1960: My uncle is the FBI Director

Chapter 274 Traces
Theodore observed for a while, then got up and walked towards the chair.

These chairs are all made of wood, not as exquisite as those sold by furniture factories, and look quite bulky.

The backrest and seat are both made of a single piece of wood without any carvings or decorations, and are fixed in place with nails from the back.

Two thick, long rectangular wooden beams served as the back legs, firmly nailed to the backrest by a row of nails.

The front legs are two short wooden blocks nailed to the seat.

The four legs are reinforced with wooden beams as crossbeams.

Theodora walked over to the nearest chair and rocked it.

The chair was heavy, and one of its front legs was a bit short, making a dull thud as it hit the floor.

He placed his other hand on the seat for stability and shook the back of the chair again.

The chair didn't move.

He moved the chair aside and then went to shake the next chair.

The chair creaked and groaned.

Theodore dragged the chair out and examined it carefully, finding several obvious marks from the straps.

The marks were mainly distributed on the front legs and the back of the chair.

The marks on the front legs are concentrated on the sides and back.

The marks on the sides are deep and dense, with a certain spacing, while the marks on the back appear somewhat messy, and there are even vertical scratches.

The marks on the chair back are concentrated at the upper edge and are very deep.

Theodore handed the chair to Sheriff Hawkins and then went to continue rocking the other chairs.

I shook all the chairs, but I couldn't find one that kept creaking when I shook it.

He stared at the chairs for a while, then changed his strategy and began to examine the backrests and front legs.

Soon, he picked out a chair with marks on it.

The marks on the chair are mainly concentrated on the two sides of the backrest, and the marks are very faint.

There are some marks, like indentations, on the back and sides of the front legs.

Theodore observed for a long time but still couldn't determine whether the marks were pressure marks or something else.

He directed Billy Hawke to move the dining table back to its original position and then asked Sheriff Hawkins about the arrangement of the chairs on the day of the incident.

Sheriff Hawkins thought carefully, then finally shook his head:
"I don't quite remember."

"When I arrived at the scene, I was busy checking their condition and didn't pay attention to these things."

"After discovering that they were already dead, we quickly put them down."

"There were a lot of people here at the time, and it was a bit chaotic."

Theodore asked him:
"Did you cut the wire?"

Sheriff Hawkins nodded.

Theodore then asked:
Do you remember how the two deceased were bound?

Sheriff Hawkins thought for a moment:

"John and Eleanor's hands were tied behind their backs and their legs were tied to chairs."

Theodore pressed for specific details.

Sheriff Hawkins gestured:
"Both arms were behind the chair, and the legs were tied to the front legs."

Theodore was not satisfied with the answer.

What did you do? Were the arms tied? How many times were they tied? How many times were they wrapped? How were the knots tied? What about the legs?

There wasn't a single detail.

He stared at Sheriff Hawkins for a moment, shook his head, and dragged two chairs to his side:
"These two chairs should be the ones where the two adult victims were tied up."

He patted the back of the chair that made the noise quieter:

"This should be the second victim."

Then pat the chair that made the loudest noise:

"This should be the second victim."

Bernie offered to help explain:

"The first victim refers to Eleanor Cartwright."

"The second victim refers to John Cartwright."

"The third victim refers to Billy Cartwright."

Sheriff Hawkins nodded to Bernie and asked Theodore:

"How did you know?"

His gaze toward Theodore became strange.

Theodore recognized that look in his eyes; in fact, he knew it very well.

Back in Holden, Bernie often saw him like that.

Theodore fell silent again for a brief moment.

He pointed to the back of the chair:

"There are marks on it."

"The murderer must have used wire or similar material to tie up the victims, number 1 and number 2."

Sheriff Hawkins peered closer and searched for a while before finally finding two small gaps:
"It uses packing wire."

He added:
"Almost every household in town has this."

Packing wire has a wide range of uses and is not limited to packing.

The broken drawer in the police station was tied with packing wire.

The wooden fence outside Pope's house next door was also made of baling wire. Besides that, the people of Lone Pine also like to use baling wire to set snares for small animals like rabbits.

