Joce nodded solemnly. “Too much evidence. That not a problem you have often.”

“Too much distraction,” Gabe countered. The projector turned on and Gabe dragged over all the scanned photos. There had to be hundreds.

“Wow,” Jocelyn said, “you just found all these at a suspect’s house? Seems like a lot to leave where it could be found.”

Ruby nodded grimly. “It does seem like a lot. It seems like another misdirection.”

But she couldn’t risk dismissing it all. There was the likelihood that there were one or two important details mixed into the mess.

The three of them stared at the projection displaying a grid of photo thumbnails.

“There’s Pearl’s diner,” Gabe said, “so we have to operate assuming that at least some of these matter to the killer. They might be other places where he’s choosing targets.”

But which ones? There were photos of mall food courts, walls of bookcases, local parks, trees, dogs, pizza joints, a race of some sort, a line up outside a venue. There were too many directions to go.

Joce offered Ruby a soft look of sympathy. She understood what an undertaking this was.

“I hope you make a breakthrough,” she said. “It was nice meeting you, Gabe.”

“Likewise.” Gabe nodded.

Joce looked once more at the sea of photographs before making her exit.

Gabe waited until Joce was out of earshot before he spoke again.

“What kind of rumors is she talking about? You make it sound like it’s a normal thing,” Gabe asked.

Ruby shrugged, unable to stop from flushing ever so slightly in embarrassment. “I don’t know. People love to talk and analyze and make guesses.”

That was the problem with working in a building where so many people were trained to notice changes in behavior. They thought they could figure everything out.

“Guesses?” Gabe pressed.

Ruby shifted, keeping her gaze on the projection.

“I’ve always suspected there’s a secret pool whenever I get a new partner,” she admitted. Ruby had never gone out of her way to confirm her suspicion, but it was something she wouldn’t put past many of the agents she knew.

Gabe raised an eyebrow. “A pool?”

“They’re probably making bets on when you’ll ask to transfer,” Ruby replied. “My last partner lasted a month and a half. I think Darren in the cyber crime unit must have won the pot that time.”

Gabe seemed to take that in, but he asked no further questions. Ruby was happy not to field any more of them, even though she was tempted to clarify it was nothing personal. He wasn’t the problem.

Still, she was glad to focus back on the scans.

They had too much information and no way to effectively filter it. Each image felt like something to investigate, but it would take weeks to do that. They didn’t have that kind of time.