“I wanted to update you on a few things. First, I got the report from the lab on the sheet Brooke was wrapped in. Most of the blood belonged to Todd Brantley. There were smudges that matched the profile for Kelsey Lewis too.”

Sam thought about the implications of that. “So Brooke was right there with them when they were killed?”

“It appears that way.”

The realization of how close her niece had come to being murdered hit Sam like a fist to the gut, sucking the breath from her lungs. “How did they miss her?”

“It’s possible the darkness saved her. Maybe there was some light filtering in from the other room and the killer could only see Todd on top of Kelsey. Or perhaps someone grabbed Brooke and got her out of there while he killed someone else. Or Brooke was already out of the room when Todd and Kelsey were killed, but someone used the sheet from the bed they were on to wrap up Brooke. We may never know exactly how it all went down.”

All of the scenarios Gonzo outlined were plausible. “Where are we with the Mitchell kid?”

“His lawyer just arrived. I was getting ready to go in there. Want to come?”

With her father’s lecture about ends justifying means ringing loudly in her mind, Sam shook her head. “I want to, but if there’s any chance he’s our fourth guy with Brooke, I can’t be part of it. You can take Cruz, and I’ll watch from observation.” It killed her to take a step back, but Sam didn’t want to do anything to endanger the prosecution if he was the one guy who’d assaulted Brooke and gotten out alive. “What’s the plan?”

“I’ve got a warrant for his DNA, so I’ll be handling that first. Lindsey is on her way to take the sample.”

“How much you want to bet he’s going to be our fourth perp in Brooke’s rape?”

“I’d bet the farm on it, but the proof will be in the DNA. Let’s go see what he has to say.”

Sam watched from the one-way window that gave her a bird’s-eye view of the interrogation room where Brody sat next to a balding man. In the two hours since he’d been arrested, Brody had lost some of his initial swagger and now looked more like a scared kid.

“I’d like to know the charges against my client,” the lawyer said.

“We’ll get to that. I’m Detective Sergeant Gonzales. This is Detective Cruz, and this interview is being recorded. Our first order of business is a warrant for a DNA sample from your client.”

The lawyer looked over the warrant. “For what purpose?”