Matt had thought of that. And he was still thinking about it. “Pros and cons.”

“He’ll go to ground,” Michael said. “Disappear.”

“But he can’t hide forever,” Matt said.

“He could go after anyone, because he may feel trapped or desperate,” Ryder said. “He might change his MO.”

“Catherine raised that concern after Kara initially posed the question the other day. Still, if it’s Hamilton, he’s been here for weeks, if not months. He’s originally from Liberty Lake, and he knows the area. He can hide. Bide his time. The million-dollar question is, if he doesn’t claim his victim today, before midnight, what will he do?”

“I think the more information out there the better,” Michael said. “Don’t say he’s a suspect, just that he may be a witness, and we’re trying to talk to him.”

Matt nodded. “That’s good. We can work with that. Maybe he’ll walk in on his own, thinking he can one-up us.”

It had happened before. It wasn’t common, but sometimes the smartest criminals were the ones who thought they were too smart to be caught, no matter what they said to the police.

“He could have a friend in the area that he’s staying with,” Michael said.

“Catherine feels confident that he’s a loner, but it’s possible,” Matt said. “We’ll craft the press release to make it clear that we are concerned for his safety. Not make it seem like he’s dangerous, but that we’re looking for his father as a person of interest. If he’s cornered, even a friend or family member could be in danger.”

Ryder said, “Since he has an employer, you could have the employer contact him, tell him that he needs to come in for a meeting.”

Matt appreciated the out-of-the-box thinking. “Not bad. He might be suspicious, but that could buy us some time. Or have his aunt call him.”

“Tell him what?” Michael asked. “That we were asking about him?”

“Exactly. We went down to talk to her. Have her reach out and ask him if everything’s okay. We’ll call Catherine on our way out to Liberty Lake and get her take on it, but I like the idea.” He glanced at his watch, finished his coffee. “In fact, we need to head out there now to escort Maddox into the Spokane station preferably before the roads turn to ice. Ryder, while we’re gone, keep in contact with Jim and let me know the status of John Doe throughout the day. And keep working on tracking Hamilton through all means at our disposal. Tony is going back to the judge to try and spin this another way, even a limited warrant would help.”

His phone rang as they were walking out. It was Andy Knolls. It was frigging cold and Matt missed Miami, missed Tucson, missed every warm state in the union.

“Andy,” he said in lieu of hello. “Heard from Packard that everyone is accounted for.”

“Yes. I’m escorting Corrigan now to headquarters.”

“It’s still early.”