Liz Waterson, Alyssa’s favorite forensic sketch artist and member of her team was in North Carolina visiting her parents. She wouldn’t be back until after Memorial Day weekend, so not for another week. ‘Her help would be nice, but we’ll have to make do without her until she returns,’ she said.

‘Have you heard from her, heard how her mom’s doing?’ Hal asked.

After Liz’s sister was murdered by an ex-boyfriend, their mother’s health had slowly declined over the years, which had prompted this latest visit. ‘I didn’t talk to her, but she did send a text letting me know it was definitely a heart attack but that her mom was stable and resting comfortably. The prognosis was good, she thought.’

Joe and Tony walked in just then, and of the two, Tony appeared far more chipper.

Joe, on the other hand, was scowling at something Tony said.

‘Hailee’s still colicky, huh?’ Alyssa asked. Ever since his baby was born in March, Joe often came in looking either ready to drop or snap someone’s head off. Frequently both.

‘I’m beginning to think she’ll be colicky until she’s a teenager.’ He rubbed one fist into his tired eyes.

Tony patted Joe’s back. ‘Hate to tell you, partner, but when Hailee’s a teenager, you’ll be wishing it was only colic giving you sleepless nights.’ He merely grinned at Joe’s frown.

Hal popped open his laptop and projected the screen onto the wall for everyone to see, effectively moving the topic back to work. He clicked the downloaded images from the crime scene then, splitting the screen, opened a blank document where he typed Rachel Otis and Jersey Andrews in bold and underlined text. In red, he added Jane Doe.

Alyssa walked over to the crime scene photos, specifically studying the mark on Jane Doe’s hip as she spoke. ‘Okay, we don’t know that these cases are related. So far all we have in common is the young age of at least Jersey and Rachel.’ An image of the battered body of Callie McCormick, Bishop’s last victim, popped into her head, and she shut it down. People, including young girls, went missing every single day for various reasons. It didn’t mean there was another serial killer in their midst. She couldn’t – wouldn’t – allow her last case to cloud her mind or hinder her ability to do her job. Like every case, she’d methodically move the pieces of the puzzle around until they began to connect.

‘I’ll check the cameras in the Central/Louisiana area, though I doubt we’ll have much luck since the city got tired of replacing and repairing them every single time they got vandalized,’ Hal offered.

As frustrating as it was not to have working cameras, it was also frustrating watching public funding funneled into constantly replacing them. ‘While you’re at it, check the Missing Person’s database to see if our Jane Doe matches any of the profiles. Without knowing her age, it might be more difficult, but it’s a place to start. Okay, moving onto Rachel Otis.’ She peeked at her notes. ‘We still need to locate Calvin McDougal. He lives at the frat house where the party was held, and according to several of the individuals we interviewed yesterday, he was seen hitting on her and didn’t take too kindly to being rejected. One of the witnesses claimed to overhear him accuse her of “false advertising” before storming away.’