Page 174 of Taken Away

“...they could’ve already been inside.”

Burke didn’t answer immediately.

He looked back at the crime scene photographs.

Mabel had been attacked upstairs.

No signs of forced entry.

No valuables taken.

The bed staged.

“Possible,” he finally said.

Scout frowned.

“Then what about Moose?”

Burke folded his arms.

“Same problem. Whether the killer came in before she got home or after she went upstairs, they still had to account for that dog.”

Burke’s eyes drifted across the names pinned to the board.

Red Stephens.

Walter Grady.

Zack Fowler.

Vanessa Mercer.

Burke looked around the room.

Mabel Blackwood was sixty-nine. By every account she was generous. Respected. She employed half the valley and quietly gave to the other half.

He let the silence settle.

“So why would somebody kill her?”

Nobody answered.

Burke folded his arms.

“The reasons never change.”

His eyes moved across the room.

“Love.”

“Money.”

“Greed.”

“Power.”

“Revenge.”