Chapter 4 - The Venomous Evidence Captured On Tape
Within seven minutes, three Paradise Valley police cruisers screeched into the circular brick driveway, their blue and red lights flashing against the palm trees.
Two officers rushed through the front door with drawn weapons, followed shortly by a local animal control officer carrying a specialized snake hook and plastic bin.
Kristina was immediately handcuffed in the foyer, screaming obscenities about Nora’s inability to carry a child.
“Check the security app on my phone, Officer,” Nora instructed the lead detective, handing over her unlocked device.
“The hallway camera captured my mother-in-law entering the master bedroom forty minutes ago carrying a heavy canvas bag.”
The officer reviewed the high-definition footage, watching Kristina creep down the hallway in her yellow rubber gloves.
Upstairs, the animal control officer carefully entered the master suite, using his long metal hook to pull back the white silk comforter.
A four-foot Western diamondback rattlesnake struck violently at the metal tool, its rattle buzzing like a chainsaw in the small room.
“Gotcha, big boy,” the animal control officer murmured, maneuvering the deadly reptile into the thick plastic containment bin.
He carried the bin downstairs, showing the police detective the heavy venomous creature inside.
“This isn’t a wild snake that wandered off Camelback Mountain,” the specialist noted, pointing to a small blue paint mark on the snake’s rattle.
“This is a marked specimen from an exotic reptile distributor down in Apache Junction.”
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The detective looked at Kristina, whose face turned completely white at the mention of Apache Junction.
“Kristina Finch, you are under arrest for attempted first-degree murder,” the detective stated, snapping steel cuffs around her wrists.
