The crime lab report was short, and everyone listened as Hannah read it aloud. There were no surprises and no clues. Since the gazebo was a public area in a busy spa and gym, there was no useful fingerprint evidence. The hair and fiber evidence was more of the same. The Jacuzzi was used by hundreds of people every day, and there was no telling whether the samples they’d collected were from members, guests, or the killer, who could also be a member or a guest. In short there was nothing found at the scene that provided any clue to the identity of Ronni’s killer.

Andrea sighed. “Well, that was a waste. Let’s go on to the autopsy report.”

“Wait a second,” Michelle said, popping the last bite into her mouth and swallowing. “Okay. I’m ready.”

Hannah handed the envelope to Norman. “You’d better read it. You know all the medical words, and you can translate it into laymen’s terms for us.”

“Okay,” Norman said, taking a final sip of coffee and clearing his throat.

As Norman read and translated, Hannah found herself holding her breath and hoping that something in the report would exonerate one of her detective “bosses.” Since one way of determining the time of death had to do with internal body temperature, Doc had used some scientific formula that allowed for the heat of the water in the Jacuzzi to come up with a time frame. Ronni Ward had breathed her last sometime between the hours of one and two thirty in the morning. And that meant the trio at the sheriff’s department were still suspects.

“Doc says the blow to Ronni’s head knocked her unconscious and she drowned in the Jacuzzi. He thinks she was in there already, and the killer walked up to the tub and killed her.”

Hannah did her best not to imagine Ronni’s last moments in living Technicolor. There was something really creepy about leaving an unconscious victim to drown.

“Her blood-alcohol level was three times the legal limit. That means if she hadn’t been knocked unconscious, she might have passed out on her own.”

“Drunk as a skunk,” Andrea said, but she didn’t sound censorious. Hannah figured that was probably because Ronni was dead and couldn’t cause problems for her any longer.

“There was no evidence of rape, and other than her blood-alcohol level, all of her blood work came back normal. That means no drugs, and no infectious diseases. There was a slight bruising of her lower lip, but it wasn’t serious and Doc’s not sure what it’s from.”

Kissing everybody at her birthday party, Hannah thought, and she looked up to find both of her sisters staring at her. It was clear they were thinking alike.

“The last page is just a listing of physical characteristics.”

“What physical characteristics?” Hannah asked.