It is. Like I said yesterday, Im old but wily. Without getting into specifics, Ill just say that, based on certain patterns associated with how and when access was gained, Ive been able to narrow down the list of likely culprits. And your well-placed concern that the courtyard might no longer be secure either may help me narrow it even further. I hope to know more later today.

Thats it? Jessie said. You cant tell me who I should be watching out for?

I genuinely dont know yet. And I wouldnt want to tip that person off if I did know. We could turn a liability into an asset if we play this right. But for that to happen, you have to stay focused on your case. Find out what happened to Millicent Estrada. Hopefully the other stuff will fall into place.

Speaking of, Jessie noted, Ive gotten multiple texts from both Detective Bray and Jamil in the last few minutes. I think theyre anxious to discuss developments. I should probably go see whats up.

Deckers only response was to unlock the door and hold it open for her. She hurried out, headed toward Research. She was almost there when she stopped in her tracks. Something Decker had said moments earlier was bouncing around in her brain, making it itch in that way she knew she shouldnt ignore.

He had told her to find out what happened to Millicent Estrada. And while she knew what he had meantthat she should find out who murdered the womanit occurred to her that she should be focusing on the larger question: what happened to Milly.

Jessie had been so busy running around, trying to get stays lifted, studying surveillance footage, and listening to audio files from trafficked young girls that shed lost sight of her purpose. To find out what happened to Milly, she had to understand why it happened, and that meant profiling the killer, not the victim.

Instead of going to Research, Jessie stepped out into the courtyard. There was still a chill in the morning air, which she found clarifying. She sat on a shaded bench and closed her eyes, allowing her breathing to slow and her mind to clear.

After a minute, she let her brain relax and go wherever it chose. The first image that popped into her mind was of Millys blouse, lying on the floor beside Jasper Otiss bed.

However it had ended up there, the fact that the buttons had been undone, rather than ripped off, suggested that, despite how Milly had been foundhalf naked in a showerthis hadnt started as an assault. Either that blouse had been removed voluntarily or it had been removed after her death, without any resistance.

There was bruising on Millys body. But the medical examiner said there were no scratches on her, meaning the perpetrator had likely gotten close to her without a fight. That implied it was someone she knew and was comfortable with.