do we got so far?”
“I ran the DNA on the fingernail. It matches the victim, but the odd thing is that her fingernails are not painted or long.”
“So nothing.”
“The autopsy came back. One would think the victim died from all the wounds or the decapitation, but that’s not the case. We don’t know the actual cause of death, but we suspect that it was trauma to the head. One thing we know for sure is that all the wounds were inflicted postmortem. Time of death is estimated between 10:15 and 10:45 p.m.”
“Damn, sounds like we have an angry murderer.”
“I think so.”
“Anything else?” Daniels asked.
“The bunny mask was a dead end. No hairs, fibers, skin, or blood was found in our forensic testing.
Daniels shook his head in frustration. “So it was a prop.”
“Yep, looks that way.” Brady looked down at his notes. “The dead rabbits we found nothing for either. They’re another prop.”
Fuck! Another dead end. Will we ever catch a break in this case? “Is that all?”
“That’s all we’ve got. However, we should have an ID on the victim later today.”
“Thank God, finally some good news.” He leaned back in his chair. “Thanks, Brady, I’m sure I don’t have to tell you, but this case is a priority.”
“You got it, boss,” Brady said as he got up from his chair and proceeded to the door.
***
Daniels spent the next several hours going over his case file. He checked everything off in his head. Fingernail, possible dead end. Bunny mask, dead end. Dead rabbit, another dead end. Daniels knew that the first forty-eight hours in a homicide were the most crucial. It had now been seventy-two, and the case was already starting to get cold. In all his years in this line of work, he’d never had a case go this long without getting some sort of lead. Realizing he had nowhere to go, he reached into his pocket and pulled out the napkin where Anna had written down her number. He grabbed his phone and dialed the number. She answered on the first ring.
“Hello.”
“Anna, it’s Lieutenant Daniels.” She fucked me!
“Oh, hi.”
“I’d like to talk to you about that case we discussed over coffee this morning. I was wondering if you had time this afternoon to stop by the department.”
“Of course I can,” she said, then hesitated. “Traffic should be light this time of day. I’m guessing I can be there in about thirty minutes if that works for you.”
“Perfect.”
When Anna arrived, Susie brought her to Daniels’s office. Behind closed doors, Daniels went over all the details he had on the case. He explained to her that he was still waiting for an ID on the victim, information about the cell phone, and any fingerprints or DNA left at the scene.
About an hour after Anna arrived, Brady came by his office. He knocked, and Daniels motioned for him to enter. He hesitated at first, looking at the woman who was sitting in Daniels’s office, unsure if he should hold off giving him the information he found. But Daniels quickly rectified Brady’s concerns when he introduced her. “Brady, this is Anna Jordan. She’s a profiler at the FBI Academy, and she is going to help us with this case.” He turned back toward Brady. “Whatcha got?”
“Got an ID, sir,” he said proudly. “Her name is Abigail Andrews. She lived in Clifton for the last fifteen years. Her current residence is on Doyle Drive. You know, where all those big-ass mansions are?”
Daniels nodded.
“We didn’t get much on her next of kin. Husband is deceased, both parents are deceased, and the only surviving family member that we are aware of is a sister, Aubrey James.”
“Got an address for the victim’s sister?”
“Nope, can’t find anything on the sister yet. We’ll still keep searching though.” He handed Daniels a piece of paper. “Here is the victim’s address.”
“Good, thanks, Brady.”
Brady turned to leave, nodded at Anna as he passed by her, and was out the door.
“Anna, I’m gonna have to cut this short. I have to go check this out.”
“Of course, I leave you to it.” She got up and gathered her things. “In the meantime, I’ll see what I can find out with the information you’ve given me.”
“That would be great, thanks.”
Turning toward the door, she said over her shoulder, “I had a really good time last night.”
He smiled. “Me too.”
She nodded. “I’ll be in touch.”
Daniels grabbed his keys and walked out behind Anna. He stopped at Susie’s desk. “I’m going to check out a lead. Shark