“What did the K9 unit turn up?” Just as well he’d requested it today with more snow on the way.

“Tracks led around the neighbor’s property back up onto the main road about half a mile away. After that, the dogs lost the scent.”

“Someone might have caught a ride? Or left a car there…”

Detective Torgerson gave a nonchalant shrug. “Or Martin might have gone for a walk in the woods yesterday. People do that. We’ll check the soles of his boots to confirm.”

It was all conjecture. She thought Martin had made those tracks before he’d died. Eban hoped they belonged to the real killer. The possibility the detective was right and he was wrong settled over Eban like a blanket of ice.

He frowned. “How do you explain the lack of fingerprints on Martin’s torso?”

“The dance was sweaty by all accounts, which isn’t conducive to preserving prints. Maybe they made out with their clothes on. Maybe they got upstairs and she undid his shirt. He lay on his back and she killed him.”

“With a hunting knife she happened to have on her person? You don’t think that might have made the guy rethink his choice of date?” Bile churned in Eban’s stomach and it wasn’t simply because he’d recently left an autopsy suite.

“Perhaps Martin kept a knife in his bedside drawer and she found it when looking for a condom? Or he might have passed out from too much whisky and she came upstairs, undid his shirt, and killed him.”

“And went back downstairs to sleep it off on the couch?”

“I don’t know yet, which is why I need to get back and question her again. Figure out what happened.” The detective sounded pissed. “Do you want to sit in or not?”

Eban slipped his hands into his windbreaker pockets as they headed to the door.

How would Darby react to him being in the room with her on the opposite side of the table? Would she give him away? How might it affect any legal proceedings that stemmed from that interview? Would his presence during Darby’s questioning make a court more or less likely to convict her? Eban wasn’t sure but figured it was best to stay away from the direct proceedings even if that meant staying away from Darby.

“I’d like to observe if that’s okay with you?”

Torgerson gave a huff of quiet laughter. “I get a choice now? In that case, I’m happy for you to observe as long as you don’t interrupt.”

She was prickly. He didn’t blame her.

“I’d like to take a look at Martin’s computer, bank records, emails, social media accounts.”

Torgerson sighed. “I requested subpoenas for all those things this morning.”

“Great. Let me know as soon as you have access.” Eban had checked out what he could find online but there were bound to be more, possibly gaming platforms and chat boards with aliases. Haley Cramer’s people would be digging into Martin’s background with a fervor usually reserved for suspected Russian spies and bioterrorists.