Sam glanced at Freddie, and he nodded, leaving the room to see to her unspoken order to do a full search of the premises to check points of entry and to make sure no one else was in the house. She squatted for a closer look at the victim and noted the blow that had caved in the side of his skull and likely ended his life. Lindsey would confirm that, but in cases like this, it didn’t take an autopsy to determine cause of death.

“You touch anything?” she asked Hill.

He shook his head. “I used my shoulder to push open the door and the only thing I’ve touched since I got here was my phone to call you.”

The rest of her team began to arrive—Dominguez and Carlucci, McBride and Tyrone and then Lindsey, Malone and Farnsworth.

Freddie returned. “Clear,” he said of the rest of the house.

“Where’s Gonzo?” she asked in a low tone that only he could hear.

“Not here.”

“Call him.” To the others, she said, “Listen up. Our victim is FBI Director Troy Hamilton.”

Her announcement was greeted with shocked expressions and gasps of surprise.

“Wait,” Tyrone said. “Weren’t we looking for his son earlier today?”

“You were,” Sam said. “Here’s what we know so far.” She began with her encounter with Josh on Friday and quickly took them through the sequence of events over the weekend that had culminated with Avery finding Hamilton’s body an hour ago.

“What brought you here, Agent Hill?” Malone asked while the others processed what Sam had told them.

“After I saw you and Lieutenant Holland earlier and you informed me about what was happening with the director’s son, I went home and tried to wrap my head around the possibility that the director could’ve been involved in a kidnapping of all things. After a couple of hours, I realized I needed to see him, to talk to him, to try to get to the bottom of what was going on. So I came here.”

He paused before he continued, seeming to gather his thoughts. “I rang the bell and knocked on the door, which was ajar. When no one answered, I nudged the door with my shoulder and stepped inside, calling for the director. I noticed a vase shattered in the foyer and a lamp on the floor in the room to my right. I’ve been here before, so I knew where the director’s home office was located. Upon approach to the doorway, I saw his foot on the floor and then the rest of his body in a pool of blood. I called the lieutenant after confirming he was dead.”

“Did you touch him?” Farnsworth asked.

“I didn’t need to. It was obvious he was long gone.”

Lindsey McNamara’s team arrived in a flurry of activity and began to prepare Hamilton’s body for transport to the morgue.