1960: My uncle is the FBI Director

Chapter 273 Scratches
Sheriff Hawkins stood at the door in silence for a few seconds before stepping inside.

He took a flashlight out of his pocket and turned it on. The light flickered, so he tapped the flashlight on his other palm to stabilize the light.

Theodore and his three companions took out gloves and shoe covers, changed into them, and then took out flashlights before following Sheriff Hawkins into the house.

The strong musty smell mixed with the damp, dusty odor quickly filled my nostrils.

Billy Hawke covered his mouth and sneezed several times in a row.

Bernie quickened his pace and handed the gloves and shoe covers to Sheriff Hawkins.

Sheriff Hawkins was somewhat taken aback.

He looked back at the four people and saw that they were all wearing gloves and shoe covers. He didn't say anything, silently followed their example and put on his own clothes before leading everyone to the kitchen.

Theodore called out to him:
"and many more."

Sheriff Hawkins stopped, looked at Theodore with a puzzled expression, and pointed ahead:
"The restaurant is inside."

Theodore nodded and stood in the center of the living room, looking around.

The floor was covered with a thick layer of dust, and it creaked and groaned when you stepped on it.

The living room was a complete mess.

A sofa was moved to the doorway, behind the wooden door, another one lay on the floor, and the others were placed side by side, covered with curtains.

Several wooden cabinets lay on the ground, some upright, some sloping, some sideways, but none of them stood upright against the wall.

Their drawers and doors were all open, and the contents were scattered all over the floor.

A water glass, several bowls, plates, tableware, and a pot were placed in the center, containing a dark, unidentified object.

The decorative animal heads and photos hanging on the wall were lying carelessly on the ground.

Theodore picked up one of the frames and looked at it. The photo inside was gone, the glass was broken, and all that was left was a wooden frame.

A wire was hanging from the ceiling, with a lamp holder at the end. A tungsten filament bulb was screwed into the holder, but only one section remained, and the bulb was broken.

Theodore asked Sheriff Hawkins:
"Was this the place when you came in after the incident?"

Sheriff Hawkins looked around the living room, remained silent for a moment, and then shook his head:

“It was chaotic here before, but not this chaotic.”

Theodore pressed further:
How were these pieces of furniture arranged back then?

Sheriff Hawkins walked back to the center of the living room, thought for a moment, and picked up an animal head first.

He examined it carefully:
"This is the deer's head."

Theodore looked at him, then at the beast skull in his hand, guessing that perhaps it was identified based on the shape of the skull?
Sheriff Hawkins took two steps forward, looked down at his feet, hesitated for a moment, then took half a step back. Looking up, he felt the distance seemed a bit too close, so he took another half step back, and after confirming it was safe, he placed the deer head on the ground.

"I remember it seemed to have fallen to the ground."

"It should have been right here back then."

He pointed to the wall opposite:

“John shot this deer the previous fall. It weighed nearly 200 pounds. I remember asking him for the deer head, but he didn’t give it to me. After it was cleaned, it was just hung there.”

He paused, then continued:

“John is renowned for his craftsmanship in this area. There’s a county councilor in Shenandoah County who loves his animal heads and buys them from him every year.”

"After the incident, he even sent his assistant over. He was particularly saddened to learn of John's murder."

"He bought some more from the town a few more times, but he wasn't very satisfied with any of them."

Theodore listened for a couple of minutes and then lost interest in the fact that John Cartwright's taxidermy skills were favored by the county councilor.

He walked to the wall where the deer head should be hanging and easily found the exact spot where it was suspended.

The L-shaped metal plate from which the deer head was suspended is still there.

He picked up the deer head again and looked at it.

The deer head is obviously damaged, with traces of burning inside. A large area of ​​the fur on the surface is charred, and the rest is damaged by insects.

Theodore put down the deer head and looked at Sheriff Hawkins.

Sheriff Hawkins pointed to the cabinet behind Theodore:

"It looked like it was upside down back then too."

Theodore didn't ask where he had collapsed.

He squatted down next to the cabinet, asked for a magnifying glass to examine it for a while, and then asked Billy Hawke to take a picture.

Billy Hawke raised his camera somewhat blankly, unsure of what to photograph.

Theodore took the camera and took several pictures of the floor under the cabinet.

After returning the camera to Billy Hawke, he cleaned the dust off the floor around the cabinet and instructed Billy Hawke to take photos again.

This time, Billy Hawke knows what to film.

