“Mrs. Taylor,” Brenner started, “I hate to ask this, but my partner, Sable, needs the suspect’s scent. It would help us if you could allow her to get it from you.”

“I don’t understand,” Lisa said. “I told the officer where he climbed over the fence and the direction he ran.”

“Yes, but it would help if Sable could smell where the suspect’s body touched yours.”

“Mrs. Taylor,” Hawkins said gently, “we need you to remove your robe for the dog.”

Lisa looked at the officers and then at Jeff whose expression urged her to cooperate. She swallowed, her face reddened, then she removed her robe, allowing the dog to smell the front and back of her nightgown. The dog then led Brenner outside and over the fence on the attacker’s trail. Lisa put her robe back on and pulled it closed.

The officers resumed working with Jeff and Lisa on their preliminary statements. Then they walked them through the house for a quick check to see if anything was missing, all while more emergency units arrived. When Hawkins finished, she wanted the medical team that had arrived to examine Lisa.

“We need to be sure about what he did to you.”

“He didn’t rape me,” she said. “I already told you what happened.”

“I know, but we need to check for any trace evidence to use if we arrest him.”

“I told you what he said after he took me outside. Please, you have to arrest him.”

“We will.”

Two paramedics with a trauma kit took Lisa to her bedroom and closed the door. They made a careful assessment of her before concluding that, while she’d sustained no visible physical injuries, she was experiencing mild shock.

Jeff went with Ramon who, along with other investigators, examined the damaged locking mechanism on the sliding door where the intruder had entered their home.

“You don’t have a security system?” Ramon said to Jeff.

“We just moved in. They’re coming next week to install it.”

“Did you have a system for your previous home? Some companies will let you relocate your service.”

“No, we had no system there.”

“Place like this, I would think you’d make security a priority.”

“Yeah, well.” Embarrassed, Jeff watched the chopper probing the area. “We were told that this neighborhood has a low crime rate, so I didn’t rush it.”

“Low crime is not no crime. Just about everybody in Palm Mirage has a home system,” Ramon said. “Do you or your wife possess any firearms?”

“No. We don’t like guns,” Jeff said. “When I was a boy, my father was—” he swallowed “—killed in a hunting accident with his friend.”