One of the crime techs walked over with a bagged phone. “Detective, we found this under the vic’s bed.”
A lucky break? Emerson was not feeling lucky, but this was the first time they’d found a phone.
“Thanks for telling me.”
Her head pounded and the ache in her heart wouldn’t stop.
Her partner, Nikki, entered the bedroom. “I got here as soon as I heard.” Her gaze fell on Claire-Marie. “He staged this one differently. What’s he trying to tell us?”
“I know her,” Emerson whispered.
“Ohmygod, no,” Nikki replied.
“This is my best friend’s sister.”
Nikki stepped forward and Emerson held up her hand. “I’m okay,” she lied. “I’ve gotta push through this.” Emerson squelched down the tidal waves of emotions threatening to burst forth.
“I’m sorry,” Nikki whispered. “I’m so sorry.”
After a few seconds, Emerson nodded as she swallowed down the mounting grief. “I think he’s going for shock factor. The chair is opposite the door. Claire-Marie is the first thing we saw when we walked in. He’s letting us know he can command the room. He’s in control.”
“I have news,” Nikki said, “and you’re not gonna like it.”
How much worse could the day get? Her best friend’s sister was dead.
“I never heard back from Parker’s sister, so I called him. His phone went right to voicemail, which means he turned it off, or it’s out of juice. I swung by his apartment. No answer. I’ve requested a search warrant.”
“You think he’s running?” Emerson asked.
Nikki shrugged a shoulder. “Something isn’t right. Do you know if he’s been at work?”
Emerson hadn’t seen him at the club last night, but he could have been working on L2. Rather than assume his whereabouts, she called Stryker. His phone rang, then rolled to voicemail. She sent him a text. “Can you tell me if Parker’s been at work the past few days?”
No dots appeared. “I might not get an answer until later.”
“Hey, Detectives.” Lyle stood in the bedroom doorway, a uniformed officer by his side. “Can I come in?”
“Terrible timing,” Emerson mumbled. “What are you doing here, Lyle?”
“I heard on the police scanner, so I came right over.” He shifted his attention to the victim and laid his hand over his heart. “I can’t believe this happened again. It’s so sad.”
“This is an active crime scene and you can’t be here,” Emerson said.
“Wait, Detective,” Lyle blurted. “I’m wondering if the captain would want you to go public with the story. I can help with that. You know, change up the focus of my piece. Isn’t it time the public was warned?”
Emerson addressed the officer. “Please escort Mr. Barnham out and don’t let anyone else in.”
“Let’s go,” said the policeman.
“I can help you solve this,” Lyle said over his shoulder as he was led out.
“I’m done answering his questions,” Emerson said. “I don’t care how many complaints he files against me.”
“I think he’s got a point,” Nikki said. “We need to talk to Captain Perry. I know they don’t want to fuel the killer by giving this a lot of media attention, but if we don’t do something different, nothing’s gonna change.”
* * *
Stryker spent the entire morning and half the damn afternoon stuck in meetings. When the last one ended, he high-tailed it to his office, stopping at his assistant’s desk. “No interruptions for the next fifteen.”
