“I can’t imagine having to do that.”

“It sucks, and now I get to go home to prepare for my brother-in-law’s wake.”

“A crap day all around,” Vernon said.

“For sure.” She checked her phone and found a still photo from the hotel’s security video that she forwarded to Malone to be further investigated. After she sent the photo, she called him because that was quicker than typing a text.

“That’s the guy we’re looking for. He lured our three vics upstairs at the hotel, plied them with sex and laced pills.”

“I’ll do a reverse-image search to see if we can get a name and go from there.”

“Let me know if anything pops.”

“Yep.”

Next, Sam called Lindsey and left a message on her voice mail with the phone numbers for Catherine O’Donald and Mrs. Myer so they could be notified when the autopsies were completed.

She slapped the phone closed, hoping they might be on the verge of finally catching a break in this baffling case. When she got home, she went upstairs as quickly as her hip would allow and encountered Elijah and his new wife, Candace, in the hallway. He wore a dark suit, and she had on a black wrap dress. “It’s good of you guys to be here,” she said as she hugged them.

“We wanted to be here for you and your family,” Eli said.

“That’s very nice of you.”

“How’s Angela?” Eli asked.

“Not so great, but that’s to be expected. It’s been such an awful shock for everyone.”

“I know what that’s like,” Eli said grimly. His father and stepmother had been brutally murdered in a home invasion. That incident had brought him and his young twin siblings into their lives last fall.

“Yes, you do. I really appreciate you being here, and Angela will, too.”

“No problem.”

“Will you guys do me a favor?”

“Anything you need,” Candace said.

“Will you keep an eye on Scotty at the wake and get him out of there if it’s too much for him?” To Candace, she added, “We just lost my father in October, and he took that hard.”

“Of course,” Eli said. “We’ll take care of him.”

“Thank you. I need to change and get myself together.”

“Go ahead. We’re going to spend some time with the twins before we go.”

“I’ll see you in a few.” Sam went to the end of the hallway and ducked into the suite she shared with Nick as he stepped out of the closet, knotting his tie as he walked.

“Hey,” he said.

“Hey yourself.”

“How’d it go today?”

“We might’ve made a bit of progress, but we added two more bodies to the tally. I know I say they’re all frustrating, but this case is next level. These people slither in to distribute their poison and then disappear. This latest one feels deliberate, like they intentionally set out to find people they could kill with their laced pills.”

“What would be the point of that? Isn’t it counterproductive to kill the customers?”