After Billy Hawke and Martin Joseph Cronin finished taking photos, Bernie went to the kitchen, got two knives, pried off the broken piece of wood, and covered the broken end with a paper bag.

After a final check of the room to make sure nothing was missing, the group left the scene.

Sheriff Hawkins tossed the chair into the truck bed, secured it with a rope, and asked Theodore:
"Where to go next?"

He didn't believe that FBI agents would be able to identify the killer simply by walking around the house.

The idea of ​​deducing the furniture's movement based on scratches on the floor was indeed surprising, but it only proved that the murderer and the victim had a conflict.

Theodore pointed to the Pope house.

Sheriff Hawkins glanced in that direction and nodded.

The Chevrolet and the pickup truck parked one after the other in front of Pope's house.

Sheriff Hawkins banged on the door.

Mr. Popper quickly opened the door and warmly invited them in.

Mrs. Popper brought coffee and sat down next to Mr. Popper.

Sheriff Hawkins gave a brief introduction to Theodore and his three companions:

"This is an FBI agent from DC."

"Here specifically for the Cartwright family's case."

"They have a few questions for you."

The Poppers exchanged a glance, and Mr. Popper squeezed his wife's hand, quickly indicating that he would definitely cooperate.

Sheriff Hawkins looked at Theodore.

But it was Bernie who spoke first.

Instead of getting straight to the point, he started by talking about Lone Pine Town and the Blue Ridge Mountains.

They then started talking about the Pope family.

Once the two relaxed, they shifted the topic to the Cartwright family.

Like the Pope family, the Cartwrights were descendants of lumberjacks.

The two families have been neighbors since their grandfathers' generation.

Later, the house was inherited by their fathers and then passed down to them.

They had a very good relationship and were childhood playmates.

Theodore asked the Popes:

"Did you notice anyone passing by on the night of the incident?"

The Poppers looked at each other, remained silent for a moment, and then shook their heads in unison.

Bernie reminded the two:

"Think again."

"Nine years have passed since the incident, so perhaps you haven't thought about it for a while."

Sheriff Hawkins offered an explanation:
"People in town go to bed very early."

"Few people are active after dark."

He pointed towards the tavern:
"It's alright in the town center, but in other places, almost no one goes out at night."

He reminded Theodore and the others:

"This is in the mountains, it would be terrible if we encountered wild animals."

Mr. Popper nodded repeatedly:

"And we went to bed early that day."

"She made plans with Eleanor to go blackberry picking and make jam the next morning."

Bernie looked at Theodore.

Theodore asked Pope's wife about what she had seen at the crime scene.

Unfortunately, her description was even less detailed than Sheriff Hawkins's; she only remembered that the Cartwright's living room was a mess, and then she saw the Cartwrights sitting motionless in the dining room with blood on the floor.

Her entire attention was drawn to the blood.

Upon seeing the blood, she screamed and ran home.

It was Mr. Popper who went to the police station to find Sheriff Hawkins, and gave a rambling account of the situation.

When Sheriff Hawkins heard that the Cartwright family might be dead, he rushed to the scene in his pickup truck.

Along the way, they passed a clinic and a church, and then picked up Pastor Sal and Dr. Jack.

After the four arrived at the scene, Mr. Pope was stopped outside.

They only removed the bodies from the chairs after Dr. Jack confirmed that all three victims were dead.

Mr. Popper did not enter the room at all.

Mrs. Popper hid at home and wept.

Sheriff Hawkins confirmed the Popes' testimonies.

After leaving Pope's house, Theodore decided to go see the doctor and the priest.

They were the only two people besides Sheriff Hawkins and the killer to see the body.

Sheriff Hawkins led the way in his pickup truck, followed by a Chevrolet, heading straight for the church.

Shortly after they left, the Popes left home and headed to the town center.

Soon, four FBI agents arrived in Lone Pine, and the news of reopening the Cartwright family murder case swept through the entire town like a tornado.

(End of this chapter)