“No. I called her office, and the answering machine said that she had gone on sabbatical and wouldn’t be back for a couple of months. She gave the names and numbers of colleagues that her patients could contact for assistance.” Nester’s eyes gleamed. “She’s been married three times, and all three ex-husbands live in the state. I’ve found them in Seattle, Tacoma, and over in Spokane by the border.” He gestured toward the papers. “All information about them has been printed out.”

Laurel glanced at the stack. “Did you discover any hint of violence in her life or any protection orders taken out by her?”

“Not against the husbands.” Nester tugged a sheet from the bottom and handed it over. “More recently, she made several local police reports about being harassed or stalked, but she didn’t have any idea who was doing it. Everything from somebody slashing her tires to cutting her electricity to possibly breaking into her home. All of the reports are in the stack.”

“Do the reports mention any flowers left for her?”

“Yeah. Black dahlias left on her balcony. The interesting part is that she lives on the fourth floor, so either the stalker went through her condo to get to the balcony or somehow climbed up from the ground. We need to take a look at the place.” Nester straightened the remaining papers.

Interesting. Laurel craned her neck. “Walter?” “Yeah?” he bellowed back from his office.

“Did you speak with Sheriff York and give him the identification of the victim?”

“Sure did.”

Good. “Did he mention that our victim had filed complaints about a possible stalker?”

Walter huffed as he crossed into the doorway. “Nope. Didn’t say a thing about that and if there are any, apparently he didn’t look for me. I even asked if he’d met her, and he said that he had not.”

“It’s possible he hasn’t,” Laurel said, glancing at the reports for an officer’s name. “Officer Frank Zello. On all three reports. We’ll need to speak with him.” She looked at her computer. “Walter, please deliver these and get a judge to sign off on the search warrants for Dr. Rox’s home and office, and then let’s finish work for the day. We’ll convene first thing tomorrow.” They both left her office.

She lifted her phone to her ear and dialed Huck. “Rivers,” he answered. It was quiet in the background.

“Hi, Huck. I should have signed search warrants for our victim’s home and office by tomorrow morning. I’ll ask the FBI Seattle field office to search her office, but do you want to meet and go through her place after the crime scene techs finish?”