“At one of the beach parking spaces,” Rad replied.
Holt sat back. “Where is it now?”
“I have it bagged. Along with another piece of evidence we found at Teacups last night as well.” Rad finished a forkful of eggs.
“You went to Teacups?” That actually surprised him.
Rad swallowed his food and wiped his mouth.
“Yes.” Rad’s tone remained steady. “When we got back from Cedar Key, Margo wanted to see it.”
That tracked. Holt could hardly blame her for that. “The forensics team went over Teacups with a fine-tooth comb,” he said. “What evidence did you turn up that they somehow missed?”
“First,” Rad said, “when we were in Cedar Key, we also went back to the inn where Dr. Vernon stayed. The night clerk told me shephoned to say she was checking out, but he said she sounded strange. Hoarse. Like she had the flu.”
“So it may not have been her.” Holt’s brows rose.
“My thoughts exactly.” Rad nodded in agreement with his father.
“And the evidence in Teacups?” Holt moved the conversation back to it.
“Margo found a bracelet beneath the cooker where the fire started. It was wedged nearly under it. The flashlight caught the glint.” Rad scooped up the last of his eggs.
Holt went still.
That was wrong.
Not impossible, but wrong.
Forensics would have photographed the entire area, cleared the debris, examined the source point, and bagged anything remotely out of place. A bracelet wedged under the cooker should have been found, unless it wasn’t there when they processed the scene.
“Will you meet me there and show me where it was found?” Holt asked.
“Sure.” Rad bit into the eggs on his fork.
“Do you have the evidence here?” Holt watched his son.
“I’ll get it.” Rad put down his fork, wiped his mouth, and stood. “I’m ready to head to the station after this anyway.”
Holt’s brow furrowed tightly as he wondered how on earth a bracelet had been missed when the forensic team was supposedto have completely swept the place. He didn’t like the direction of any of it or the implications of what it meant.
Rad came back a few minutes later with two evidence baggies and his jacket on, keys in hand.
“Here,” he said. “I’ll forward all the photos I took last night.”
“Thank you.” Holt nodded, looking at the evidence in his son’s hand.
Rad handed him the first bag. “This is the watch. June said it looks exactly like the one Judy Vernon wore.”
Holt took it and examined it under the kitchen light. The watch face was scratched but intact. Sand still clung faintly around the band. He turned it slightly in his hand.
“Are you doing the same thing with this evidence that you’ve been doing with the rest?” he asked.
“Yes,” Rad said. “I’m keeping it out of the chain until it goes through someone I trust.”
“Good.” Holt hated that the precaution was necessary, but at this point pretending otherwise would have been willful stupidity.
Rad handed him the second bag.
