Bones Don't Lie (Morgan Dane #3)(59)

His heart broken.

Sharp pushed away the pity.

“Something is wrong here,” he said.

Stella and her partner exchanged a look.

Sharp raised his hands. “I know I’m too close to the case to be objective, which is why I asked you to come. But I know Jenny.”

He could feel it, a puzzle piece that didn’t quite fit. His instincts were waving a frigging red flag at him.

What did I miss?

“Two people involved in this case have died this week,” Sharp said. “One appeared to be a robbery. The other looked like a suicide. Jenny would be number three. Coincidences give me hives.”

“That’s why we’re here.” Stella reached into the pocket of her black jacket for a pair of purple nitrile gloves. “Someone sent my sister threatening photos yesterday afternoon.”

“What?” Sharp asked.

Stella told him about Morgan’s package. “It seems whoever left the box knew about the security cameras at the house. They left it on the neighbor’s porch in the afternoon when no one was home.”

“That’s smart,” Sharp said. “Do you think it’s Tyler Green?”

“We’re going to talk to him in the morning,” Stella said. “I just thought you should know.”

“Thanks.” Sharp sighed. “Keep me updated?”

“Will do.” Stella pivoted, taking the room in. “Now, let’s find out what happened to Jenny.”

There was nothing to suggest this was anything other than a suicide attempt, but they’d come at his request.

Brody gloved up too. “Tell us about her.”

They knew her basic stats. Sharp needed to fill in the personal information.

Sharp rambled on about Jenny’s issues as he scanned the room, trying to see the evidence with fresh eyes. “Jenny keeps a strict routine to her days. She used to be a hoarder, but now she overcompensates with OCD neatness.”

Her bed was made. Two cats slept in the center of the comforter. The nightstand and dresser were tidy as always. No clutter in sight. It was as if having one item out of place would put her at risk for free-falling back into chaos.

Sharp wandered to the bathroom doorway. “There were two prescription bottles in the sink, both empty. The paramedics took them to the hospital with her.”

Why the sink?

Sharp pulled on a pair of gloves. With the edge of a finger, he opened the medicine cabinet. Personal products stood in neat rows. Brody walked up behind him.

“They’re in alphabetical order,” Brody said over Sharp’s shoulder.

“I told you she has OCD tendencies,” Sharp said. “Why would she drop her empty bottles in the sink? The trashcan is right there.” He pointed to the wastepaper basket tucked between the vanity and toilet. “And I don’t see a cup in here. If she took the pills in the bathroom, she would have needed water.”

“Maybe she took the glass to the kitchen,” Stella suggested.

“But we found her on the bathroom floor, and if she had time to go to the kitchen and back, why didn’t she throw away the pill bottles? For that matter, why didn’t she go lie down in bed?”

“She could have returned to the bathroom because she felt sick.” Stella opened the three vanity drawers and checked the cabinet under the sink. She crouched and looked through the trash in the can. Frowning, she straightened. “I’m not sure what I’m looking for.”

“Me either.” Sharp left the bathroom. “But every time I’ve seen Jenny lose it, she wasn’t cognizant enough to plan a suicide. She was incoherent, wild. Her eyes were dazed and glazed. Utterly terrified beyond comprehension. She’d literally crawl into her closet.”

“But you don’t know what she was like before she hid?” Stella asked. “Or how long the attack lasted before she took action? Or if this time was completely different.”

Good point.

“No,” he admitted. “But in the early days of her illness, there was a great deal of trial and error with medications. Lately, things have been better.”

“What were her triggers?” Brody opened the closet.

Jenny’s clothes were sorted by type and color. They hung in their usual, evenly spaced order. There was no sign that she’d moved anything aside to make a hiding place.

“Once it was the loss of electricity during a winter storm,” Sharp said. “The schools closed. Lance came home early and found her in the closet in an almost catatonic state. He was twelve.”

Lance had stayed with Sharp until Jenny got out of the hospital a week later. Then Sharp had installed a generator in their house so that would never happen again.

“About a year later, she had another episode when Lance was two hours late coming home from hockey practice. Another parent was giving him a ride. The car broke down, and they had to wait for a tow truck. Jenny had convinced herself that he was dead.” She’d called Sharp, and he’d found Lance and brought him home, but by then she’d been too far gone. “She hasn’t had an episode like that for a long time. The doctors said that fluctuating hormones had made her medications hard to balance. The last ten years she’s been more stable. Not normal, but stable.”

“But she was upset by the discovery of her husband’s car this week,” Brody said.