He shook his head. “She always said it was just her and her mom. They were incredibly close. Talked every day, sometimes more than once. Audrey referred to her mom as her best girlfriend.”

This just got worse by the minute. “How about friends?”

“She has tons of them,” Wes said. “She makes friends easier than anyone I’ve ever met. She makes everyone feel important to her.”

“She’s a great listener,” Brecken said. “Whenever I had girl trouble, she was the one I went to for advice. She always knew what to do.”

Sam made notes about everything they told her. “Wes, would you sign this form to give us permission to review her texts and other messages on her phone?”

“Yes, of course.” He signed the form and pushed it back to her.

Sam wrote the code Wes had given her on the form and gave it to Freddie, who left to deliver it to Malone to get a warrant to back them up just in case they needed it before it went to Archie’s team in IT for examination. “Did she work?”

Wes nodded. “At a school for rich kids in Northeast called Whitmore. That job is why she volunteers with the immigrant kids. She said she wants to give something back to the kids who don’t have every advantage money can buy.”

“So, she didn’t like the job?”

“She hates it. Entitled kids, entitled parents, nonstop drama. She’s been looking for a new job, but it’s hard to move during the school year. I’ve been trying to get her to quit and go to school full time, but she doesn’t want me supporting her.” All the air left his lungs in one big exhale. “She should’ve let me take care of her.”

“Do you have somewhere you can stay tonight? We’d like to send crime scene investigators into your apartment tonight.”

“Why?”

“Often, we don’t know why until we know why. Does that make sense?”

“I guess.”

“Do we have your permission to do that?”

“Yes, of course.”

“He can stay with me,” Brecken said. “I’m in an apartment now.”

“Write down your address and phone number. I need Wes’s number, too.”

Brecken provided the info and gave her the notebook.

“Can you give me keys to your home?” Sam asked Wes.

“Ah, yeah, sure. This one is for the vestibule, and this one is for our place.”

Sam wondered how long would it take for him to realize he now lived alone.

“Thank you for your cooperation at such a difficult time. Audrey would be proud of you for trying to help catch the person who did this to her.”

“I hope so,” he said, wiping away more tears.

Sam stepped out of the conference room and signaled for Detective Cameron Green. “Will you please have Patrol give Wes Hambly and his brother a ride home?”