“He didn’t.” Her throat tightened. “No one on our team did.”
They stood there, the silence of the basement pressing in.
Olive’s stomach turned cold. “Jason . . . if the killer moved the body?—”
“Then we’re not just dealing with a murderer.” He finished the thought quietly.
She met his gaze. “We’re dealing with someone who’s still active and trying to cover their tracks.”
Olive stood staring at the empty corner, pulse thudding in her throat.
This was the last thing she’d been expecting.
Jason swept his flashlight beam across the cement floor.
No footprints. No drag marks. No sign of disturbance other than the missing body itself.
“It doesn’t make sense,” Olive whispered. “Why take JJ’s body? And how?”
Jason shook his head, his jaw tense. “I’m not sure about either of those answers. Maybe there was something on JJ—something someone didn’t want us to find.”
Olive’s gaze drifted to the dark where the shadows pressed deepest. “Like the flash drive—except they could have searched for that device without taking his whole body.”
“You’re right. But still, smart move not telling anyone we found that. However, we searched JJ and didn’t find anything.”
“Maybe someone took his body because they needed his fingerprint to access some kind of digital device. Or maybe someone wanted to hide any evidence we might find on his body that could point to them as the killer.” Olive shrugged. “It’s really kind of strange.”
“Yes, it is.” Jason scanned the walls again, the beam briefly catching on a rusted pipe and shelves of canned goods.
He stopped on the outside entrance leading into the basement.
“You think that’s how someone got him out?” Olive asked.
“It makes the most sense.”
She climbed the narrow steps leading to the door.
Sure enough, it was unlocked.
She and Jason had checked it earlier, and it had been secure.
“Someone could have picked the lock from the outside,” Jason suggested, moving up the staircase behind her.
“You’re right. They could have.” She pushed on the door.
As soon as it flew open, the wind swept inside, shooting cold daggers through any exposed skin.
Despite that, she scanned the area outside.
Any footprints that might have been left had been covered by the heavy snowfall.
“I’m not surprised,” Jason murmured.
Olive shook her head and closed the door again. “Me either.”
“This person’s knowledgeable enough to know how to cover their tracks. Strong enough to move him.”
It was true. Neither Mitzi, Nova, nor Mara could have moved JJ on their own.
