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"This is Donna Nierman. She was Lori's best friend. I think Archie took this picture. If you ask me, he always had a crush on Donna. The girls had decided to see who could make the best sugar cookies one year," Brenda said as her eyes filled with tears. "I still talk to Donna at least once a month."
"I'll tell you what," Sylvie said softly, not wanting to make this any harder on Brenda. "Would there be any chance that I could get a cup of tea? I've become addicted lately, and I find that I can't go more than a few hours without a cup."
"Of course," Brenda exclaimed, latching onto any excuse not to have to relive the worst days of her life. "I'll also bring you a plate of warm cookies."
"That would be wonderful. They smell delicious."
Sylvie waited until Brenda had walked into the kitchen before reaching into the box of photographs. She would take time to sort out the ones with any males or bystanders in the back. Once she had the pictures in hand, she would then take them back to the city, along with Lori's phone.
There was a really good chance that their unsub had been in the same public places that Lori had been before her deployment. Sylvie understood why Brook and Theo loved this part of the investigation. The answers they had all been seeking could very well have been stored inside a shoebox this entire time.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Brooklyn Sloane
January 2022
Wednesday — 3:37pm
Theodorofwarmcopper clung to the air inside the hotel room, a sure indication that a large amount of blood had been spilled. It made it hard to breathe knowing what it meant, but Brook had requested a walkthrough of the crime scene.
Seeing as Detective Hughes had been the first detective onsite and still in charge of the investigation until NCIS arrived to freeze the scene, he was gracious enough to escort her past the crime scene tape after making sure that she had the required paper booties and latex gloves. Regardless of who was ultimately determined to be the lead agency on this case, Detective Hughes was the ultimate professional. He would never allow anyone to contaminate the scene.
Theo remained in the hotel lobby, but that was best considering the circumstances. He was coordinating the team, giving each of them updated tasks. Sylvie had driven out to the Snyder's family home earlier, while Bit was most likely scouring the hotel's security feeds and preserving a copy of any digital evidence...legally, of course.
Apparently, Theo's father was friends with one of the hotel managers. He had agreed to provide a backup of all data contained in their security system for the past two weeks. He'd given S&E Investigations the approval they needed for Bit to access their system and recall the records from the hotel's drives. It wouldn't be long until NCIS locked down the scene and subsequently requested an FBI forensics team to handle evidence collection, closing access to that particular resource.
Although the murder here in this hotel technically fell under the jurisdiction of the local PD homicide division, an NCIS supervisory agent would arrive soon to relieve Agent Tonkel of his credentials and weapon. The senior NCIS agent would then request the scene be frozen until the FBI could provide a forensics team to preserve and record the scene. Any evidence subsequently collected would be provided by the FBI team to all agencies involved in the case going forward. A local district judge would be consulted, and jurisdiction would be officially determined foregoing any appeals filed in a federal court. All of the red tape involved took time, and it was time Brook was counting on using to her advantage.
Brook had full faith that Bit would get what they needed before the feds shut down the place, not that she expected them to find anything exculpatory. Their unsub was meticulous in his planning. He wouldn't have been able to send seven innocent men to prison without being thorough.
Only their unsub hadn't counted on needing to have this last-minute diversion, which meant there was a chance his planning had been sloppy or incomplete.
All it took was one mistake.
"Brook?"
She'd been staring at the body of a young woman, either in her late twenties or early thirties. Her body was sprawled out on the bed, her sightless eyes staring at the ceiling. She must have been in the process of getting dressed when the unsub had somehow gained access to the room. She was wearing a pair of black slacks with a matching bra. Her blouse was still hanging in the closet, which had been left open. Brook figured the woman was only in town on business for a couple of days, if the two outfits on hangers were any indication.
"When did she check in?"
"Yesterday morning." Detective Hughes grimaced when his gaze landed on the victims' body. "Her name is Samantha Curling. Thirty-one years old. She was a pharmaceutical rep for one of the locally headquartered big pharma companies. I had officers take statements of those who were in the hotel this morning, and the witness who states she saw Agent Tonkel leave the room with a towel in his hand is back in her own room with a female officer. Her partner is stationed outside. She'll need to talk to whoever is going to be in charge of the investigation after the agent arrives on scene...which can't come soon enough."
The unsub would have had to be in this hotel sometime yesterday afternoon or last night if he were to pick out a suitable victim. This murder was clearly a red herring, and Derek Tonkel was supposed to take the fall for it. Technically, he would until Brook was able to speak with the prosecutor or district attorney. She wasn't sure how this would all play out since Derek was with NCIS. She had given him her word that he wouldn't be detained for long.
"Time of death?" Brook asked the medical examiner.
"I'd say no more than ten hours ago, if that. She was stabbed repeatedly with a steak knife from a room service tray, which has already been collected in an evidence bag. She has defensive wounds on her hands, which we've also bagged in case she was able to scratch her attacker." The ME had her phone in her hand and was frowning at the display. "Do you know when the—"
"Detective Hughes?"
"Yes," Hughes responded, casting Brook a sideways glance of irritation. He'd wanted her out of the room before the agent arrived, and now he was on the hook for breaking protocol. Yeah, she was definitely going to owe him a few favors after this was all said and done. "I take it that you're NCIS Agent Ento?"
"I am."
Brook breathed a sigh of relief.
"Sloane. I can't turn around lately without seeing your name or face," Adrian Ento said with a smirk. "I'd say it's good to see you, but we both know that's not true. You're causing me more paperwork, and now I have to lecture the good ol' detective here for giving you access."
