Chapter 5 — Testing the Door Swing Arc
Jordan turned his gaze from the scuff mark on the wood toward the heavy oak door.
The door hung loosely on its brass hinges.
It swung outward toward the corner where the side table stood.
There was no rubber wall stopper behind the handle.
Jordan noticed a small, circular dent in the drywall exactly where the brass knob would travel at full extension.
That dent proved the door routinely swung far past a ninety-degree angle.
Jordan walked over and grasped the brass door handle.
He pulled the door shut until it clicked into the latch.
Then he released the latch and let go.
A steady draft from the hallway caught the heavy panel.
The door drifted open on its own, picking up speed as it swung toward the side table.
Vincent watched the movement without speaking.
The brass door handle aligned perfectly with the scuff mark on the table edge as it swept past.
The metal hardware on the door cleared the wood by less than a quarter of an inch.
The mechanical swing path of the door intersected directly with where the frame had rested.
Jordan held his hand out to stop the door just before it struck the table again.
He examined the swing arc one more time.
The geometry left no room for doubt.
Jordan reached down to the floor where the shattered glass lay scattered.
He picked up a heavy shard of the outer frame.
There was a fresh scuff along the painted molding that matched the finish of the door handle.
Jordan held the broken frame fragment up against the brass knob of the open door.
The curve of the impact mark matched the radius of the door handle’s outer rim.
Vincent stepped closer, his boots crunching softly on the glass.
He stared at the way the door handle and the frame fragment aligned in Jordan’s hands.
Jordan looks down at the hinge pins on the door frame and notices a faint smudge of dark lubricant near the top knuckle.