He went back to work after Traci and John left his apartment, not knowing if he and Jacqui had done the right thing. It felt like they had but that was the thing about parenting. You never really knew.

Rena’s desk was empty. He did not expect her to be there. She’d sent a text that she’d heard from a county cop who’d spotted a store that sold bib overalls and red Wisconsin T-shirts. Rena was on her way to check it out.

He sat down, pulled out the investigation file. Started with the list of people they’d talked to. They were missing something, he could feel it. Got to Shana Federer’s name. She’d been fairly confident that she’d seen Kara Wiese in the bathroom prior to 7:30. But multiple parents had confirmed that Kara had been in the room. When he’d asked Kara about Shana Federer, she’d had no real reaction. Maybe some irritation because she didn’t understand the relevance of the question but nothing beyond that.

Claire Potter hadn’t arrived until close to seven thirty and nobody was going to get Claire and Kara mixed up. According to Ferguson’s interview with Tanya Knight, she’d been in the building shortly after seven. It was possible that she’d stopped in the restroom. But surely Shana wouldn’t have gotten Tanya and Kara mixed up. Her child was in Tanya Knight and Olivia Blow’s classroom.

So if there had been someone in the bathroom, and he was pretty confident there had been because she had clearly been embarrassed by the fact, it had to be a parent or the person who’d taken Emma.

In either event, it was somebody who looked very much like Kara Wiese.

But she had no sisters and her mother was dead. Looking further, there were no maternal aunts and only one fraternal aunt in Utah, who looked nothing like her. That information had been verified.

Dead end. Keep looking.

His cell phone buzzed. He picked it up. Holy fuck. Coyote Frogg and his buddy had been located and were currently being transported to the Baywood Police Station for questioning.

He sent a text to Rena, letting her know.

His phone rang in response. “Hey,” he said.

“Good news,” she said.

“Yeah. Where are you?” he asked.

“On my way back.”

“Did you find the store?”