Cooper remembered the pink skull that showed beneath the fine white fluff at her temples. More like a chick’s down than a rabbit’s.

“Where did you find them, Riley?”

“One strand was found in the sitting area on the carpet. And the other hair was caught on the window frame in the living room.” Where the suspect had fallen.

“Where exactly in the sitting area was the first strand found?” Cooper asked.

Riley walked over to the crime scene diagram. “Between the television console and the computer area,” she said, pointing at a spot on the diagram with her pen.

“Anything to connect the suspect to the guns in the television console?” The recent changes to the Criminal Code increased the degree of punishment for anyone breaking in with intent to steal a firearm.

Riley shook her head. “No. The fingerprints did not match. And there were no hairs there. But she was wearing gloves. And it doesn’t rule out that she hadn’t the intent to take them.”

“Nor does it tie her to them,” Cooper said.

Her gaze narrowed. “Agreed.” She pushed a wisp of hair away from her face. In that moment, her fatigue was obvious. If the entire team hadn’t been watching, Cooper would have offered his coffee to her. But he wasn’t sure she would take it. “In fact, we can find nothing in the house that suggests what they were doing there.”

“What about Mel Owen’s claim that the suspect who fled had killed his wife?” Cooper said. “Was there no sign of a struggle? Or weapon?”

Riley shook her head. “The scene is consistent with Mrs. Owen dropping the phone and falling out of bed. We don’t think either of the suspects had entered the bedroom. The room had no prints, fibers, hairs or bodily fluids that belonged to anyone but Mr. and Mrs. Owen, and their son, Harry.” She glanced down at her notes. “One thing, though. There was a large bottle of Oxy in the room, as well as Dilaudid.”

“Was any of it missing?”

“No. The pill count was consistent with the date the prescription had been filled.”

“Could be a possible motive, though,” Cooper said. “They knew Mrs. Owen was seriously ill, they figured they could get some drugs to sell. But Mr. Owen chased them away.”

Lamond nodded, made a note. “I’ll check with the pharmacy and see what was prescribed for Mrs. Owen. Maybe the first suspect got away with some meds. They could have been in the living room.”

“And if you find that there are missing meds, get a street canvass in operation, Lamond,” Pearson said. Then he turned back to Riley. “And what about the upstairs?”

Riley shook her head again. “It was clean. No shoe treads, prints, hairs, fibers, spatters or any evidence to suggest that the suspects went up there.”

“And Harry Owen’s room? What did you find in there?”