‘The guard responsible for watching Monroe’s room slipped away to use the restroom. He insists he was gone less than two minutes, and that when he returned, he poked his head in, made sure all was still kosher, and then about five minutes later, the alarms inside the room went off. Someone yelled out a code blue, doctors and nurses raced in, and he caught sight of one of the nurses doing chest compressions while another one grabbed the AED. Then he was closed out of the action. He tried to find the nurse who’d checked on her earlier, but apparently she’d already gone off shift.’

The image of Brandon Monroe standing on his friend’s porch trying to be so brave while vowing to find the person who hurt his mom breached the edges of Alyssa’s memory, and she felt a fist squeeze around her heart.

‘Have you been able to personally speak to any of the medical staff?’ Cord asked.

‘Actually, yes. Do you remember Dr. Homa?’

‘The doctor who treated Callie McCormick. Yeah, of course, I remember her.’

‘Well, believe it or not, she’s Elizabeth’s doctor, as well. As soon as I explained there might be a link between Monroe and two missing teenagers, one whose parents had been murdered, she cut me off and told me she’d be happy to speak with the two of you. She left her personal number.’

Like Cord, Alyssa remembered Dr. Homa from the Evan Bishop case. Compassionate and passionate, she’d been as devastated as the detectives at what had happened to Callie. ‘Can you text me the number? Also, would you mind updating Captain Hammond?’

‘Hal’s doing that as we speak. Sandra and I are combing through old yearbooks from Anasazi High School, but aside from class photos that prove she attended the same school as Hayden Benson, there’s nothing much to tie Alexandra Greene to him, apart from her living next door to the Bensons, that is. We’re still digging, but the girl’s like a ghost. No digital footprint – not even any credit cards that are tied to her name, at least none that we’ve found. Was your road trip successful?’

‘Yes and no. Alexander Greene is Alexandra’s father, but he left the family when she was seven. We’ll fill the team in on that development as soon as we get back to the station. We confirmed what Sandra already told us, that Helen Ross died in a car accident July 2012. According to Mr. Greene, though, after their divorce, Helen remarried and had another child, a boy. He never asked the name, but he also mentioned they, too, divorced, which I assume is why Helen reverted back to her maiden name.’