“There was nobody who resented her for her focus?” Gabe pressed, like changing his wording would spark different memories.

“If there was, she never told me about it,” Emily said. “Oh, God. What am I going to do? I don’t want another roommate.”

She broke down like a bursting dam at that realization. It was like he flipped a switch to turn on the waterworks. Gabe hadn’t triggered useful memories, just pain.

He paled. He wasn’t made for this stuff. Kicking down doors was one thing; comforting people was another.

“Hey, we’re going to do everything we can to find who did this,” Gabe said, swallowing down his own doubts.

How were they going to do that? According to Emily, Vanessa had no stalkers, no jilted lovers, no one who would want to do her harm. He wanted there to be an explanation because if the killer truly chose Vanessa and Alannah at random, there was no way to stop him fast enough. Two girls, two days apart.

There could be another body in the next 24 hours and Gabe had no idea where to look.

“I don’t have any more questions for you,” he said. “Thank you for your time.”

He got up, offering Emily a hand. She took it gratefully. She deserved to be somewhere better than the plain box of the interview room.

He escorted her out into the hallway.

“Give us a call if you think of anything else,” Gabe said.

Emily gave him a tight hug that Gabe didn’t know what to do with, leaving his shirt damp with her tears. All he could offer was a supportive pat. Emily needed a better shoulder to cry on than his.

She finally let go, heading toward the elevator, hopefully to therapy, or to see family, or something supportive.

Of course, there was Ruby at the end of the hallway, witness to it all. She quirked an eyebrow at him. “How’d the interview go? Learn anything useful?”

Gabe scowled. He had nothing to prove to her.

“Vanessa had a boyfriend. Tyler Mancini. Supposedly out of town. I’ll follow up,” he said. “Get anything from the family?”

Ruby shrugged.

“Vanessa was pretty, popular, and overachieving. Only one high school ex-boyfriend and they were on good terms. She didn’t have the same hobbies, or friends, or schools as Alannah.”

“So, tomorrow we could have another body, but we have no leads, no connections, and no way to even make an educated guess about where he might strike next,” Gabe said bitterly.

“That’s not entirely true,” Ruby pointed out, “we have a stabbing pattern copied from another crime.”

Gabe looked at her, focused almost as much on figuring out Ruby as he was on figuring out their killer. Ruby met his gaze with a determined look.