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“Sylvie was already stabbed before she drew her firearm.” Arden then gave his reasoning for such an assumption, but Theo had already come to the same conclusion. “A dispute ensued and ended with the fake Erin Smith stabbing Sylvie. If this woman had been in this apartment for two months, learning everything and anything about Sylvie’s life, why attack her tonight?”
Theo lowered his mug to respond to the question, but Arden was already laying out a realistic scenario. One that Theo had already made himself.
“Sylvie would have grabbed the woman’s wrist,” Arden surmised in a soft tone so that Nigel wouldn’t hear them through the cracked doorway of the bedroom. Arden began to methodically act out the scene. “She would have reached out with her dominant hand. Such a decision might have kept the blade inside of her while she reached for her weapon like this.”
Arden followed through the reenactment with his own movements.
“Sylvie pulled the trigger of her firearm, and…”
Theo now understood where Arden was going with his scenario, but there were assumptions by the police that didn’t fit their narrative. Theo had never had the pleasure of working with Arden in the field. The semi-retired private investigator could skillfully read a crime scene, but it tore at Theo’s heart that it had come as a result of Sylvie’s attack.
Upon hearing that she had made it through the surgery, overwhelming relief had crashed over him. Unfortunately, he couldn’t take time to process the events of the evening. He needed to remain focused, and Brook’s absence only added more pressure.
The tension in Theo’s neck returned tenfold.
“The unsub managed to stab Sylvie multiple times, but the firearm was found on the floor.” Theo set his coffee on the countertop before closing the distance to where Arden stood just to the side of the blood stain. “Why not finish the job?”
“The neighbor?” Arden proposed as he once again glanced down at the bloodstain. “Maybe Nigel was yelling loud enough at that point.”
“The door would have been closed,” Theo said as he had already played through several scenarios of what could have taken place between the two women. “Think about it. Sylvie had come home, believing everything was fine. She would have entered the apartment, closed the door behind her, and greeted Erin Smith as if it had been a normal evening. Sylvie would then have checked on her father before joining Erin out in the living room. Look at the distance between the bedroom door and the location where the attack occurred, Arden.”
The scent of dish detergent was strong as the two of them continued to play out the events. There had already been a sterile odor in the apartment from Nigel’s set up in the bedroom, but now the odor was overpowering.
“I spoke with Nigel,” Theo said as he did his best not to inhale too deeply. Seeing as he had been on the phone with Bit the majority of the time since Arden’s arrival, Theo hadn’t had time to brief Arden on what had already taken place. “Nigel said that he’d been noticing odd comments from the aide. She wasn’t as proficient as the other aides, and he observed that she would look back at the other reports before submitting her own. Nigel’s health has deteriorated to the point that he doesn’t have the strength to get out of bed, and the last couple of days the aides have had to…”
Theo let his voice trail off, not comfortable with describing such a private matter. He couldn’t imagine what it was like to need someone else to tend to such personal matters. To have to rely on others for the most basic needs was unfathomable, but life always seemed to come full circle. A newborn depended on others, and those in their last stages of life needed to do the same.
“Let’s just say that the woman had difficulty with such a task,” Theo surmised before Arden nodded his understanding. “Nigel finally told his suspicions to Sylvie tonight, who no doubt confronted the unsub. I’m assuming that Sylvie threatened to call the agency. If our theory is correct, then the woman would have had time to pick up Sylvie’s weapon and finish the job.”
Theo had already slipped his cell phone into one of the back pockets of his pants, but he retrieved it quickly to place another call to Detective Beeson. The detective was not aware that Brook had gone off the grid, and Theo didn’t intend to reveal that piece of information, either.
“Mr. Neville, I’m rather busy at the moment.”
“I’m calling to lighten the load, Detective Beeson. This will now be a joint investigation.” Theo could have taken over the case completely, but by being down two members of the team, it had benefitted S&E Investigations to have additional resources. He also wasn’t sure of the details that Brook had worked out with the Bureau. The last thing he wanted to do was alert the FBI to the disappearance of their lead consultant. “Given our relationship with the Bureau, they feel it would be in everyone’s best interest to have a finger on the pulse of this case. The reason that I’m calling is that we believe the suspect might have been injured during the attack. Since your forensics team has already processed the scene, there isn’t a reason to bring in another one at this time. I’d like for you to alert them that the blood samples from the area rug might be from two separate individuals. I would also appreciate it if you could notify the hospitals and other similar locations to be on the lookout for our unsub.”
Detective Beeson took a moment to process the full meaning behind Theo’s announcement. Theo couldn’t blame the man for being angry.
“I’d like to speak with Ms. Sloane.”
“You’ll be dealing directly with me while Brook handles some in-house affairs.”
By this time, Arden had made his way back into the kitchen. He’d poured a cup of coffee for Carter, who was still in the bedroom with Nigel. The aide hadn’t been comfortable with the events that had transpired inside the apartment, but he seemed to be in his comfort zone taking care of his patient. The amount of morphine Nigel had in his system to keep him comfortable, plus the exhaustion from today’s events, had taken a toll on him.
“We should have informed you earlier, Detective Beeson. My apologies,” Theo said, knowing full well his words meant nothing to the detective. “A federal agent will be arriving shortly to take the place of the officer standing guard outside Miss Deering’s apartment. One of my colleagues will also be on-site per an agreement made with the BOP. A similar setup will be in place at the hospital.”
“In that case, you’ll want to get over to the Smith residence as soon as possible,” Detective Beeson advised without too much resentment. He was a professional through and through, and Theo was grateful for one less concern. His relief was short-lived, though. “We found Smith’s body in her garage stuffed inside a deep freezer. Whoever tried to murder your colleague went to extreme lengths to infiltrate her life. Needless to say, I get the sense that you’re holding out on me, Mr. Neville. I hope that changes soon.”
Chapter Five
Bobby “Bit” Nowacki
February 2024
Friday — 3:17 am
An air of uncertainty had settled over the ICU room. It didn’t help that the overpowering antiseptic scents made it difficult to breathe. Each mechanical whir and rhythmic beep from the monitors seemed to reverberate off the walls, and Bit was confident those sounds would haunt him for a very long time.
Sylvie lay motionless on the hospital bed apart from the somewhat even rise and fall of her chest to indicate that she was still breathing on her own. It was as if her usual vibrant presence had been stolen, and all that was left in its place was a vulnerable shell of a stranger.
