Page 114

Blake’s jaw hardened. “Did he have anything on him?”

Lincoln turned his intense stare Blake’s way. “His wedding ring and the clothes on his back.”

“If they left the ring, that pretty much rules out robbery,” Gwen muttered.

Scarlett slid another picture to the center of the table. “And then there’s this.”

Blake studied the image. It showed a small section of Mitchell’s shirt collar. A faint, reddish-brown smear marked the fabric.

“Blood?” He looked to the expert.

“Possibly. A sample’s been sent to the lab. We’re waiting on confirmation.”

Devon frowned. “The man was murdered. What is so unusual about that?”

“The placement.” Scarlett tapped a manicured nail against the photograph. “It’s on the inside of the collar, near the back of his neck. There’s no obvious injury in that exact location that would explain it.”

“So it might belong to someone else,” Emmett suggested.

“That’s one possibility.” Scarlett nodded. “Or it could be transfer from an earlier injury or another surface. We won’t know until the lab finishes testing.”

Blake stared at the image. A tiny smear. So small, most wouldn’t have noticed.

But Scarlett had.

“Can you get a DNA profile?” he asked.

“If it’s blood and there’s enough material, we’ll definitely try.”

Lincoln folded his arms. “We’re also pulling surveillance footage from the surrounding streets. The building itself doesn’t have cameras, but several businesses nearby do.”

“There’s something else,” Scarlett announced. “Mitchell’s wife told investigators her husband had been frightened for several days before he disappeared. He’d mentioned finding discrepancies in company records, and that he’d been looking into them during his free time. She said he was worried somebody had discovered what he was doing.”

Devon went still. “Just like me.”

Blake put a hand to her uninjured shoulder and gave her a gentle squeeze.

Scarlett looked between them. “That’s why I wanted to come out here. If Mitchell found the same discrepancies Devon uncovered, there’s a good chance he knew more about the people behind them.”

“Except now he’s dead,” Devon said quietly.

“Yes.”

The kitchen fell silent.

Blake knew what Devon was thinking.

Another person had died because of this operation, and those responsible were still walking around free.

“We need to find whoever’s running Meridian,” she muttered.

Emmett nodded. “We’re working on it.”

“We need to work faster.” Blake met his team leader’s stare.

An hour-and-a-half later, Lincoln and Scarlett were driving back to the city. The afternoon had grown overcast, and a cold wind rattled the branches outside the kitchen windows. Blake stood near the back door with Emmett, discussing security arrangements.

“Jethro’s staying through the night,” Emmett told him. “Draven overcaffeinated himself again, so he said he’s good taking the first shift with him before heading home to sleep. I’ll have Lucas and Gwen relieve them first thing in the morning.”