Serial Saturday: The Suggestion Box #2

Featuring the contribution of Jan Pierce.

The List
- Tammi Carmody
- 7PM on the 30th of June
-Jan Pierce's House
- Turkish Scarf

The Result:

Detective Tammi Carmody sighed as she pulled into the cul-de-sac. The houses were packed so tightly together, with the front doors far recessed from the garages, which made it difficult to find the one she sought. Emergency Responders were already on the scene.
Officer Shipman met her at the door.
"What do we have, Jad?" Tammi asked, noting grimly the corpse on the floor.
"The victim is one Jan Pierce, current resident of this house, appears to have a husband, but we haven't been able to reach him," Jad explained, reading from his notepad. "Forensics puts time of death sometime around 7 PM last night."

Tammi's practiced eyes scanned the vicinity. Jan was a beautiful woman with light, silvery hair, possibly mid-50s or 60s, wearing a brightly-colored kameez and loose pants, both evidently hand-sewn. A long scarf rested loosely over her body. Tammi squatted next to the body. There was no mistaking the bruises around the woman's neck.
"I take it she's wearing the murder weapon?" She guessed wryly.
Jad sighed, "Unfortunately, that is correct: death by strangulation. We're canvassing the neighbors now, but there is so much activity around here, it could be a while before we find anything."
Tammi raised an eyebrow, "You could start with the person who phoned this in," she suggested.
Jad blinked, "Phoned it?"
Tammi rolled her eyes; back in her officer days, one couldn't afford to be this daft! "Yeah, I mean, how did you hear about this incident?"
Jad pointed back to the body. Around Jan's neck was a MedAlert button. Her right hand rested near it.
Tammi shook her head, "But if she pressed it last night before she died, why wasn't she discovered till this morning?"
The stocky officer waved a paramedic over. "Hey, you told me you got the alert an hour ago," he accused the young man.
The paramedic nodded. "At nine o'clock this morning; I'll even show you the automated message." He pulled out his cell phone and showed the two officers. Tammi checked the stamp: 9:02AM 7/31/13. She smiled; now they were getting to the real mystery.
"Have that MedAlert button wiped for prints," she said. "I'm headed back to the precinct to research this Jan Pierce."
"I don't get it," Jad followed her out to her car. "How could she press the button if she'd been dead for almost ten hours?"
Tammi climbed into the car and started the engine. "Someone wanted her found. Killing her wasn't enough; someone wanted a show." She stared back at the house grimly, "and I intend to give one."

The 2013 Suggestion Box Series:

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