“What?” Dannie asked. “I get it. He’s pretty,” he offered, pointing at Ethan.
Blackhawk just rolled his eyes.
As they moved around, not a carpet was moved, or a pillow was out of place.
“This is befuddling,” Gene stated.
His partner knew what he was saying.
“It’s too neat. Like maybe the killer cleaned up after he grabbed her.”
He nodded.
“Like I said, I’d fight like hell,” Gene admitted. “If someone was trying to take me, I’d be making sure they bled so there was DNA left behind.”
Ethan was profiling it.
“Unless she knew the person and let them in. Maybe the unlocked garage door is always like that,” he offered.
Yeah, that was what he was thinking.
The detective was curious.
“So, the victims knew their attacker?” he asked. “Is that what you’re saying?”
Ethan went there.
“Likely. Or the person wasn’t a threat, and they never suspected it. He managed to grab a bartender outside of work, and he took a woman leaving the painting studio. He either approached and they were aware of him, or they didn’t feel threatened. We need to figure out who they all knew collectively. That’s what my gut is telling me.”
“That’s not going to be easy,” Dannie admitted. “It could be anyone then.”
Oh, they were aware.
Ethan didn’t answer.
Instead, he kept wandering around, and Gene followed him. If anything, he’d learned that Ethan was good at walking a scene. If there was something to be found, he’d locate it.
He followed his partner upstairs, and that’s when he saw a few things.
The room was also pristine, but the laundry hamper told the real tale.
That was their first indicator that she absolutely had time when she got home.
“She not only came home, but she had time to get changed,” Ethan stated, pulling on a pair of gloves he’d swiped from the cleaning cart in the hotel hallway.
Dannie was curious.
“What do you mean?”
He picked up a plaid outfit.
“The principal of the school told us what she was wearing the day she went missing. So, she came home, got changed, and then…”
Gene agreed.
“She had time, or the person was hiding here in wait,” he stated. “The only thing not put away in this room are her shoes. They are lying on the floor like she toed them off, got undressed, and then…”
Ethan was curious.
