He wished he had a female interrogator available. The psychology of having a woman present, looking on with emotional detachment and a complete lack of sympathy, worked well toward breaking a female’s spirit. Having a woman present was especially effective against men. Nathan figured it was the macho syndrome. Men didn’t like to appear weak and vulnerable, especially in front of women. Once again, it was all about mind games. Unless the victim had counter-interrogation training, it usually didn’t take long to wring information out of them. If that held true, Amber Sheldon wouldn’t be much of a challenge.

He gave Henning a few extra minutes before knocking on his door.

“It’s not locked,” Henning said.

Nathan stepped in and left the door partly open. Sitting at a small desk, Henning was typing on his laptop’s keyboard.

“What’ve we got?” Nathan asked.

“Amber Sheldon is currently on probation for drunk and disorderly contact, disturbing the peace, and driving while intoxicated. Here, take a look. I didn’t bring a printer.”

Nathan looked over Henning’s shoulder while he scrolled down to Amber Sheldon’s color mug shot. As usual, she didn’t look real happy. She had stringy blond hair, blue eyes, and a hollow, sullen-looking face, probably from using. She looked hard, a summa cum laude graduate of the school of hard knocks. When the picture was taken, she definitely fit the description of rode hard and put away wet. The photo was a year old.

“She’s got a fairly long sheet,” Henning continued. “Nothing too serious. We have a current address, phone number, and place of employment. She lives in Fresno. Works at an establishment called Pete’s Truck Palace. Let’s see… After her arrest in 2006, her driver’s license was revoked for six months. Based on her background and the trouble she’s had with the law over the years, I’m not expecting her to be real friendly. Let’s make that call to SAC Simpson. I think she’ll want you present for the call.”

Henning pulled his cell and scrolled down the numbers stored in memory. When he found the number he wanted, he hit send. He didn’t put it on speaker yet. Nathan waited.

“Hi SAC, how are you feeling? Yes, he’s here. Okay.” Henning pressed the speaker button. “You’re on speaker.”

“Hi, Nathan.”

Nathan sat on the bed. “Hey there.” He didn’t ask how she was feeling, he already knew.

“How are things going out there?” she asked.

“Good. The meeting with the Castle’s shrink was helpful.”

“What did you find out?”

Nathan went over the salient points of their discussion. He finished with what they found on Amber Sheldon in the NCIC.

“That’s good,” Holly said. “You heading to Fresno?”

Nathan nodded for Henning to take over.