“Sure,” Delaney said, standing up. “I’ll meet you up there. I’m freezing my ass off.”

Theo and Delaney sat at the top of the stairs. Theo wanted to make sure she could hear Indigo in the tub, but she didn’t want Indigo to hear what she and Delaney were talking about.

“I went in and started the autopsy today. All murders are brutal. This one was exceptionally so.”

“Ashley said she was raped.”

“I’m surprised she had that information. I’ll have to talk to Ames. Somebody in his department has loose lips.”

“Then I probably shouldn’t tell you she knows Mina was strangled then.”

“Damn it. None of that has been shared with the public yet. She was both of those things. Actually, I think she might have been raped more than once. Her left ankle was badly broken. He tried to break the right one, too, but he didn’t quite get the job done.”

“Does it make you feel any better to know Ashley didn’t have that information?”

“Only a little.”

“Why would he do that? Break her ankles.”

“Because he’s a sick bastard?”

“That goes without saying. You know what I mean.”

Theo wasn’t a large woman, but Delaney was swimming in her sweatshirt. Theo noticed she’d stopped shivering. She could hear the sing song of Indigo’s voice behind them. Jupiter barked, then Indigo laughed.

“It’s anybody’s guess, but it could’ve been to make sure Mina couldn’t escape.”

Theo pressed a palm to her stomach. “All of a sudden dinner isn’t sitting so well.”

“I’m sorry. It’s odd. I know that Mina was most likely terrified. I mean, who wouldn’t be in that situation? But I didn’t find as many defensive wounds as I suspected I would.”

“You mean cuts and scratches on her arms from fighting her attacker?”

“That’s exactly what I mean. I’m testing what I pulled from underneath her fingernails, but I didn’t find much.”

“Why didn’t she fight harder?”

“A person who has just had their ankles broken is going to be in a whole hell of a lot of pain. She probably couldn’t move very well, which was, in my opinion, the reason he did that in the first place. It’s also possible that Mina had gone into shock. She most likely knew what was coming. Her brain might’ve clicked off in a subconscious effort to protect itself. I won’t get any test results back until later in the week, but I’m wondering if I’ll find any drugs in her system.”

“Alcohol?”

“More than likely. Ashley said she was meeting her date at The Copper Queen, right? She probably had at least a drink or two. Maybe more. Do you know if she did drugs?”

“I never met Mina. I saw her once when she dropped Ash off at the office. Ashley’s car was in the shop. Mina waved at me before she pulled away from the building. Ashley’s never said anything, but she works for me. I doubt that’s the kind of information she’d share.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right.” Delaney seemed to be mulling something over. “The way this poor woman died … it was overkill, you ask me. She wasn’t strangled with rope or fabric. I think he used his hands, and he was much more forceful than he needed to be in order to get the job done.”

“So, what are you thinking?”

“Well, I’ve got to wonder if this was personal for this asshole. There was a lot of rage behind this attack. I can’t know anything for sure, but my gut tells me what I’m seeing was more a crime of passion than something random. I’m wondering if this guy thought he had a score to settle.”

Theo heard Delaney’s phone buzz. She stood up and fished it out of her pocket. A look of concern washed over her face, and she started down the stairs before she’d looked away from the screen.

“You okay?”

“Um, I don’t know. I need to take care of this. Smooch the kid goodnight for me, will you?”

“Sure.” Theo pulled herself to her feet.

“I’ll check in when I have more answers.” Delaney had grabbed her coat from the peg it hung on and was through the door before Theo even had a chance to tell her goodnight. She heard the click of the door, then Jordan’s footsteps on the hardwoods when he came in to make sure the deadbolt was engaged. He looked up to see Theo standing at the top of the stairs.

“What do you know about online dating?”

He gave her a smile. “I don’t know if you’ve heard, but I have a girlfriend.”

“Very funny,” she said. “Have you ever used them?”

He shook his head. “No. I know a ton of people do. Some even find the love of their life doing things that way. It’s never appealed to me, though I can’t exactly explain why.”

“So you know as much as I do then.”

“If that.”

“Delaney took off really fast. She got a text that sent her running. She wouldn’t tell me what was going on.”

“It’s Jordan’s turn for stories tonight!” Indigo hollered from the tub.

“You’ve been summoned,” Theo told him.

“The kitchen is clean. As soon as she’s ready, so am I.”

“Are you a prune yet?” Theo yelled back toward the bathroom.

“Not yet, but my hair’s all soapy!”

“Sounds like it’s time for me to come get you, then.”

“We’ll keep our eyes on her,” Jordan said. Theo knew he was talking about Delaney.

“Yeah, okay,” she nodded. She stepped into the bathroom to see Indigo’s grinning face beneath a swirl of sudsy hair that looked like the top of a sundae. She laughed even though tears came to her eyes. The world was a very ugly place sometimes. It was nice to be reminded of the beauty it held.

9. DECK THE HALLS

Theo pulled into a vacant space in the Sprouts and Sprigs Preschool parking lot at eight-forty Monday morning. By the time she’d hugged and kissed Indigo half a dozen times, then made her way to the alley behind the Brubaker Building, it was nearly nine.