“This is the weirdest case ever.”

“And it’s just gotten a whole lot weirder.”

“No kidding. See you there.”

“On my way.” She pressed on the accelerator, dodging what little traffic there was at that hour on a Sunday and headed for the city’s Northwest corner. On the way, she placed a call to Lindsey McNamara.

“Hey, I was just going to call you,” Lindsey said. “I got word that the DNA report is back. What do you want me to do with it?”

“Email it to me?”

“Will do.”

“We’ve got a body,” she said, giving Lindsey the address. “And not just any body. It’s FBI Director Hamilton.”

“Oh my God.”

“I know, and you’re probably not on call, but I want you on this one. Can you come?” Sam gave her the address.

“Yes, of course. I’ll call in my team and meet you there.”

“We’re keeping a tight lid on this for obvious reasons.”

“Where’s his son?”

“On lockdown at my house. He’s been there for hours, but was in the wind for a period of time earlier today. I’m going to be very interested in the time of death.”

“Are you on the case? I thought you were off.”

“I am, but Malone called me in. See you in a few.”

Not surprisingly, the Hamiltons resided in one of the swankier areas of the city, and the street was lined with cars and emergency vehicles by the time Sam pulled in behind Freddie’s rattletrap Mustang. The neighbors had begun to wander out to see what was going on.

Sam walked down the long driveway to the huge porch where Freddie greeted her. “We’ve got gawkers out there,” she said. “Get Patrol here to set up a perimeter.”

“Already done.”

“Someone trained you right.”

“Yeah, I can’t remember the name of the guy, but he did a good job.”

“Yes, she did.” She followed him inside, through a foyer that was the size of her first apartment after the academy, into a sitting room that led to the office where Hamilton lay in a pool of blood, a golf club on the floor next to him. His face was unrecognizable, which seemed deliberate, as if the killer had wanted to erase his identity.

Avery Hill stood watch over his director, arms crossed, expression tense. When he looked at her, however, Sam saw the despair.

“Any sign of forced entry?” Sam asked, sensing that engaging Hill in the investigation would help.

“Not that I could see, but I didn’t do a full search. The front door was ajar when I arrived.”