Max said, “Planned attack or random?”

Greene bit at her lower lip as she considered her answer. “We’ve been going back and forth on that one. Molinar had a safe in her closet—bolted to the floor. The killer found the safe, but hadn’t brought tools to pry it up, which suggests that he wasn’t planning on busting a safe loose when he entered. He used an axe and crowbar from Molinar’s garage to chip the floor away until he could pull the safe free. It looks like he had a dickens of a time. He also took her jewelry box and some electronics. We think she came home and caught the burglar in the act.”

“Where was Mrs. Molinar when he broke in?” Niki asked.

“She played canasta with friends every Thursday night. She was there from five until eight. We think she surprised the burglar when she got home around eight-fifteen. Time of death fits that scenario.”

“He was there that long?” Max asked.

“Getting that safe pried out of the floor took some time. It’s possible he just happened by, but I tend to believe he saw her leave. He made himself a sandwich in the middle of it all, too. We found mustard and bread and turkey out in the kitchen.”

“Suspects?” Niki asked.

“None that fit the bill. She hired a contractor to fix some electrical issues. That was about a month before the murder. He would have been in her bedroom, so he could have seen the jewelry box, and then found the safe after he broke in later.”

“Alibi?”

“No, but… I don’t know. He’s semi-retired. Been working all his life. No priors. Everyone says he’s as honest as the day’s long. My gut tells me he’s not the guy. He’s on the list, but only because we needed names to put there.”

“Anyone else?”

“She had a son, Peter.” Macey dug through her reports to find a file with the name Peter Molinar on the tab. “Thirty-four. Never married. He works for a landscaping company in New Hope.”

“He would have known about the safe,” Niki said. “And the canasta game on Thursday.”

“That occurred to us too, but why bust it from the floor if you can just open it?”

“To throw off suspicion,” Max said.

“He had an airtight alibi. He was up north, playing slots at a casino.”

Max and Niki shared a look.

“What?” Detective Greene asked.

It was Max who spoke. “I’m here, unofficially, because of a missing woman. On the morning she disappeared, her ex-husband was conveniently on camera at a casino too.”

“And you think your guy’s tied to the Molinar case?”

Niki looked at Max to answer.

“I have a confidential source. It’s thin, but we have reason to believe that a phone number tied to my case out of Itasca County is connected with the house where Mrs. Molinar died.”

“A source?” Greene said. “What’s the nature of that source?”

“I’m afraid I can’t reveal that right now.”