Pearson strode into the meeting room. He dropped his folder on the table, and planted himself in front of the diagram of the crime scene. A man whose large proportions were slowly losing the fight against gravity, his presence commanded attention. He glanced around to make sure all eyes were on him. “Okay, team, we all here? I asked Detective Riley to attend the debriefing to give us a report on the FIS findings so far.”

Riley stood. She had removed her bunny suit, but her HPD t-shirt and trousers were wrinkled. He was sure Riley had been at the crime scene all night. And hadn’t she come directly to the Owen house from an earlier scene? She had probably been up for at least 24 hours. No wonder she looked so tired. But her gaze was focused.

“The crime scene is still under FIS control,” she began. “To enter, you must report to me first.” The team nodded. “In brief, we have found blood near the bedroom on the main floor. No other locations. We have tested under the floorboards and found no spatter except in that location. The samples have been sent to the lab to determine whether it belongs to more than one person—”

Pearson held up a hand. “Sorry to interrupt, but this is a good time to get an update on the suspect. Gabriel—” he turned to the most junior member of the GIS team. Cooper had not met Constable Angie Gabriel yet, but he had heard of her. She was one of the newest members of the force, a Mi’kmaq with a Master’s degree in psychology. “Have you I.D.ed her yet?”

Gabriel put down her pen. He noticed she was a leftie. “Not yet. She had no wallet or phone in her clothing. The team has not recovered a bag or anything that appears to belong to her. Her prints are clean. No one has reported a missing person.”

“Has our anonymous Jane Doe recovered consciousness?” Pearson’s tone was brusque. Cooper could just imagine the pressure he was under.

“Again, negative. I spoke with the ER staff. She had surgery early this morning to remove bullet fragments from her chest. She is under sedation.”

“What’s her status?”

“Still serious.”

“Has she said anything at all?”

“Not yet.”

Pearson made a note. “I want you to stay at the hospital with her. See if any next of kin arrive looking for her. If no one shows up by noon, we need to get a photo out to the media.” He swung back to Riley. “Continue, Detective.”

Riley held up an evidence bag. It took a moment for Cooper to realize it wasn’t empty. Several pale threads glinted beneath the plastic. “We found these hair strands. It is an unusually pale blonde shade.”

Gabriel peered at the bag. “It looks like Jane Doe’s. She is white blonde. Like a rabbit.”