    “His name?” She gave me a blank look.
    “Fawn’s biological father. What’s his name?”
    She blinked and looked away. “I…I only knew his first name. It’s Richard.”
    I paused. The father of her child and she only knew his first name? I could see that being the case early on, when it was just a one night stand, but once she got pregnant…
    She must have sensed my thoughts because she snapped, “It’s a source of much embarrassment for me, detective. How would you like to be reminded of an indiscretion every time you looked at your daughter? That’s just one more reason why Steven wanted to adopt Fawn.”
    I let it lie and moved on to Fawn’s upbringing, which she described as firm but loving. Fawn was a good student, but didn’t always apply herself. She had a few friends but wasn’t cheerleader popular. About a year ago, she caught Fawn with marijuana in her room. Her grades took a nosedive. Around that same time, she believed that Fawn became sexually active.
    “Why do you believe that?”
    Andie Taylor gave me a knowing look. “Detective, my daughter had breasts at age eleven. She’s always had attention from older boys. She started carrying herself differently. I saw the signs. A mother knows. Besides, I was much the same way at her age.”
    “Any boys in particular?”
    She shook her head. “I would’ve preferred one nice boy. But she enjoyed the attention. Some of the boys were older. I couldn’t keep track.”
    “Did