After spending the better part of a day digging through Eleanora’s file, Niki tracked down Paula Schmidt and headed out to the suburbs to re-interview her. On the drive, she got a call from Matty.

“We got the forensics back on Spencer’s computer,” he said. “No search history on Sadie Vauk, the salon—nothing to link him to our victim in any way.”

“Pictures?”

“He took pictures of her at the wedding, but nothing unusual. It wasn’t like he was fixated on her or anything.”

“What about the Bronco? Any idea where it might be?”

“No online payments for a storage unit. Nothing on his phone, either. He didn’t disable the location tracker, and according to the phone data, he’s never stopped at a storage unit.”

“All we know is where his phone’s been, not him. If he’s smart enough to get rid of his router, he’s smart to leave his phone at home.”

“I think we should apply for a second search warrant—specific to the Bronco,” Matty said. “Go back to the house and look for a paper trail. He’s good at keeping things off his computer, but maybe he slipped up and kept a receipt.”

“Can’t hurt.”

“Any luck in St. Paul?”

“Nothing yet, but I’m on my way to meet with a witness. Now that we have a suspect, maybe I can shake something loose by coming at it from a new direction.”

“I’ll get to work on that search warrant.”

“Thanks, Matty. I’ll call if I get anything on my end.”

*  *  *

Paula Schmidt lived in a blue town house in Eagan, along with one husband, two small children, and three cats. She kept a pleasant home that seemed to hold the exact amount of clutter one would expect with toddlers and pets running around, and she struck Niki as being overly eager to talk.

“Are you reopening the case?” Paula asked as they took their seats at a dining room table.

“I’m looking into some things, but I can’t say that I’m reopening anything just yet. I need to ask you a few questions about the night Eleanora went missing. You knew her pretty well, right?”

“We’d been best friends since seventh grade. I lost a sister that night.”

“In the report it says that you were roommates?”

“At the U of M. We lived in Dinky Town.”

“You went to the club about nine?”

“Right.”

“And you don’t recall seeing the man in the pirate costume that night?”

“I mean, I might have seen him, but the place was packed with people in costumes. I was dancing…and we’d been drinking a little.”

“They showed you the picture from the security camera?”

“It was so blurry, I couldn’t even see his face.”

“Did Eleanora do anything in the week or two prior to her disappearance where…there would have been a photographer involved?”