Mercy for the Damned
Page 28
“There’s a large back yard out there, shared with the unit next door, fenced all the way around,” Park supplied. “He could have hopped the fence, or even left through the front door. It was late, he could have gambled that no one would be up and around to see him, and the flames wouldn’t have attracted any attention until they got really out of control.”
“We’ve got a whole lotta nothin’,” Nick sighed in disgust. At that stage of the game it was as though someone had taken a box of puzzle pieces and tossed them into the wind. Not only were they scattered about without any trace of a pattern, he wasn’t even sure if all of the pieces were in one place yet.
Libby stepped into the bedroom doorway and crooked her fingers at the waiting EMT’s who disappeared into the bedroom, wheeling the gurney between them.
Somewhat subdued, Gibson turned to his team. “Okay, now the fun stuff,” he said briskly, all business now. “Park, you take the family, make the call, you know what to do.” Never one to enjoy making that call, he delegated it to Park, who had a gentle touch with victim’s families. “See if you can find out about her friends, if she had a boyfriend, the usual. Brady, start running down the contacts from her phone and computer, I want a list of her clients ASAP. Find out if she’s affiliated with a massage therapy place in town or if she was working freelance on her own. Let’s get her bank records too, see if there’s anything suspicious there. Keep in touch, you know the drill.”
“You got it boss-man,” Brady nodded, scribbling into his notebook, and Park echoed her assent, fingers flying across the screen of her smart phone.
“I’m gonna swing by and check out this occult store, see what I can turn up. See if she was really a tree-hugger type or if she was into any of the dark stuff.” He waved one of the business cards from the desk.
The EMT’s emerged from the bedroom, wheeling the body bag with practiced indifference. “Okay, let’s move like we got a purpose people.” Nick waved them on grimly. All kidding aside, it tore at him to see someone full of youth struck down so senselessly, and he was determined to bring the killer to justice.