I nodded. “Male? Adult?”

“Yes. Dr. Phillips is in the bathroom with him. He told me you could go straight in when you got here.”

I touched Officer Steele’s arm gently. He gave me a tired look.

“Thank you.”

I went to the bathroom, where Dr. Phillips was standing bent over the body. It was a relief that it wasn’t another child, I had to admit, but still hit me hard. Any life taken too soon was unbearable.

“Detective Wilde,” Dr. Phillips said with an exhale. “We need to stop meeting like this.”

It was an old joke that he had used many times before. Still, I smiled at it politely. I stepped closer to the body. The man was young, probably in his early thirties. He was lying on the floor, naked, with his eyes wide open, staring up at the ceiling. Bruises on his neck told me everything I needed to know.

They were similar to Cassandra’s and that terrified me.

“What do you know?” I asked, trying to keep my voice steady. I didn’t like what I was looking at one bit, that was for sure.

“We won’t know with certainty until the autopsy,” Dr. Phillips said. “But it looks familiar, right? I’d say he was strangled with a leather belt with a big buckle. His body is clean and hair still wet, so I assume he was in the shower, then was attacked when he came out. Killer came up from behind and used the belt to strangle him.”

My heart sank. It was a tragic end for a young life.

“Do we know who he is?”

Dr. Phillips nodded. “His name is Bryan Henderson. The neighbors identified him. This is his condo.”

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, trying to stay focused. I had seen too much death in my career as a detective, but it never got any easier. I nodded. “All right. We need all evidence bagged and secured. If this killer left any DNA behind, I want it found.”

I said the words to Tom as I stepped back out into the bedroom. I walked around the bed and noticed it had been slept in. It was ripped up on both sides, and the sheet messed up on both sides as well. There were smears of makeup on the pillow on the right side. I took a picture with my phone for myself. Then I spotted a hair, a long blond one. I signaled for Steele to bring me an evidence bag and put it in and sealed it. I handed it to him.

“Bryan wasn’t alone last night. Someone was here with him,” I said and lifted a wineglass up from the side of the bed. It had visible smears of lip gloss on it. I handed it to Steele to secure it safely. I then found a bra on the floor, which he secured as well, using tweezers to pick it up. I spotted a dress on the floor.

“I’d say he had female companionship. And said female was in a hurry to get out of here. She didn’t even have time to get dressed. I bet you her phone and maybe even wallet might be here somewhere too.”

TWENTY-FOUR

Then

Kitty’s mom left early for work that morning. Her stepdad was already gone as usual, for his job at the auto shop. Her mom looked at her just before she left, then kissed her cheek.

“You’ll have to walk to the bus by yourself. I think you’re old enough. Can you do that?”

Kitty nodded. “Of course.”

Kitty put on her favorite pink dress and grabbed her backpack. Her mom had forgotten to make her lunch, so she smeared some peanut butter on a piece of toast, put some jelly on top, and put it in a bag, all while eating cereal. She also grabbed a bag of chips from the pantry and a pack of cookies, taking advantage of the fact that her parents weren’t there to tell her not to.

Smiling happily, she walked up the small hill toward the bus stop at the end of her street. It was hot out, and she became sweaty quickly. She passed the swampy area close to their house and gasped lightly. She had seen a gator in the water a few weeks ago, and she had run to the other side of the street. The branches heavy with Spanish moss seemed like they were reaching for her, and she picked up the pace. After ten minutes of walking, it seemed like the bus stop was even farther away than when she started. She was feeling so hot and tired already.

Kitty looked up at the scorching sun and wiped the sweat off her forehead and upper lip. She wondered if she should have worn shorts instead of the pink dress, but she loved the way the dress fluttered when she turned. Suddenly, a car pulled over by her side, and the window lowered.

At first, she didn’t pay them any attention; she had been taught not to talk to strangers and knew better than that. But then a familiar voice called out her name.

“If it isn’t pretty Kitty?”

She stopped and smiled. This was no stranger. “Officer Damian!”

“Please, just Damian,” he said. “What are you doing out here all alone in this scorching heat?”

“I’m walking to the school bus,” she said.

“Oh, you haven’t heard?” he said.

“Heard what?”

“School is canceled for today. The AC broke down, and they can’t teach when it is this hot.”

She felt lost. “School is canceled? But what…?”

“How about I take you out for an ice cream instead, huh? Doesn’t that sound way more fun? No one wants to do anything in this heat anyway, am I right? I’ll call your mom and let her know where you are. She’ll be happy to know that you’re safe with me.”

Ice cream did sound good. Very good actually.

“Can I get cookies and cream?”

That made him laugh. “You can get any ice cream you want to, baby girl. Any flavor you crave.”

He reached over and opened the door for her, so she could get in. Kitty stared up the hill, at the other kids who were waiting for the bus. She felt bad for them that they didn’t know that school was canceled, and that you could go get ice cream instead.

She got into the car, and they took off. She looked out the window at the kids from her school, who were still standing there, like it was any ordinary day.

Little could she have known it was the last time she would see them.

TWENTY-FIVEBILLIE ANN

“Right there, stop.”

I pointed at the screen, and the man clicked the mouse. His name was Blake, and he was the president of the board of the condominium where we had found the body of Bryan Henderson. He was also the one responsible for the cameras that had been put up around the building. He hadn’t been home himself when the murder took place, so he hadn’t seen anything helpful. But I was hoping the cameras had.

“There she is,” I said and tried to get a good look at the face of the woman walking into the building with Bryan Henderson earlier this same night. I recognized the dress she was wearing as the same blue one I had found on the floor. I took a picture of the screen with my phone, then asked Blake to send all the files to us so we could go through them.

“Okay, that’s her arriving,” I said. “Can you fast-forward it a little, so we can see when she leaves?”

He nodded, pushed his glasses back up in place and clicked the mouse. He was an elderly man, but seemed to be on top of what he was doing. He kept rolling the footage, but nothing happened. The next-door neighbor who found the body came home and entered through the main entrance. I recognized her after I had interviewed her. But there was no sign of the woman who had been with Henderson.

“That’s odd,” I said, “try to go back again.”

We went back and then ended up with the same result. No footage of the woman leaving the building.

“That’s it,” Blake said and took off his reading glasses. He looked up at me with a shrug. “That’s all there is, I’m afraid.”