River didn’t want the kid to worry, but Tony was right. Nathan needed to be careful, just in case.

After he left, River leaned back in her chair and met Tony’s gaze. “So? What do you think?”

“I don’t know. Before I render an opinion, I want to see April’s laptop. And I’m especially interested in her notes. If . . . and that’s a big if . . . she wasn’t being paranoid, she’s either dead or in real trouble.”

“I told Nathan she wouldn’t have left without her purse, her laptop, and her phone, but that’s not necessarily true. I’d really like to know what was in her purse.”

“You’re thinking she may have left decoys behind and taken her real credit cards and identification with her?” Tony said.

River nodded. “We’ve seen it before, but why would she want to frighten Nathan and her father? I tend to doubt she would have done that. Why not just tell them she’s going away for a while? It would have been a lot less dramatic, and it might have stopped them from looking for her. And I meant what I said about her cat. That fact alone makes me believe she didn’t leave of her own accord.”

“I’ve never had a cat, but I’d never leave Watson behind. He’s family. I’d like to look at her bank accounts and credit card statements. See if she’s still using them.”

River frowned. “Her father would have checked that, right? Just to make certain she’s okay?”

“I don’t know. Even if he’d believed she’s really missing, most adults don’t give their parents their bank account information.”

“Maybe April had access to funds no one knew about.”

Tony’s right eyebrow shot up. “Like another credit card? But payments would show up on her checking account . . . unless she opened a new one and didn’t tell anyone.”

River could see his mind working.

Finally, he sighed. “You know, if her father believed she was in trouble, this thing would be a lot easier.”

“Maybe. I keep thinking that April seems to be particularly savvy. I think she could have created another identity if she’d wanted to. I doubt seriously she would keep using her credit cards or her checking account if she was trying to hide.”

Tony grunted. “You’re probably right.” His eyes locked on hers. “You think she’s still alive?”

“I don’t know. Until we know more, I don’t want to speculate.”

“So, what does that note mean? Who could have sent it?”

“That’s exactly what I’m wondering,” River said. “April wouldn’t mail it if she wants to stay concealed. And if someone took her, or worse, they wouldn’t send it. If this was some kind of killer who wanted attention, he wouldn’t wait this long—and he’d be touting his own superiority, not making it sound like she was still alive.”

Tony was quiet for a moment. “Is this case hitting a little too close to home for you? Is that going to be a problem?”

River was still a little unnerved by Nathan’s revelation, although she didn’t want Tony to know it. Even though this situation wasn’t exactly the same as hers, River couldn’t help but feel a deep connection to the missing woman. However, if she ever decided to leave, she wouldn’t do it like this. She would never allow Tony to wonder if she’d been abducted. He would assume the Strangler’s accomplice had taken her. She couldn’t possibly do that to him.

“We need to keep ourselves out of the equation,” River said, struggling to sound composed. “We really have no idea what’s going on yet.”

Tony gazed at her for several seconds, making River feel a little unsettled. Sometimes she could swear he was able to see right through her. Finally, he got up, retrieved the envelope with the letter, and took it back to his desk.

“Let me see if I can get any fingerprints from this,” he said. “If I can, I’ll send the images to Arnie so he can ask the lab to run them through IAFIS.”

IAFIS maintained tens of millions of fingerprints. It even stored prints from crime scenes that were never matched to an individual in hopes that at some point they could be identified.

“It’s protocol to send the letter to the police,” River said. “Let them look for fingerprints.”

“I realize that, but we’re former FBI. Arnie won’t care if we do it. They’re so backed up, it could take them forever to get to it. After I send them the images, we’ll turn the letter over.”

“I don’t know. What if this turns out to be important evidence?”

Tony shrugged. “The St. Louis PD will run the prints. No one cares who found the images. Arnie will make sure everything turns out okay.”

River didn’t say anything, but if this ended up being a vital clue, it might be inadmissible in a trial. She was also worried about going through April’s things. They didn’t actually belong to her father since April hadn’t yet been declared dead, but at some point, it was possible they would have to be turned over to the police.

Tony put on a new pair of gloves and removed the letter from the evidence bag. Then he retrieved a fingerprint kit from his desk and carefully sprinkled dark powder on the white paper. With a small brush, he whisked away the extra powder.

River realized she was holding her breath and slowly let it out. A moment later, Tony looked up at her.

“I have prints, but they’re probably Nathan’s.” He took out a roll of tape and nodded at River. “Could you get me a piece of printer paper?”

She got up and got another glove. Then she walked over to the printer and picked up a piece of paper using the glove to protect it from her own prints. She carried it back to Tony and laid it on his desk. He carefully placed a piece of tape over each fingerprint and transferred it to the clean paper. When he was done, there were six very clear prints and a couple of smudged ones.

“I’ll call Arnie and let him know this is coming,” Tony said.

River nodded. “I’ll get online. I want to listen to April’s podcasts.”

“Good idea,” Tony said. “Didn’t Nathan say she was working on seven cases at the time she disappeared, including the Castlewood Casanova case?”

“Yeah,” River said. “Just because she mentioned suspicions about that one, it doesn’t mean it’s connected. Or that any of them are.”

“That one is close though,” Tony said. “Ballwin’s a little less than twenty miles from here. The others could be in different states. Less likely anyone connected lives close enough to be stalking her.”

“Not impossible though. If she has listeners in other parts of the country, someone could still be worried if she’s getting too close.” River looked at the clock. “It’s after eleven. Why don’t you get us some lunch before I start researching? Once I get started, I hate to quit.”

“Sounds great,” Tony said, getting to his feet. “What are you in the mood for?”

River smiled. “Gyros?”

Tony laughed. “You’re reading my mind.”

The Gyro Company had become one of their favorite places to eat. From their gyros to their hummus and all their other great choices, River and Tony never tired of it.

“Grab some tiramisu too,” River called out as Tony headed out the door.

“You didn’t have to tell me.”

After thinking about it, River decided she also wanted some hummus. She searched the top of her desk for her phone, but it wasn’t there. She grabbed her purse and looked through it too, but no phone. Maybe she left it in the car. Hopefully she could catch Tony before he left the parking lot. She got up and hurried out of the office and down the hallway.

The other reason she’d suggested an early lunch was because she needed to clear her head. She couldn’t stop thinking about April. Had she made the choice River had been willing to make to protect Tony? Did she leave to keep the man she loved out of harm’s way?

As she jogged past the other businesses that lined the hallway on the second floor, River glanced briefly at a couple of the newer ones. The first was a graphic design firm called Art Attack Design. Cute name. There were two men and a woman working at computers who didn’t look her way as she passed by. They’d said hello, though, when she’d passed them in the hallway before. They all seemed nice. The other new business, down at the end of the hall was called TSRS. Just one man working there. So far, they’d never spoken. He kept to himself. There wasn’t anything on his door or on his windows to indicate what kind of business it was. The man looked up from his desk and saw her. He had dark hair, a mustache, a small beard, and thick black glasses. He smiled, and she returned his smile. As she hurried down the stairs, she realized she was breathing quickly. She always felt a little anxious when Tony was gone. Silly. She was a grown woman, armed, and trained by the FBI. As she tried to catch Tony before he left, she did her best to focus on their new case and not think about the Strangler’s partner, who had threatened to carry out Joseph Baker’s death sentence.

CHAPTER

FIVE