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I think in my head that it would be fine if it was Grey. That asshole thinking Daphne would want to go out with him. Doesn't he know that she's smart? Not at all like his other girlfriends. I hope he gets the scary-looking guy. He needs to learn how to be intimidated at least once in his lifetime.
Daphne says something to Nisa, and I miss it because I'm daydreaming about Grey. Great. She gets up and tells me goodbye as she walks out the door. Must've told Nisa the same. Nisa and I stand facing each other.
"Your salad is waiting downstairs in the break room. I didn't have time to bring it up here for you. Sorry about that. If you want, I can go get it."
"It's okay, Archer. It will help if I get it. Scare a few people that think the break room is safe from me." She smiles, and I just
now remember that she can be very dangerous-looking at times. Even though she's shorter than me, she could definitely kick my ass. I've heard about her missions undercover. She's definitely earned her spot here.
"Okay. I'm going to go through Rory's file again to see if we are missing anything. It just does not make sense that someone would target him. His house was clean?"
"Nothing of concern there. I don't get it either, and we haven't heard anything else. It seems like he may have just been at the wrong place, and someone took their anger out on him. It's sad. He only had his dad; his mom left town, and they can't get ahold of her." She starts to fiddle with the pen on her desk.
"Damn. That sucks. I'm sure we will figure it out after the interviews. I'm going to get out to scope out the house myself if that's all right with you?"
"Yeah, maybe you might find something that they couldn't. Use your brains, and we might have a lead by tonight."
"Let me know when Daphne gets the results, please. I'll interview the girl as soon as I hear from you."
She nods her head. "You got it."
I leave her office and head back down to my desk. I just have to get Rory's address, and I'll be making my way there in my work car.
***
I'm standing across from Rory's house. It's all boarded up. There is no doubt that the team is letting no one through because there might still be evidence in there that they missed. The door isn't boarded up, though. That would be a pain in the ass if it was. The key was his father's spare. Giving it to us to help us find his son's killer. I feel for the guy. It's a horrible way to find out that a loved one has passed. Not only that but he was tortured beforehand.
The house itself is cute. It kind of reminds me of a cottage. It is small and white with a green roof. It's something you'd see in a movie. I make my way across the street and do a small sweep of the road to see if any neighbors are watching.
If the neighbor was the killer, though, they'd already be gone when the agents came and took evidence. None of the other houses look vacant, so that's a good sign. Nobody is peeking through the window, so it's an even better indication.
I walk up the steps and grab the key to unlock the door. Opening it, I can tell that the team has already done a good sweep. I know without even going in that, there would probably be nothing. Like always, they leave the place a mess, and this house is extra messy. They did their jobs well this time. I kind of feel bad for his dad, who no doubt is the one who's going to be cleaning it. I decided to do a quick walk-through to make sure there's definitely nothing here for us to use.
The house itself is pretty tiny. From what I can see, it's only two bedrooms. One of them must've been turned into an office. There's a desk but no computer. No doubt another agent is looking through it. Unless Daphne got it and hasn't had the time to look at it. I'll have to ask her when I get back.
I move from the homemade office into the next bedroom.
This house is so boring. It's all beige, there's nothing of color. Not even a maroon. Just beige and brown. Does that show that Rory was just depressed or that he moved around a lot? It would make sense if he moved around because then he wouldn't want to add any personal touches to his house.
His bedroom looks clear, so I head into the kitchen. Again, it's done in browns. In the kitchen, it doesn't look bad, but to have such a monochrome house. It just must be boring to see this all day, every day. I mean, even the kitchen towels are brown. I really shouldn't judge, though. Some would say my house was too colorful for them.
Looking at the kitchen, I make the rash conclusion that I will definitely not find anything here, and I make my way out. Going down the hallway again, I step on a piece of wood, and it creaks. It's a very loud creak. A creak that could be nothing or could have been lifted to get to something underneath it. Well, this is a new development.
I stare at the floor, and on the other side of the wood, it looks
like the corner is poking up just a touch. They probably didn't notice it because multiple people were walking at the same time. I look at the wood and wonder how he got it out.
Running back to the kitchen, I grab a butter knife and go back to the board to wedge it underneath the little corner. Lifting it up slowly so as to not break the wood, it opens up to a small space underneath.
There's cash underneath. A lot of it. Well, this changes everything. What the hell was this guy into on the side for him to have this much cash? Or did he gamble a lot, and that's why he has this much? There's got to be some evidence either on his computer or phone. Money just wouldn't appear out of nowhere.
That is unless he didn't know about it. I run outside to grab an evidence bag and gloves from my trunk. We need Daphne to analyze it and see if there are any fingerprints. If there is, they will help our case tremendously if it traces back to one of the four suspects.
Getting back inside the house, I put on the gloves and started
to put the money in the bag. From what I see, there must be at least 80k here. What's weird is it's still here. The person who killed him didn't come for it. It doesn't make any sense unless it genuinely is two unrelated cases. That would make the most sense because if I was that person, I wouldn't leave this much money behind. I mean, I don't think anyone in their right mind would leave this just lying around for the next home buyer to maybe find. Although they might just think there's a creak in the floor and not a little hidden opening underneath.
Grabbing the last of the money, I pull out my Sharpie and write on the bag the time I found it and exactly where. I'm leaving the house feeling very accomplished; I get in the car and start my way back to the FBI building.
