Chapter 4
Fraser and Ray entered an alley not far from where Cynnamon lived. Dief and Dubreuil were following close behind. It was a slightly impoverished neighbourhood with subsidized housing high-rise buildings towering over the landscape.
"Shouldn't we be searching Marsala's apartment, Constable," Dubreuil enquired.
"That would be the more logical option, Detective," Fraser replied. "However, without the benefit of a search warrant, any entry into Miss Marsala's unit would be illegal."
"So why are we here in the alley while Dubreuil could have called the justice of the peace and gotten a search warrant issued," Ray bemoaned.
"If I know the type of person Miss Marsala is," Fraser explained as he scoured the alley, "she might have disposed of some evidence en route to her apartment."
"What exactly is there to dispose," Ray questioned. "She probably kept the murder weapon for proper cleaning when she got home because we haven't seen any sign of it, and I highly doubt they make plastic cutlery durable enough to actually draw a sufficient amount of blood for a homicide."
Fraser noticed a bloodied wad of used facial tissue along the ground. He reached down to investigate it further.
"Fraser," Ray pleaded, "please tell me you're not going to do what I think you're going to do with that."
The Mountie picked up the wad of tissue and licked the blood remnants on it which repulsed both Ray and Dubreuil.
"What the hell are you doing, Constable," Dubreuil demanded while trying to resist the urge to throw up.
"The blood sample on this tissue appears to be Type O-negative," Fraser commented. "Wasn't that the blood type of Mr. Crawford, Detective?"
"According to the Coroner's report, I believe it was," Dubreuil confirmed.
"Which doesn't explain why you had to put that in your mouth," Ray scolded. "This is possible evidence."
"Indeed it is, Ray," Fraser acknowledged. "I suspect Miss Marsala used this tissue to wipe the blood off of her fingertips after Mr. Crawford's murder. Normally, most people would discard such refuse at the first opportunity; however, it is possible she was going to dispose of it when she got into her apartment. Unfortunately, it appears it fell out of her pocket before she got that opportunity."
Dief started to sniff the evidence as if to investigate it himself.
"No Dief," Fraser warned, "there's no chocolate remnants on this, but we need to save it for the case file."
"I'll get a hold of the justice of the peace to get a search warrant of Marsala's apartment," Dubreuil responded. No telling what else she might have up there."
"If all we're concerned about is a sharp object used in a stabbing," Ray mused, "I doubt there's anything else in her unit."
"If you truly believe that, Detective Kowalski," Dubreuil said, "then you really don't know Cynnamon Marsala."