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Which brought up another anomaly. “Our perp didn’t take her phone or jewelry, just the purse. Why?”
There was a short stretch of silence, then Vivi volunteered an answer. “There was something in it he wanted.”
Parker shrugged. “Yeah, her wallet, cash, and credit cards. The keys to her place. He might not have realized she had the phone in her hand and believed it was in the bag.”
Beatrice appreciated Parker playing devil’s advocate, but she agreed with Vivi. “I think it’s something more specific, more damning. The question is, what?”
“I questioned her about what she typically carries in her purse,” the psychologist said. “She didn’t mention anything unusual. Until she gets her memory back, we won’t know for sure if she had something more important than her credit cards and lipstick in there. “And while I also assume it was a man, I recommend that at this point, we don’t rule out anyone.”
“Agreed. It could as easily be a female.” Beatrice glanced at each of them in turn. “But we all agree, based on the inconclusive and insubstantial evidence we have, this was no random mugging.”
All three nodded agreement without hesitation. “Something about it is off,” Parker said, echoing Rory’s words from the night of the mugging. “I try to be logical and stick with facts, not jump to conclusions and give into paranoia, put something isn’t right about this.”
Paranoia was common among them—Vivi had mentioned that fact more than once to Beatrice. But in the world of covert ops, survival depended on it. Being suspicious, overly cautious, and considering every scenario at all times, kept them safer.
She handed back the tablet. “We look at every angle and consider all possible scenarios. Create a timeline of everything Amelia did in the past two weeks, everyone she came into contact with, and why.” She glanced at Moe. “I want to know everything about that piece of pipe, regardless if there are fingerprints or DNA on it. Our mugger could have wiped it down before he tossed it in the dumpster, hoping the contents would further hide or disguise any evidence.”
He jumped to his feet, always ready for action. “I’m going to walk the route again and figure out how he disappeared so easily. Where he might’ve gone, as well as where he came from. Rory wants to go, too, but I’ll ditch his ass before he can. Like he needs to hit the pavement with that knee of his. I’m due to take burgers and fries to some of the homeless in the area.” One of their latest programs, thanks to Vivi, was picking up lunch at a fast food restaurant each day and hitting a different three block area around it to hand out meals. Any of the employees not on assignment took turns. Since a good many of the street people were veterans, it was a small way for SFI to give back. “I’ll see if they’ve noticed anyone unusual lurking around.”
She gave him a go-ahead nod and he headed for the door, Parker rising to her feet. She tucked the tablet under her arm. “With your permission, I’d like to interview Hannah. She and the driver were the last ones to see and speak to Amelia before this happened.”
Beatrice had been thinking about that. The president’s daughter was certainly high-profile and had plenty of admirers as well as enemies. She couldn’t come up with one solid link from Hannah to the mugger, yet her brain wouldn’t let go of the idea. “Let’s not raise any suspicions at this point where it comes to her.” If this involved the president or his family in any way, they could stir up a hornet’s nest without realizing it, and that would put all of them in the wrong kind of spotlight. “Have Amelia put you in direct contact with Hannah under the guise of buying tickets for you and Moe to attend her fundraiser. From the dossier Rory gave me about the organization, Hannah has a penchant for helping kids of veterans. That’s your in with her. Tell her you’d like to sponsor one—I’ll front the grant money. Make it a kid who’s interested in medicine and science. Try to befriend Hannah, find out what you can about her closest friends and advisors. We’ll put their names into TrackMap, see what pops up.”
The software program, developed by their founder, Emit Petit, was a people-mapping program that showed relationships between individuals and the groups they belonged to. She had often used a similar creation when she’d worked for Command and Control at NSA. They could link anything from human traffickers to digital hackers attacking the government.
Parker nodded and followed Moe out, leaving Vivi. “Can hypnosis help Amelia with her memory?” Beatrice asked.
“Sure.” Vivi rose and went to pat the sleeping Maddy. “I can set up a session tomorrow if Amelia’s game. Just to be clear, pushing her won’t help and could actually set her back.”
Maddy lazily cracked opened an eyelid, saw it was Vivi stroking her sleek, black hair, and went right back to sleep. “What are the odds of it doing that?”
Vivi chuckled. “You and your risk assessments. I can’t give you a number.”
“I’m good with a wild guess when it’s coming from you.”
The psychologist strolled to the door, massaging her neck and sending Beatrice a pointed look. Dr. Vivi Montgomery had one of the highest IQs Beatrice had ever encountered. “Our best bet is to focus on something besides the attack. The brain is an interesting and complicated instrument, making what would appear to be odd patterns and connections. Since she was texting with Rory when it happened, I’ll use that relationship to attempt to spark her memory.”
Smart. “Good.” Beatrice retrieved her pen and doodled on the blotter. “Keep me updated.”
“I know that look.” Vivi paused at the door. “What could Amelia possibly have been carrying in her purse that this guy wanted? How would he even know?”
Beatrice didn’t have the answer but she had her own assignment. “Jose, the driver, was the last person to see and talk to her, while she was in possession of her tote, right?”
Vivi followed her line of thinking. “And he’s about the same height as our man in black.”
“Exactly.” Beatrice drew overlapping circles with Jose, Amelia, and Hannah’s names in them.
“You think it’s him?”
“I don’t need TrackMap to show me the connection between him, Hannah, and Amelia.”
“The police questioned him, and the traffic cams show he didn’t leave his vehicle.”
“I know,” Beatrice admitted. There were holes in every theory she had, but there were also plenty of possibilities. “He could be working with someone.”
“How would he know there would be a traffic jam? That Amelia would take off on foot?”
“I’m not saying he did, only that perhaps stealing her bag, and the contents thereof, wasn’t a spur of the moment decision. If he had a clue about what she carried and also had an accomplice…” Beatrice shrugged. “I’m working through various scenarios.”
