Leah agreed.
“Well, if this is far worse than we know, at least no children lost their mothers.”
Truth.
“I don’t see any sign that something nefarious happened here,” Dannie admitted. “We’re going to have to hit up the friends he mentioned, and check that business.”
Leah clued him in.
“The Tipsy Easelis a nice place. I can’t see some creepy woman abductor running amok there,” she admitted. “It’s run by a couple.”
He lifted a brow.
“And you go there?” he asked.
She laughed.
“Yeah, in my free time—the few hours a day I have, I head there and paint. Who needs sleep?” she asked, sarcastically. “Mydude, I’m with you almost twenty-four-seven. Have you seen me painting shit?”
He actually laughed.
“We all gotta have hobbies,” he joked.
Yeah, well, she didn’t.
“I live around the block,” she stated. “I drive by on the way to and from work. I know it’s run by a couple because they have social media. I’ve seen it pop up on mine.”
He got it now.
“I’m sure they won’t be thrilled if this gets out,” he admitted. “If you’re offering a business that caters to the ladies, and a lady goes missing after being in there…”
Yeah, that would sink that business.
They kept searching.
“This must be the master,” he said, as they reached the much bigger room down at the end of the hall. If they didn’t find anything here, it was clear that the woman never came home.
The place was spotless.
Going in, they looked around.
The bed wasn’t made, and there was no sign of a struggle. In fact, there was nothing out of the ordinary. Across from the bed was a dresser and a vanity. It had the usual things on it.
Makeup.
Lotions.
Perfumes.
“No purse up here either,” Leah stated, heading toward the piece of furniture to continue looking.
Dannie sighed.
“It looks like she disappeared from the painting place,” he admitted. “She must not have made it back home. That connects to the two other women, too. They went missing in broad daylight—or moonlight in Phylis’ case.”
At the antique-looking mirror beside the vanity, the full-length one, she came to a stop and gasped.
That had her partner’s attention.
