Four Thirty A.M.
When they pulled up, already, both cops knew they were going to be at the location where the fourth victim was taken.
How did they know?
Well, maybe because her car was in her driveway on the outskirts of town, with the door wide open.
The trunk was also open, and inside, there were bags of groceries.
Snow-covered ones.
“I think we found where she was taken from,” Dannie admitted, as he parked behind the vehicle with his high beams on to illuminate the scene.
Leah agreed.
“Yeah, it looks like she was getting back from grocery shopping, and she was grabbed.”
That was pretty evident.
Getting out of Dannie’s vehicle, they headed toward the car and checked it out. The car was off, and nothing was inside the actual vehicle—which made sense since they’d found her purse and clothing at the scene.
There were two bags in the trunk, and that made them curious. They hadn’t found the keys, so the two detectives moved toward the woman’s house.
Pulling gloves on, Dannie touched the doorknob that led to the woman’s kitchen and turned it.
The door wasn’t locked.
As soon as the door gave way, both detectives pulled their sidearms and entered the home.
On the kitchen counter were two more bags and the keys to her car.
“It looks like she came in from grocery shopping, put her things down, and went back out for more,” Leah admitted.
Yeah, that’s exactly what it looked like.
Dannie pieced it together.
“It’s pristine in here. So, I’m going to say he or she grabbed her outside while she was about to take in more groceries.”
Leah agreed there.
Reaching into the one grocery bag, Dannie pulled out the receipt and checked it out.
“It’s saying she was at the store around five,” he stated. “That’s the checkout time.”
Leah considered it.
“Did she go anywhere else, though?” she asked.
He didn’t recall any more bags in the car, but the trunk groceries.
“I don’t know, but it gives us a little bit of a trail. We know the store and the time she left it.”
That it did.
When he showed her, she pointed at the name of the business.
“That’s the local market that’s owned by that little old man,” she stated. “I go there to get the best produce.”
