“It looks like they’ve been together for three or four years now,” Amanda added.
“Any criminal history to speak of?”
“That would be a negative, boss. She’s squeaky clean.”
“Hold that thought,” Amanda spoke up.
“What is it?”
“It looks like we’ve got a couple of reports of domestic disturbance calls to her house,” Amanda said. “Looks like there were three in total over the last few years.”
“What sort of disturbances?”
“Fighting,” Amanda replied. “But no arrests were ever made. These are just advisory bulletins in the system. But she and Seth had some bumpy times, it appears.”
“Those had to be some pretty bad fights to get the department to roll on them,” Jacob said.
“But not bad enough for anybody to be detained over them,” Spenser said.
“Couples fight. Some of them sound worse than they are, and I don’t have to tell you that neighbors are nosy in this town. It’s not surprising somebody called us,” Amanda offered.
“Okay, so they weren’t the perfect picture of loving bliss,” Spenser said.
“Or somebody simply overreacted,” Amanda said. “I’m inclined to think the latter since there are no arrest records here.”
“Yeah, it’s a possibility,” Spenser admitted.
“They seem like a pretty loving, very normal couple to me,” Amanda said.
On the monitor, the DMV shot of Layla was replaced by pictures of her and Hamill from their social media platforms. The mostly candid photos showed the couple together in various spots around the world, working out, sharing a meal, walking on the beach, and playing music together. In the photos, Spenser can see the genuine affection between them. The way Layla looks at Hamill is particularly striking. To Spenser, she looks like a woman caught tight in the grip of love.
“She looks at him the way you look at Ryker,” Amanda said with a sly grin.
Spenser’s cheeks grew warm, and she tried to fight off the curl to her lips that seemed to be an automatic reflex whenever his name was mentioned. Though it appalled her, Spenser couldn’t refute Amanda’s teasing since she was pretty sure the woman was right. There was no denying the glow that lit her up whenever she was around Ryker. And she probably did have that same lovesick expression she saw on Layla’s face. It wasn’t something she could control. It just happened organically.
“Oh, I just got Arbery’s report in my inbox,” Amanda said, thankfully steering the conversation in another direction.
“What did he find?”
“He says he and his team went through Hamill’s house meticulously,” she read.
“Of course they did. They’re nothing if not meticulous.”
“Anyway, they have a boatload of prints. Arbery says they’re running them all now,” Amanda said. “But he said they found none on the bottles of Anadrol. Assuming the lab finds the tetrahydrozoline mixed in, whoever laced it either wiped it down or wore gloves.”
“Of course,” Spenser muttered.
“You didn’t think it was really going to be that easy, did you, boss?”
She quirked a grin at Jacob. “No. But it would have been nice,” she said. “Did he happen to find anything else in the refrigerator where we found the steroids?”
“Nope. Just the water.”
“No other secret compartments anywhere else in the room?”
“Not that he found,” Amanda reported.
“Okay. Didn’t think so. Did he happen to find anything else that might be useful?”
Amanda’s eyes flitted back and forth across the screen as she read the report. After a couple of beats, she shook her head.
“Nothing useful, I’m afraid. But he says he’ll try to get names for all the prints he found as soon as he can,” she replied.
“All right. Well, that’s unfortunate, but not surprising,” Spenser said.
“What are your next steps, Sheriff?”
“I think we’ve got a pretty broad picture of Hamill’s girlfriend. I’m going to talk to her and hope she can fill in some of those blank spaces,” she replied. “If nothing else, maybe she can put us onto somebody who might have had a beef with him.”
“Good luck,” Amanda said.
“Thanks. I’m probably going to need it.”
The sound of loud music playing drew Spenser around to the back of the house. Stepping through the open gate, she found Layla Li wearing a pair of dark blue coveralls and a bright pink welding helmet. She was crouched down in front of what looked like an abstract totem pole, welding something to the base. Sparks flew and the sizzling hiss of her welding torch crackled, filling the air with the odor of something burning.
