A Striking Death Read Free Page A

and a huge pool of coagulated blood under and around the head. Arthur Billinger had ceased breathing some time ago, it was obvious. And it was apparent why Officer Davidson had been able to tell from the doorway that the victim was dead.
    “It’s a bad one, Nick.” Ken McIntee, the FIS team leader, had come down the hallway behind them. He nodded to Lori Singh whom he had also met before.
    “So I see. Somebody was extremely angry with our Mr. Billinger. I assume it is Arthur Billinger in there.”
    McIntee grimaced. He was an experienced forensic investigator, forty-nine years old, approaching retirement, and in his long career he had seen a good deal of violence. “Nick, this is one of the worst things I have ever come across. It looks like he was asleep and the attacker just bashed him, and then did it again, and again….. Sigrid will be able to give you a better idea of the number of times he was hit, but it was a bunch, that’s for sure. And you can see he didn’t defend himself at all.” McIntee rubbed his nose with one sleeve. “As for whether it’s Billinger or not, time will tell. We’ll have to use dental records and fingerprints, because I don’t think anybody will be able to recognize him now.”
    Looking at the bloody mess that had been the victim’s head, Drumm could only agree. “That the murder weapon?” He indicated a baseball bat leaning up against the wall in the corner.
    McIntee nodded. “That’s it alright.”
    They all looked at the bat which was standing with its handle up. The business end was matted with dried blood and bits of bone and brain, and there was a small pool of the same stuff on the carpet around it.
    Lori Singh looked around the room. “How’d he get in, do we know yet? That window there looks like it’s locked. Did he come in the front door? Officer Davidson said it was locked when he checked it and he broke it open.”
    McIntee was shaking his head. “That window is locked. But, if your eager Officer Davidson had checked around the back, he would have found that the door in the kitchen was smashed and the door was unlocked. No need to break open the front door at all. Still, I don’t think Mr. Billinger will be complaining. It looks like the killer came up onto the back deck, gained entry through the kitchen door and also exited that way.”
    Drumm said, “Breaking in would have made some noise. You’d think Billinger would have heard it.”
    The bedroom contained a chair with clothing, presumably the victim’s, on it, a bedside table with a clock radio and paperback book on it and a dresser with an attached mirror. On the dresser was a small oscillating fan, pointed at the wall. Singh asked, “Was the fan on when you got here, Ken?”
    “No.”
    “But maybe that’s why Billinger didn’t hear anything,” she went on. “If he had the fan running, he probably wouldn’t have heard the glass breaking at all. And the killer might have turned it off. I wonder if Billinger is wearing earplugs?”
    Both Drumm and McIntee looked at her, then at the body on the bed. They had identical expressions of dismay on their faces.
    “I’m not checking,” said Drumm hastily.
    “Let’s leave that little task for Sigrid,” agreed McIntee.
    “But it’s October,” said Drumm. “Why use a fan at all? It’s not hot at night anymore.”
    “Some people use them for background noise,” said Singh. “Helps them sleep.”
    “You could be right,” said McIntee. “If you’ll excuse me, time to get back to work.” And he headed back towards the kitchen.
    The technician continued collecting samples from the body and the bed. Drumm and Singh did a quick inspection of the room. The contents of the dresser showed Arthur Billinger to be a tidy, organized man. Socks, underwear, shorts, tee shirts were folded neatly in the drawers. The closet contained dress shirts, pants and suits all hanging neatly, shoes arranged carefully on the carpet below. Drumm took down a wicker