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She resisted the urge to point out they were doing a “splendid” job of that so far. Getting out of the car, she hoped to avoid Diana. Thankfully, she must have been preoccupied with her narrative as she didn’t run after Amanda. Normally, the reporter had a knack for sniffing out Amanda’s presence and beelining for her. She failed to grasp the concept that Amanda would only ever direct her to the Public Information Office, a branch of the PWCPD. It was their job to work with the media.
Inside the house, CSIs Blair and Donnelly were still at work.
“You’re back,” Blair said, sounding surprised.
“You know it,” Amanda said. “Things are already failing to add up.”
“No big shock there,” Blair said.
“We have some findings for you, by the way.” Donnelly headed toward her collection kit, beside which she had a few plastic evidence bags. The CSI handed one to Amanda and another to Trent.
“What do you have?” she asked her partner.
“Umm…” Trent held it in the air. “A bagful of confetti?”
Donnelly shook her head and rolled her eyes. “It’s shredded paperwork, found in the office upstairs.”
“We saw nothing in the shredder,” Trent said.
“That was stuck in the teeth of the machine,” Donnelly pointed out.
Amanda had seen the bin was empty, not thinking much of it at the time. Felicity could have dumped the bin herself, but in hindsight, maybe the killer had. He’d just missed checking the shredder closely as she and Trent had. “Can you piece it back together? It might give us a clue… What that is, I obviously have no idea.”
“We’ll do our best.” Donnelly retrieved the bag from Trent.
Amanda looked at the one she held. Inside were three pieces of paper torn from printer stock. “‘Beauty has always’ and ‘Case closed’ in type, and this one is handwritten.” Amanda looked hard and concentrated as she angled the page. “Looks like, ‘Could it be?’”
“All of which might as well be gibberish.” Disappointment marked its presence in Trent’s tightened jaw and the downward turn of his eyebrows.
“It’s possible Felicity’s agent or editor may be able to help us. The printed words might exist in one of her books and aid with the investigation.”
“Ah, one of her books. Did you hear that, Emma?” Donnelly was grinning and smacked her colleague on her upper arm. That got her a cold glare and a mumble.
“So I heard.”
There must have been some previous conversation Amanda and Trent had missed. Amanda put her gaze on Donnelly. “You read her work?”
“Nah, not much of a novel reader. Not much time, but I often scan articles that Google feeds to my phone.”
“Clickbait,” Blair said. “And she’s been going on about it.”
Donnelly shook her head. “It’s not always clickbait. Anyway, her latest book apparently rocketed to the top of the bestseller charts in a matter of days. Talk about luck.” Her previous jovial expression disappeared at those words, as she looked where Felicity Kelley’s body had been. “Or not so lucky.”
“What’s the name of the book?” Trent tucked the evidence bag under one of his arms and pulled out his phone.
“The Romeo Killer. You know, I might read it now.” Donnelly nodded, her lips in a pressed straight line.
Trent pecked into his phone.
“Do you have any idea what it’s about?” Amanda asked.
Donnelly shrugged. “Just that it’s about a serial killer who targets women.”
“A serial killer who leaves a calling card at every scene.” Trent looked up from his phone, his face pale. “More specifically, a playing card.”
Amanda’s stomach swirled and clenched. “The Queen of Hearts?”
“Uh-huh.”
