He left the room, and Malone came in, closing the door behind him.

Sam took a close look at her mentor, trying to figure out why he looked so different. “What’s wrong?” She immediately thought of Nick, but tamped down that worry. He was on his way home. He was okay.

“There were twenty-six children at the house. The youngest was seven. The oldest was sixteen.”

Disgust flooded every pore of Sam’s being. “And the people holding them?”

“Six adults, all in custody. We’re working now to locate the families.”

Sam sighed and shook her head, filled with despair and relief and joy.

“A lot of families are going to be reunited tonight because you trusted your gut, Lieutenant.”

Sam never had learned how to take a compliment. “Oh, well, I was just doing my job, sir.”

“You once again went above and beyond the call of duty. I see another commendation in your future.”

“Thank you, Captain.” They were so rarely formal with each other, but the situation seemed to warrant it.

“Where are we with the Vasquez case?”

“I believe we’ve determined what happened to Willie Vasquez and Rick Lind.”

“And that is?”

“They were killed by Elle Kopelsman Jestings, the wife of team owner Ray Jestings, because they lost a game that she desperately needed them to win.” Sam explained about the financial troubles plaguing the Washington Star and how Elle had been counting on the TV rights to the World Series to bail out the company.

“How do you have her on the Vasquez murder?”

“I don’t—yet—but I believe she paid her bodyguards ten thousand dollars each—some of the last money she had—to take out Vasquez. She took care of Lind herself after she got him drunk and high and pickled his brain with sex. She and the bodyguards must’ve talked about the perfect spot to stab someone to ensure they’d die as quickly as possible, thus the exact same wound for both victims.”

“Hell of a way to go.”

“Killing two of her marquee players also gets them off the team payroll. That might’ve been part of her motive.”

Lieutenant Archelotta stepped into the office. “We’ve got something,” he said, holding up a flash drive. “We finally got the film from the Smithsonian with footage of two guys tossing Willie in the Dumpster.”

“Let’s see,” Sam said, buzzing from the thrill of connecting all the dots.