He took out his camera and took a picture of the indistinct, curved scratches on the floor.

Theodore went back to the wall and waited for Billy Hawke to finish taking pictures of the floor before cleaning up the dust again.

Soon, several deep, short, curved scratches appeared before everyone's eyes, and the wood fibers on the floor around the scratches had been torn.

This is completely different from the regular scratches that appeared before.

Billy Hawke raised his camera and took a picture of the scratch.

Sheriff Hawkins strode over, his footsteps creaking on the floor.

He was still puzzled. He looked at the scratches and then at Theodore.

Instead of explaining, Theodore continued to ask about the placement of the furniture.

Sheriff Hawkins recalled, pointing to the sofa:
"Two of them are placed under the window."

"And these are here as well."

He took two steps back, stopped in the center of the living room, and pointed to his feet:

"There's also a coffee table here."

He looked around and found the coffee table where the sofa used to be, under the window.

The coffee tabletop was rotten and had been broken in the middle by someone stepping on it.

This time, without Theodore having to say anything, Billy Hawke took the initiative to start taking pictures of the coffee table and the location that Sheriff Hawkins pointed out.

Theodore began cleaning the dust in the center of the living room.

Bernie and Martin Joseph Cronin were also helping.

Sheriff Hawkins looked around, then grabbed a brush and started cleaning with it.

Soon, several scratches appeared in front of us.

Unlike the scratches on the cabinet, these have obvious signs of repeated folding.

The scratches were mainly concentrated in the area where the sofa was normally placed, as pointed out by Sheriff Hawkins.

They are deep and short, arc-shaped, and move back and forth.

Later on, there are very faint one-way drag marks, which continue to the location where the sofa is now.

Billy Hawke came over to take a picture, and Martin Joseph Cronin took out a ruler and placed it next to the scratch.

Sheriff Hawkins watched with curiosity for a while, then asked Theodore:
"Are we going to search every single room like this?"

Theodore countered by asking him:

Are all the rooms this messy?

"I mean after the incident."

Sheriff Hawkins shook his head:
"The other rooms are in better condition, they've just been ransacked, unlike the living room, which looks like a mad bear has come in."

Theodore glanced at him:
"It's not a mad black bear."

He pointed to the scratches that led back:

"The murderer fought with the victim here."

Sheriff Hawkins looked at him in surprise.

Martin Joseph Cronin turned to look at Theodore.

Billy Hawke urged him to move the ruler.

Martin Joseph Cronin casually moved the ruler to the next scratch, placing it crookedly.

Billy Hawke kicked him, and the ruler was finally corrected.

Theodore nodded to Sheriff Hawkins:

"The killer fought with the victim, subdued him here, and then took them to the restaurant, where he tied them to chairs." "These scratches were caused during the fight between the killer and the victim."

Martin Joseph Cronin simply put down the ruler and raised an objection:
“But after that, quite a few people came in, especially young people from the town.”

"How can we distinguish whether the scratches were formed during the incident that night or were caused later?"

Theodore pointed to the arc-shaped scratches under his feet:

"The later intruders moved the furniture with a purpose."

"Therefore, the scratches will always point in one direction and the marks will be very shallow."

He then pointed to the zigzag marks under Billy Hawke's feet:
“The scratches left by the murderer during the struggle with the victim would be deep, messy, and without a clear sense of direction.”

"This is because the force of the impact on the furniture when two people are fighting is very large, and the direction of the impact is not the same."

"like this."

He then asked Sheriff Hawkins:

"Were the doors and windows intact when you arrived at the scene?"

Sheriff Hawkins nodded, then couldn't help glancing at Theodore.

Theodore nodded and walked toward the bedroom.

The bedroom was damaged even more severely; the bed had been dismantled, and nothing could be seen except for the scattered wooden planks on the floor.

There was a pile of ashes in the center of the floor, indicating that someone had lit a campfire there, and the floor had been charred.

Fortunately, the person who started the fire had some common sense and didn't put the fire directly on the floor, but instead laid a layer of soil on top.

But Sheriff Hawkins told him that the bedroom had only been ransacked after the incident, and the furniture was intact, not like it is now.

Theodore rummaged through the ashes and found a few pieces of cloth.

They cleaned the floor again and quickly found a lot of scratches.

No deep, short scratches with repeated back-and-forth movements were found.

After Billy Hawke finished taking photos, the group turned to the restaurant.

The dust on the ground formed a path that led directly to the restaurant.

