nod of agreement. “I understand perfectly. And I really hope we’re successful this time.”
“We will be. I won’t stop working until I get him. Or her.”
“Do you think the killer could be a woman?”
“Maybe. I never rule anything out.” Mike took another cookie and devoured it. “What else do you want to know from me, Hannah?”
“I’d like to know why my closet doors were open. I distinctly remember closing them before I left for work.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’m positive. One door was stuck and it wouldn’t close until I pulled out one of Moishe’s mouse toys that had gotten stuck in the track. I tossed it to him and he ran out to the living room to hide it there.”
“You don’t suppose Moishe could have . . .” Mike stopped speaking in mid-thought. “No, of course he couldn’t have pulled all those clothes and boxes out into the bedroom.”
“I knew what you were thinking and you’re right. Moishe couldn’t have done it, not if there were boxes pulled out on the floor. I had things that were packed in boxes, but the boxes were all on the top closet shelf.”
“Okay. If you’re sure you closed the closet doors, then either the victim or his killer was looking for something hidden in your closet. You didn’t leave any boxes of clothes on the bedroom floor, did you?”
“No. I always put things away when I leave the bedroom in the morning.”
“Then whoever it was assumed that something was hidden in your closet or in one of your dresser drawers. And whoever it was didn’t take the time to put anything back.” Mike frowned slightly. “You didn’t notice the mess on the carpet, Hannah?”
“I don’t remember if I did or not. The only thing I remember clearly was the bed. And . . . him. That’s all.”
“You’re sure?”
Even though she didn’t want to relive those painful moments, Hannah thought back to her first sight of the bedroom. “If I saw the things on the floor, my mind didn’t process it.”
“All right. Is there anything that you normally keep in your bedroom that either Ross or the killer might have wanted?”
“The money!” Hannah gasped, the answer hitting her squarely in her solar plexus. “I think someone was searching for the money! Remember when Doug told us he didn’t think Ross believed him when he claimed that he never kept the large amount of money that Ross wanted in the bank safe? That’s when Ross accused Doug of giving the money to me.”
“Exactly.” Mike reached out to give her a little pat on the back. “That was the first thing that occurred to me. It could have been the money, but it also could have been something else.”
“Like what?”
“Like something Ross left behind in your bedroom, something he needed to take with him when he left.”
“That makes sense,” Hannah said. “It could even be something he hid in my bedroom on purpose and he planned to come back for it later.”
“That’s possible, too. Did you clean out your closet, or reorganize it, or anything like that after Ross left?”
“No. I didn’t have the heart or the time to do that. And don’t forget that, at least at first, I expected him to come back any day. I just closed his side of the closet and didn’t even open it while he was gone, and then, when I realized that he probably wasn’t coming back, I felt so betrayed, I didn’t want to see anything that reminded me of him.”
“That’s understandable, Hannah. It was a very painful time for you. I felt that way on a smaller scale when my wife was killed. I didn’t want to look at her clothes and remember. It was over six months before I was able to pack them up and give them to charity.”
Mike looked so sad that Hannah knew she had to change the subject. “Do you think that I should go back to the condo and look to see if I notice anything that’s missing?”
“Eventually, yes. Right now your condo is still off-limits to everyone. The crime scene team is lifting fingerprints and it’s going to take them a while.”
Hannah gave a little groan. Her condo would be an absolute mess when the crime scene people got through. She’d gone through this once before when Connie Mac was killed in her walk-in cooler and she’d needed to run countless loads of baking pans, cookie sheets, and mixing bowls through her industrial dishwasher to make sure they were free