Beneath Devil's Bridge(37)

Dirk whistles softly and reaches for another Nanaimo bar. Tucker looks ill.

I point to another photo. “This is an image of the shoe, or boot, imprint. We have techs running through the sole patterns of various brands. The goal is to identify the brand. And then try to match the brand and size to a potential suspect. There are also indications of aggressive sex—vaginal penetration and some tearing. So far there’s no evidence of semen present, so it’s possible a condom was used. We’re also awaiting lab results on hairs and fibers, from nail scrapings and from the blood on the sock, plus the blood evidence that was found on her backpack strap.”

Ray takes a sip of his coffee and says, “So the victim’s backpack, and what appears to be contents from the pack, were found on the south bank, but her Nike shoe and sock were found on the north bank, where the bloodied cedar tree is?”

“Correct,” I say. “Amy Chan witnessed Leena stumbling northward along Devil’s Bridge around two a.m. Amy claims Leena was not carrying a backpack at that point. Leena could have left it on the south bank for some reason, or had it ripped from her there.”

Tucker clears his throat and says, “So if she was on the south bank and lost her backpack and contents there, why was she going north? Just . . . confused? Drunk?”

“Or she wasn’t stumbling because she was drunk,” offers Luke. “Perhaps she was stumbling because she’d already sustained a violent attack and was in severe pain, or shock.”

Silence hangs. A chill seems to enter the room despite the heaters blasting.

“Was there anyone else seen on the bridge?” Ray asks. “Following her?”

“Amy didn’t see anyone else. But she also stated that she was under the influence herself, and distracted, unfocused,” I say. “It’s possible Leena was drunk, lost her backpack on the south bank, but then ran into real trouble on the north side. Either when she came across someone, or perhaps someone in a vehicle saw her and stopped.”

“Perhaps she stumbled down the path that led under Devil’s Bridge on the north side because she was drunk and disoriented and looking for her pack, and that’s where she encountered someone,” Dirk says.

“Any signs of a blood trail on the bridge?” asks Ray.

Luke says, “Too much time, too much heavy rain, too much traffic over the bridge in the week before she was found.”

“We got video footage of the onlookers that lined the bridge the day the divers found her body,” I say. “Tucker will be going through the footage today to see if anything unusual jumps out. There’s also the CCTV coverage from outside Ari’s Greek Takeout, where Amy Chan and Jepp Sullivan joined a group of other kids who’d also been at the bonfire. All those kids would have had to have crossed Devil’s Bridge at some point to get from the bonfire to Ari’s takeout. Perhaps someone saw something they didn’t realize was important at the time.” I glance at Luke. “Luke and I will be heading up to the school this morning. We’ll be reinterviewing all the students who saw Leena at the bonfire. The last time we canvassed them, it was in the context of a missing persons case. We need to talk to them all again. This time Luke will handle the interviews. I’ll observe, take notes.” I clear my throat. “It’ll offer a fresh eye, a fresh perspective.”

“We need to know more about the male who Leena was apparently seen with in the grove,” Luke says. “We need an ID on him. We need to talk to him.” Luke points his pen at the image of the journal pages on the board. “And we need to know who the ‘He’ is that Leena mentions in those ripped journal pages. We need to figure out why the journal was ripped like that. Were the pages already torn, and inside her pack before being dumped out? Did Leena do something with the rest of the journal herself? If so, where is it? And where’s the military surplus jacket she was wearing, because Amy Chan stated that Leena was wearing it when she was stumbling without her backpack northward along the bridge.”

Dirk wipes custard off his stubbled chin. “And there’s the address book. Plus the poetry book and that locket.”

“Leena’s parents claim the address book and locket are not hers,” I say. “Her mother said Leena used to steal or borrow things without permission. We’ll be showing students the images of the address book, the poetry book, the locket, and the other items we found in an effort to locate the rightful owners.” I inhale deeply. “We also need to find out who started the rumor that Leena’s body was floating in the Wuyakan River.”

“Was there anything inside the locket?” Ray asks.

“Negative,” says Luke. “We’ll see what forensics shows up.”

I glance at him. “Like what?”

He looks up from his notes and frowns at me. “Like prints, microscopic fibers, blood evidence. I’d also like to run a background check on the father. And we should keep an eye on the cousin, Darsh.”

“Whoa,” says Tucker. “You don’t think . . . Her cousin? Or her own father had anything to do with this?”

“The violence to her face—it feels personal to me,” Luke says. “It smacks of rage. Temper. That girl wasn’t just killed, her face was smashed out of existence. And from observing Jaswinder, and listening to Darsh talk about his uncle . . . I hope I’m wrong, but I get a feeling Jaswinder Rai could be pushed too far if his convictions are challenged.”