They stepped inside as Kate and DeMarco also introduced themselves. There was no conversation afterward, though. The sight before them, while not nearly as bad as some murder scenes Kate had seen, was jarring. The dried maroon splotches on the blue carpet were very much in-your-face. There was a stale feel to the place, something Kate had felt at scenes like this beforesomething she had tried describing countless times but always failed.

Out of nowhere, she thought of Michael. She had tried explaining the feeling to him once before, stating that it was almost as if a house itself could sense loss and that feeling of staleness in the air was the houses reaction. He had laughed at her and said it sounded almost spiritual in a weird way.

She was fine with that…mainly because its exactly what she felt as she took a look around the Fuller home.

Agents, Im going to step back out onto the porch, he said. Make sure we dont get any prying eyes. Holler if you need anything. But Ill tell you right now…anything you want to know thats not already in the reports we sent over is going to have to come from one of my other officersa fella named Foster. Here in Deton, were not exactly used to cases like this. Were discovering just how unprepared we are for such things.

Wed love to speak with him after this, DeMarco said.

Ill give him a call and make sure hes at the station, then.

He left back through the front door quietly, leaving them to the scene. Kate stepped around the initial blood splatters on the carpet. There were some on the couch, too, and splatters on the wall just above the couch. A small coffee table sat in front of the couch and a few things on it seemed scattereda few bills, an empty but overturned plastic cup, and the television remote. It could indicate signs of a quick struggle, but if so, it was not a particularly fierce one.

No real signs of struggle, DeMarco said. Unless their daughter is very strong and athletic, I dont see how she could have done this.

If it was the daughter, they may not have seen it coming, Kate argued. She could have come right into the room, hiding the gun behind her. One of them could have been dead before the other had any clue what was happening.

They studied the area for a few minutes, finding nothing out of the ordinary. There were a few pictures on the wall, several of which were family pictures. It was the first time she saw the girl she assumed was Mercy Fuller. The pictures showed her in varying stages of age: from around five to her current age. She was a cute girl who would likely become a beautiful girl sometime around college. She had black hair, brown eyes, and a radiant smile.