The dining area is inside the living room, on the way to the kitchen.

The beam of the flashlight illuminated the dark restaurant.

A gray mouse scurried into the kitchen and disappeared.

Theodore stopped Sheriff Hawkins, who was about to go inside, and stood at the door, looking around the restaurant.

Perhaps because the restaurant was the crime scene, it was not damaged much and remains largely unchanged.

Theodore mentioned photos from the scene.

Sheriff Hawkins explained that he was the one who had the body moved.

The people who helped move his body were Pastor Sal from the church and Dr. Jack from the clinic.

After the death was confirmed, the body was taken to the church for safekeeping.

In Lone Pine Town, only the church has the ability to temporarily store corpses.

Later, county police arrived, removed the body, and took photos of the scene.

The photo was indeed taken later.

Theodore asked Sheriff Hawkins:
Was the body found naked?

Sheriff Hawkins paused, recalling the question he had raised at the police station that morning, and his expression darkened.

He shook his head, his voice rising slightly:

"How could that be! Of course not!"

"They're all wearing these clothes!"

Theodore looked hesitantly at the agitated Sheriff Hawkins.

Bernie picked up the conversation and asked Sheriff Hawkins:
Are those clothes still there?

"Perhaps we can find clues from their clothes and the items they carry with them."

At the police station, Sheriff Hawkins provided all the relevant documents in the police's possession related to the case.

There was no physical evidence report of clothing or personal belongings inside.

Of course, there was no on-site environmental report, on-site photos, or weapon analysis included...

There are quite a few things missing inside.

Sheriff Hawkins realized he had gotten a little too excited.

He remained silent for a few seconds before shaking his head:

"I'm afraid that's impossible."

"The Shenandoah County Sheriff's Office only returned the body; the clothes worn at the burial were purchased by us."

Martin Joseph Cronin reminded him:
"Perhaps you should contact the forensic department and get your clothes and personal belongings back."

Sheriff Hawkins glanced at him and continued to shake his head:

"This isn't D.C., those things were thrown away a long time ago."

“Wallet, wedding ring, Eleanor’s jewelry, these things can’t be left behind.”

He reiterated, "This is not a big city like DC."

Theodore corrected him:

"Big cities can be lost too."

Bernie quickly changed the subject:
"Let's give it a try. Valuable items like jewelry and wallets might be taken, but surely clothes won't be, right?"

Theodore interjected:

"The clothes will be thrown away directly."

Sheriff Hawkins agreed, and emphasized for the third time that this was a small county town, not a big city.

Theodore inquired about the state of mind when the body was discovered.

Sheriff Hawkins only remembered that the deceased was covered in blood.

His face was buried directly in the pool of blood.

When he, the pastor, and the doctor moved the body, the blood had become so thick that it stuck the tablecloth to the floor, almost dragging the plates and other items onto the ground.

He did not remember whether there were any wounds on the deceased's body, nor did he remember whether the deceased's clothes were torn or had any other unusual marks.

Theodore was somewhat disappointed as he stepped into the restaurant.

Several chairs were scattered haphazardly along the path to the kitchen and in the open space further away.

There were some stains on the wall, probably from splattered blood.

The dining table was placed against the wall, and bowls and plates were still on it.

The tablecloth showed obvious signs of being dragged, causing the bowls and plates on it to tend to bunch up.

There were two dark, dusty stains on the tablecloth on the side near the door.

That must be the blood of the deceased.

Bloodstains flowed down the tablecloth to the tabletop, then down the tabletop to the table legs, and finally down to the floor, forming a small pool of blood.

However, the traces of blood that once flowed are now covered in dust, and in some places, the flow has even stopped.

That must have been cleaned by animals.

About a foot (32 centimeters) in front of him under the table, Theodore found a warped wooden board.

This is a standard pine floorboard, approximately four feet (about 123 cm) long and six inches (about 15 cm) wide.

The wooden board was moldy and had broken in the middle.

The break line is not a neat straight line, but a slanted, jagged crack that runs across the entire width of the wooden board.

One end of the plank was still firmly fixed to the ground beam with nails, but the other end had completely broken off and was sticking up.

Theodore took out a ruler and measured it; the height of the protrusion was about one and a half inches (about 4 centimeters).

Move the table aside, and you'll see that the wooden board has a lot of deep, messy scratches, like a tangled ball of yarn.

In some places, the scratches even formed a small pit.

(End of this chapter)