“Alex, I don’t want to jump to conclusions. The knife was left here. So now, we really only have two options. We either have a mother who killed her son and herself and the knife was left behind because she herself was about to die, or a smart killer with a connection to the victims, who left the knife to implicate Gabrielle. Those are our only two options. And there’s nothing I like better than taking down some damn asshole who thinks he’s a smart killer,” Gavin said. “No one is that smart.”

“And if you don’t have DNA from the mother on the knife?” Val asked, though a random killing like this seemed pretty unlikely.

“Then we have some crazy psycho loose on the streets,” Gavin answered. “And nothing so far points to that. No this…” Gavin circled around. Val could see that his gaze was held on the mother. “This was planned.”

“Do you know if she left a suicide note at her home?” Val couldn’t help a gnawing feeling that this wasn’t a cut and dry murder–suicide. Not because of the evidence at this scene. No, the evidence at this scene was almost textbook for a murder–suicide. There was something about the actions of the victims on the day they disappeared, and the daily habits of Gabrielle Morgan which were spelled out in the missing person’s report that bothered Val. “No note was found in the church.”

“We’re checking her residence for that.” Gavin glanced at his watch. “A forensics team is there now processing the entire place for evidence.”

“Do you need anything more before I continue with my preliminary external exam, then?” Val asked, eager to get a look at the victims close up.

Gavin motioned to Officer Powell who quickly came over. “We’d like to begin examination of the bodies. All documentation complete?”

“We’re good to go on that,” Powell confirmed.

Val limped forward, shaking her numb leg to awaken it. She put on a white disposable Tyvek jumpsuit, and booties on her shoes, then placed a surgical bonnet over her hair, so that she wouldn’t contaminate the evidence. A surgical mask went over her nose and mouth. Lastly, she slipped on a set of latex gloves and moved closer to the altar, towards the dead boy, wincing at the gruesome scene. Blood has a nauseatingly sweet, sharply metallic odor and there has to be enough of it to detect it simply by inhaling. Though Val recognized the characteristic scent when she walked into the church, it was much more powerful here, next to the body, even with the protection of her mask.