Just as she was about to dial the number, Lynn Sharp called, skipping the pleasantries and diving right in, the kind of direct approach Alyssa appreciated. ‘I told you we found fibers in the abrasions on Meghan Jessup’s body. Some of them match the fibers found in the carpets of the rooms at Hotel Camino. Good call on getting someone over there this morning. I’ve already sent them off to the same lab, and put a priority rush on it, explaining we have the lives of three young ladies on the line, possibly more. I have to say the technician wasn’t overly impressed with my plea, saying everyone’s items were urgent. But don’t worry. I called in a favor. I’m going to text you a contact name and number. If you don’t hear something soon, Tyler said you could call him directly.’

‘That was fast.’

‘Like I said, three lives on the line.’

‘How does this Tyler person owe you a favor? If you don’t mind my asking.’

Lynn laughed. ‘Truthfully?’

Why did people always ask that? ‘No, lie to me. Of course, I want the truth.’

‘Tyler and I met at a medical conference in Oregon a few years back. One of my cousins lives there, and she met me at the hotel for lunch. He saw her, fell head over heels in lust, and begged me to set up a date. I did. They’ve been happily married for a year now.’

A few minutes after they ended the call, Lynn sent her the text containing Tyler’s contact information while also telling her she’d forgotten to mention that the lab could already have the results from the fibers discovered on Meghan Jessup. Immediately, Alyssa placed a call to Lynn’s cousin by marriage.

‘Tyler Rhodes.’

‘Tyler, this is Detective Alyssa Wyatt with the Albuquerque Police Department. I believe Lynn told you to expect a call from me.’

‘Detective, yes, she did. Give me just a second while I pull up that file.’ After a series of clicks, Tyler was back. ‘Here it is. Okay, it appears the fiber that came from Meghan Jessup’s wounds were from a rug, but not from your run of the mill rug or carpet. In fact, there’s only one manufacturer here in the United States that creates them, and each rug is custom ordered right down to the dye, shape, and length.’

Alyssa stretched across the table to grab a pen and a blank piece of paper, ready to take down the information.

‘Royal Empire Textiles out of Connecticut is the manufacturer. Believe it or not, I was able to email them the specifics and scan in a copy of the fiber discovered, and they said that’s all they’d need to be able to tell us who purchased it, when, and where it was delivered. They said to give them at least twenty-four hours, and I sent that early yesterday morning. If you’re ready, I can give you the contact information. And I already checked: someone is always there on Saturdays.’